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Is Australian honey safe to eat?

Richard Cornish
Richard Cornish

Honey collected from the Australian bush is clean and green.
Honey collected from the Australian bush is clean and green.Supplied

Recent stories about Irish research into supermarket honeys would have us believing that all Australian honey is toxic. The reality is a little more complex and rather different from the headlines. The truth is that in Australia we produce some of the cleanest honey in the world, collected in our pristine native forests.

The controversy arose after Irish researchers tested supermarket honey bought from supermarket shelves in Europe. Some of the samples were Australian. Australian food authorities allow honey collected from a weed called Paterson's curse (also known as Salvation Jane) to be blended with other honey and sold. Paterson's curse is a purple-flowering pasture weed that contains pyrrolizidine alkaloid, a toxin. Drought and other issues have led beekeepers to target the weed for nectar because, in some places, it is prolific and accessible. The practice is not widespread and is frowned upon by many in the honey industry.

The furore has highlighted the clean, green honey collected from the Australian bush. Beekeepers target flowering native trees such as stringybark, river red gum and coastal banksia. This is a often a more difficult and time-consuming practice, as the locations of flowering trees are more remote and often difficult to access. Although bees can fly for up to 10 kilometres when foraging, they tend to stay close to the nectar source of the flowering trees, so are less likely to feed on weed species. The resulting honeys have unique flavours and an amazing range of aromas, flavours and textures. They are known as Australian native mono-floral honeys.

Below are a few favourites, listed from mild to stronger-flavoured.

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Yellow box

A eucalyptus with rough bark growing in the forests of eastern Australia, its botanic name, Eucalyptus melliodora, means honey-scented. Yellow box honey is light golden coloured with a mild, smooth texture and delicate citrus finish. Good for sweetening tea and making salad dressing.

Blue gum

A smooth and buttery honey from Eucalyptus globulus, also known as Tasmanian blue gum, native to Tasmania and the south-west coast of Victoria. Good breakfast honey.

Ironbark

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The bark is thick and rough and can be black to blood-coloured. The honey produced from ironbark is light, dense and has a slight savoury tang. Great for marinades.

River red gum

These giants line the waterways of eastern and Central Australia. Red gum makes for a gentle honey with a hint of almond aroma and very buttery texture. A great all-rounder.

Black box

You'll find black boxes in the inland woodlands of eastern Australia, and the honey is deep orange in colour with a subtle orange-rind aroma and a clean, sharp finish that tingles on the tongue. Sweeten iced tea or use in baking.

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Stringybark

Known for their rough, fibrous bark, there are several stringybark species. The honey is dark amber in colour, thick and dense with a slightly malty aroma and rich mouthfeel. It finishes with a clean tang and is the perfect honey for porridge or on sourdough toast with butter.

Coastal banksia

Their hairy seed cones inspired children's author May Gibbs to create the villainous Banksia Men in her book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie but the flowers help produce honey that smells extremely similar to baked bananas. Thick and dark, banksia honey is perfect on fruit with whipped cream.

Leatherwood

A Tasmanian understorey tree from the wet west coast of the state, it has a flower like an old-fashioned rose. The honey from the leatherwood sets into a pale yellow solid with a texture like cool butter. It has an intense, heady floral aroma that some find overwhelming. It is an excellent flavouring for biscuits and ice-cream.

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Richard CornishRichard Cornish writes about food, drinks and producers for Good Food.

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