Honey, I shrunk the kids......

There is a leading edge equine centre on the Wirral, Leahurst, which was recently expanded and had the new facilities opened by HRH The Princess Royal, aka old horse face, herself.

During her visit I was chatting to a veterinary salesman about the merits of using honey for the treatment of scraps and cuts on horses legs.

During the conversation, the merits or otherwise of Manuka honey came up. For those of you not up on honey, Manuka is the health food wonder honey of the 21st century, and at £20 a pot in Sainsbury's it should be.

Like all things with a premium price, however, there is a dark side to it. Apparently there is more Manuka honey, which comes exclusively from New Zealand, sold in Sainsbury's in the UK in a year, than the poor old worker bees in NZ are able to produce. Strange eh!

The honey comes from one of the native trees of New Zealand. The Manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium) is the New Zealand version of the tea tree plant. It can be found growing wild in much of the country, but more predominately around coastal areas, with the east cape area of the north island having one of the larger concentrations.

The market for blending Manuka with clover or other lower grade honey has caused the regulatory bodies all sorts of headaches ( sadly one thing Manuka will not cure!) so here are some guidelines to allow you to spot the pukka stuff if you so wish:

Proper UMF Active Manuka Honey complies with all 5 of the following criteria for Genuine UMF Manuka Honey as recommended by the Active Manuka Honey Association.

1. It has the name UMF clearly stated on the front label.
2. It is packed into jars and labelled in New Zealand.
3. It is from a New Zealand company licensed to use the name UMF.
4. It has the UMF licensee’s name on the front label.
5. It has a rating of UMF10 or more.

So there you have it and next time you have a tickly cough, or damage a fetlock make sure you get the right jar.