Incidence of Pollen from Genetically Modified Plants in Bee Products - A Review

Abstract

Bees collect nectar, pollen and resins to produce honey. Pollen, which is present naturally in honey, is the main responsible for the presence of genetically modified (GM) material in honey. GM plants produce pollen containing transgenic DNA, nectar containing novel proteins or resins that bees may consume. Today there is an in creasing interest in natural food products, free of any contaminant, knowing that GM plants are grown in higher quantities every year. With GM plants, there is a possibility that transgenic DNA may be p resent in the plant parts and secretions collected by bees. Romania is one of the countries that grow GM maize (MON810) and is also a honey exporting country. For this reason it is necessary to develop different complementary analysis techniques to determine the presence of GM material in different bee products, so the export market will not suffer from the rejection of honey which is found to have traces of GM material in the composition.