Development & management of a honey supply programme
Historically, the microbiological total plate count level of honey could vary from less than 100 cfu/g to greater than 50000 cfu/g. From this historical information on the variance of microbiological levels in honey, the need was recognised to develop a supplier programme to control possible microbiological contamination during the harvesting, extraction and processing stages of honey collection. Adding to the international Medical Device ingredient requirements are specifications for physical and chemical contamination, as well as accurate and reliable traceability of the honey from hive to finished product. These additional factors only reconfirmed the need for a robust mechanism for sustainable medical grade honey supply into the international Medical Device market.
To meet the Medical Device ingredient requirements, a supplier network was developed, with suppliers accredited to our organisation ensuring compliance of quality standards and systems. These standards and systems have been developed with the suppliers, to ensure adequacy and practicability of implementation from the Manuka resources to honey harvesting and extraction, and also for honey processing. The strict raw material and finished product specifications for Medical Device ingredients are adhered to rigorously to ensure that honey supplied to the international market is of appropriate quality.
Overview
Operating at the heart of the supply and production chain, we have
established quality management polices and procedures, setting and
ensuring maximum achievable standards to cover the total resource
management, product sourcing, harvest, extraction and production cycle.
Throughout, we operate to and demand stringent and comprehensive
risk management and conformance policies.
Figure 6.1 shows the integrated supply chain management for the extended honey supply programme, which was implemented in 2002, and has been operating effectively ever since.
The honey supply programme involved a series of workshops and education days with landowners, beekeepers and honey extractors. The purpose was to introduce the concept of ‘ medical grade honey’ and develop standards and systems that would enable stringent quality specifications to be met. Once the concept of medical grade honey was introduced to the suppliers, draft protocols for quality management standards were developed and reviewed for each stage of the raw material honey supply chain. Once reviewed, a final set of standards were developed and issued for implementation. Prior to final implementation in the field, one of the last parts of the programme included an assessment of the quality standards. Only those suppliers that pass the assessment are able to supply raw medical grade honey for analysis.
We now have a considerable number of contracted accredited medical grade honey suppliers and extractors, as well as a large pool of contracted general honey suppliers with the potential to become accredited medical grade honey suppliers, as and when honey dressing product growth is seen in the market. We are committed to ensuring large stock piles of medical grade honey are kept available to respond to any market growth for honey dressing products.
Medical grade Manuka honey is grown from a specific resource and harvested and processed purely for that purpose. The Manuka plant is a rapid growing, hardy plant and is native to New Zealand. The Manuka resource of New Zealand is in plentiful supply, which has by no means been exhausted; again allowing for potential future growth of medical grade honey supplies.
Overall, the objective of the supply programme is to assess and manage every stage in the production of the honey, and ensure full traceability back to the hive (Figure 6.2) and collection environment. The quality systems and standards developed ensure that the final product requirements for minimal levels of microbiological, chemical and physical contamination of the honey are met. We have conducted full audits on each accredited supplier against the standards at the implementation stages, and we will continue an audit monitoring programme to ensure continual compliance throughout each honey production season (Figure 6.3).
System and standards
We have set the systems and standards for production of honey, based on international criteria for raw material supply for medical device manufacturing. The systems are also designed for preventing contamination that cannot be removed afterwards, and for the prevention of natural quality deterioration/loss during storage. The honey quality aspects that need to be considered to meet the standards are contamination issues (physical, chemical and microbiological), sensory quality (smell, taste, and colour) and other quality issues such as moisture content, honey fermentation, sugar crystals and Manuka honey gelling character.
Resource management
The honey supply programme has been designed with landowners who are actively engaged with our organisation and our honey suppliers in the production of medical grade honey. The Manuka resource land management standards are based on ‘organic’ land use programmes and require that landowners work closely with beekeepers in all aspects of land management and honey harvesting. In return, accredited landowners who meet the specific requirements of the honey supply programme can expect to see land-usage benefits, and financial reward, from a percentage of the volume of medical grade honey produced off their land.
Above: Integrated supply chain management
Above: Site identification — ensuring product traceability
Harvesting management
For medical grade honey harvesting, we require strict beekeeper conformance with harvest and apiary management standards. The harvest and apiary management standards involve hive site location and hive management. As part of hive management the beekeeper must use appropriate hive materials and have correct maintenance procedures. The components of the hives and their foundations must be considered, along with pest and disease management. During harvesting, smoker fuel is controlled and the bee removal process is designed in such a way that there is minimal contamination from both the equipment used and the bees themselves. Hygiene throughout the honey harvesting and transportation process is a critical factor (Figures 6.4 and 6.5). The harvest and apiary management standards even extend to supplemental feeding during the winter time.
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