권정현 (식품의약품안전평가원)

권정현 (식품의약품안전평가원)

Honeycomb is a natural food composed of both honey and beeswax. With growing consumer interest in health and natural foods, the demand for unprocessed honeycomb products has been steadily increasing. However, concerns have emerged regarding the adulteration of honeycomb with paraffin wax to enhance appearance or increase volume. Since paraffin is difficult to distinguish visually, such adulteration may deceive consumers and pose potential health risks with long-term ingestion. In this study, a pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) method was developed to detect and quantify paraffin adulteration in honeycomb. The pyrolysis products of each sample were analyzed via GC/MS, and major paraffin components (n-alkanes) were quantified using analytical standards. A total of 15 honeycomb samples were tested, with paraffin detected in several of them. The method was validated through evaluation of calibration curve linearity (R²), limits of detection (LOD), limits of quantification (LOQ), repeatability (as relative standard deviation, RSD), and recovery rates. These results suggest that the Py-GC/MS method can serve as a reliable tool for monitoring foreign substances with similar chemical properties in honeycomb and related products.