Microbiologist and students publish paper on honey

Dr. Andrew Greene

Dr. Andrew Greene in the Department of Biology/Toxicology recently published a study in the journal Bios on bacterial contamination in honey.  The research involved three students: Amy Breslin (Biology '10), Brandi Meyer (Biology '09) and Wendy Dria (Biology '11), as well as Dr. David Vanata from the Department of Health Sciences.

Dr. Greene and his students showed that locally produced honey contained higher levels of bacteria than commercially blended honey.  They also used molecular techniques to examine the diversity of bacteria in both honey types, and determined that the bacteria involved where not introduced by human handling.  Future studies will be needed to determine if locally produced honey presents any increase in health risk.