Consumers buying manuka honey for its medicinal purposes will soon find it easier to identify the best products.

The Waikato University’s Honey Research Unit, which created the original world-wide standard to test manuka honey for its unique antibacterial activity, has launched a better and more reliable test, complete with its own trademark.

This will allow customers to easily identify products that have been reliably tested by an independent authority and rated for the antibacterial activity that is unique to manuka honey. Evidence shows manuka’s special antibacterial properties are effective at healing wounds, but research also shows that this activity is not present in all manuka honeys..

There is much confusion regarding the meanings and values of the various honey marks used currently. That’s why Professor Molan has called for clear and distinctive messages regarding the various types of manuka honey available both in New Zealand and internationally. Professor Molan is the world renowned honey scientist who originally discovered manuka’s unique bioactivity in 1982. .

Professor Molan, who heads the internationally renowned Honey Research Unit at the university, says the existing test compares manuka honey’s antibacterial properties with different concentrations of a standard disinfectant and gives a ranking of 10-30. He has for some time considered this test to be outdated and the results too variable and unreliable. .

The new University of Waikato test, developed over the past couple of years, eliminates those variables and guarantees the batch tested has an activity that is above the stated rating. “It’s far more accurate, far more scientific and is quicker for the producer. It’s going to be quite clear what you are buying,” Professor Molan says. .

The new “Molan Gold Standard Original Manuka Activity” trademark will have significant brand value and consumer recognition due to the full endorsement of Professor Peter Molan the “founding father of bioactive honey research”. The “Molan Gold Standard Original Manuka Activity” trademark grading and certification system will be undertaken by an independent third party and supported by ongoing, groundbreaking research being conducted by the Waikato University’s Honey Research Unit..

Look for the Gold Standard in Manuka Honey bioactivity, so you can be sure you’re getting real value and real optimum manuka bioactivity.