Beware of adulterated honey in the market, warn experts

Worse still, honey can be contaminated with antibiotics factors such as colour.

"The flavours and colours of honey depend on the nectar sources (where the bees buzz). Acacia honey is dark amber. Presuppose honey is dark brown. Alfalfa honey is from flowers, and it is light amber, while buckwheat honey, premium honey and clover honey range from white water colour to extra light amber.

Orange blossom honey, which is used to bake cake, is white light. Each type has a different colour, and we cannot say they are adulterated because of their brown, white, light or extra light amber colours," he explained.

"It is difficult to determine the purity of honey based on its colour, because it is not accurate," he added.

According to Abdullah Al-Nizwani, a beekeeper based in Ibri, fake honey is sharp on the tongue. The taste remains a little longer because of the sugar.

"Impure honey is runny, because it is mixed with water and other types of honey. Sidr honey is heavier on the stomach than Simr honey which is light."

While there are several simple methods to test the purity of honey, Zaher Al-Mahrooqi, Crops Technician at the Sultan Qaboos University farm, has clarified the components of pure honey. Natural honey is made up of fructose (40.05 per cent), glucose (34.02 per cent), cane sugar (2.36 per cent), water (17.7 per cent), sucrose (1.5 per cent) and other natural ingredients (4.37 per cent).