Comparison efficiency of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Coupled to Liquid Chromatography Method and the Conventional Methods to Identify Honey Adulteration, Iran

Abstract Recently, food fraud has been observed in all aspects more than in the past and one of the most common impurities has been identified in honey. Industries try to produce fake honey to make more profit. Recently, honey has been adulterated in more sophisticated ways that are difficult to detect by conventional methods. In this study, a new isotope ratio mass spectrometry method was used in comparison with traditional chemistry methods based on the national standards of Iran (ISIRI). twenty different honey samples were collected from other regions. These samples have been examined using two methods to determine authenticity. The first one is related to the C13 isotope and using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) and the second one is conventional methods based on ISIRI. The results have been analyzed by Prism software, and based on this, the difference between the confidence level of IRMS method and conventional methods was statistically significant and the p-value was less than 0.05.