The Australian honey industry has rejected research claiming that its product is the world's most contaminated, and could be linked to cancer.

An international study published in the Food Additives and Contaminants Journal found that 41 of 59 Australian honey samples contained traces of natural plant toxins from weeds such as Patterson's curse and fireweed.

The researchers warned that pregnant and breastfeeding women should be careful about their honey consumption, to avoid the risk of organ damage in their children.

But the Australian Honeybee Industry Council's Trevor Weatherhead said those claims were based on outdated research, relying on samples collected between 2008 and 2012.

"Patterson's curse, you don't see much of it around nowadays because of the biological control program that's been put in place to get rid of it, and it's been fairly successful," Mr Weatherhead said.

Rural news in your inbox? Subscribe for the national headlines of the day.

"There may have been some somewhere but it would have been negligible, and there would have been negligible amounts of honey produced off that Patterson's curse because it's just not there."

The report said all but five of the sample honeys contained higher levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids than would be allowed under a proposed European Food Safety Authority standard.

The samples met Australia's current food safety standards, which allow honey sourced from restricted plants to be sold as long as it is diluted through blending with other honey.

Beekeepers criticise 'misleading' honey research

The industry has accused the study of exaggerating the risk posed by toxins in Australian honey.

Jodie Goldsworthy, from Victorian honey company Beechworth Honey, told ABC Goulburn Murray the research was "misleading" and reporting of the findings had been "alarmist."

"It overstates consumption of honey and underestimates body weight, creating a really misleading conclusion that's really out of touch with reality," Ms Goldsworthy said.

"In Australia, on average, we consume about a kilogram of honey per person [per year] and in the research they used a figure that would equate to about 7.5 kilograms of honey a year [per person].

"So that data is around seven times greater than what's considered normal."

Ms Goldsworthy also accused the researchers of not verifying that other honey samples were truly what they said they were, before declaring Australian products the "most contaminated".

"The study compares Australian honey to internationally produced honey, but first it doesn't validate or verify the authenticity of the honey," she said.

"It's a well-known fact that a large proportion of honey produced in countries like China is adulterated with sugar syrup.

"If the samples tested were not genuine honey, that could significantly skew Australian results against international honey."