Imitation Honey (Hansard, 30 May 1949)

§ 32. Mr. Driberg
asked the Minister of Food what are the ingredients of imitation honey; and what is its value as food in comparison with that of real honey.

§ Dr. Summerskill
The principal ingredient of imitation honey is invert sugar—[HON. MEMBERS: "What?"]—invert sugar. It sometimes contains other forms of sugar and may be flavoured, for example, with natural honey. There is no appreciable difference between the food values of imitation honey and natural honey.

§ Sir T. Moore
How does one recognise the inversion of this imitation honey?

§ Dr. Summerskill
Invert sugar is the result of breaking up the sucrose with acid. It is a mixture of glucose and fructose.

§ Mr. Erroll
Can the right hon. Lady say whether there is any difference in taste between real honey and imitation honey?

§ Dr. Summerskill
Very little.

§ Air-Commodore Harvey
Was not the recipe of this honey fully described in "Let us Face the Future"?