Press releases:

• ABOUT AHMA

ABOUT AMHA

AMHA was established in September 2002 from an industry group which operated from the mid 1990s and which recognized the need to develop and maintain for members the UMF® brand as representing products for superior anti-bacterial applications.. UMF® is the registered name and trademark of AMHA and can be used only by licensed users who meet set criteria which includes the monitoring and auditing of the quality of their honey.

Background

• UMF® is the AMHA trade mark applied to honey which has a unique type of antibacterial property which is naturally present to varying degrees in all Manuka honey. UMF® Manuka Honey, the type of Manuka honey which has a high enough level of this antibacterial property to warrant carrying the UMF® trademark, is highly sought-after.
• Laboratory studies have shown that UMF® Manuka Honey is effective against a wide range of very resistant bacteria including the major wound-infecting bacteria and the stomach ulcer causing bacteria Helicobacter pylori.
• The UMF® honey has a particular quality which is additional to the usual properties of honey. But not all Manuka honeys have a therapeutically useful level of this quality and among those that do, the strength varies.
• The UMF® Standard was established by Dr Peter Molan MBE, Professor in Biological Sciences at the University of Waikato , on behalf of AMHA, to identify and set apart the type of Manuka honey which has the therapeutic property. The small proportion of Manuka honey that has the special property is identified by the AMHA trade mark UMF®.
• The trade mark UMF® is followed by a number that indicates the strength of the antibacterial property present in a batch of UMF® Manuka Honey. This will have been tested in a licensed laboratory after the honey has been packed.
• The number that follows the trade mark UMF® is the concentration of a standard antiseptic (phenol) that has the same strength of the antibacterial property as present in the honey. This is the usual way that the strength of antiseptics is shown. Thus the UMF® test rating shows the antibacterial property of the honey in a meaningful way to consumers.
• A UMF® 5 rating is the minimum UMF® test rating to qualify to use the trade mark UMF®. <