Consumption of Honey in Wa Municipality, Upper West Region Ghana

Abstract

Honey commonly referred to as ‘liquid gold’’ is a sweet, thick liquid natural food produced by honeybees through secretions of living plants that transform and combine with specific substances of their own, and leave it in the honey comb to ripen and mature. Honey is spoken of by all religious books, and accepted by all generations, traditions and civilizations, both ancient and modern as very medicinal and nutritious food.  The paper explored the source, brand and packaging of honey sold, the quality features of honey consumers look out for during purchase, average consumption (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) of honey, health and nutritional benefits of honey and the concerns consumers have about honey purchased for consumption.

A consumer survey in peri-urban and urban communities in Wa Municipality was carried out. A total number of 400 consumers were accidentally sampled and consented for the study after verifying consumer’s eligibility from a check list.

The study found out that, consumption of honey was common among urban and peri-urban dwellers thereby creates a business opportunity for producers, processors and vendors, Two major sources of honey were identified, wild and apiary honey. The brands identified were also the local and external honeys. Honey in the Municipality is packaged and sold in plastic/rubber bottle, recycled drinking water bottle and beer bottles for consumers. Honey consumers in the Wa municipality commonly use four quality characteristics (flavor, taste, color and thickness) in buying honey for use. They believe that these physical characteristics are all-inclusive in determining the quality of honey and stretches an upright conclusion of honey quality.  The overall daily average quantity of honey consumed per person in Wa Municipality was calculated at 1.7 ml, weekly 11.9ml, monthly 47.6ml and yearly 571.2ml. In terms of access point of honey, consumers buy honey from processors, distributers and vendors. Majority of the consumers buy honey in recycled packaging materials. Additions of water, sugar and melted mattresses as well as grave honey are the adulteration perceptions raised by consumers.