After the European court decision restricting the marketing of honey with residues of transgenic pollen, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food has announced a monitoring plan.
The monitoring plan will begin in January 2012, the results of the report will be presented in April and according to the methodology the work will include 45 samples from apiaries in Solola, Quetzaltenango and San Marcos, 30 more in Escuintla, Retalhuleu and Huehuetenango, 20 from Jutiapa, Sacatepequez and Chimaltenango, and 10 from Petén, Alta and Baja Verapaz, El Progreso, Chiquimula, Jutiapa, Guatemala and Quiche.
Eviday, a sugarcane honey comany, will ship the first containers in March.
Eviday is located in Sabana Grande, in the Los Santos Province, and plans to export 1.600 boxes per month.
An article in Prensa.com explains that “the raw material to manufacture this product comes from 5 sown hectares in Los Santos. However, to cope with increased demand from the European market, these hectares won’t suffice, so they will buy sugar cane from small growers from Azuero”.
Eviday S.A. is preparing the first shipment of molasses under the Melosa brand to Spain while negotiating more shipments to Japan.
The company can produce 10 gallons (37 liters) of molasses from a ton of sugarcane and it highlighted the need for further support in research to develop varieties with better yields.
An article in prensa.com reported that the Ministry of Agricultural Development said that "the resulting molasses complies with the standards of Spain and Japan as being 100% natural with no preservative or coloring problems."