Nearly Half of Honey Tested Contains Mostly Rice Syrup, Wheat Syrup or Sugar Bee

[Michael Bush]

https://returntonow.net/2019/04/21/fake-honey-up-to-half-of-honey-is-not-honey-new-testing-technology-reveals/?fbclid=IwAR0qNmnX1lcPne9i6dRYwUj8bowLwIkg7dSJvnfOUaKNNG-BLDjmTCxJZwA

[herbhome]

Thanks Michael,

This is a strong argument for buying direct from the beekeeper.

[Ben Framed]

Hum, what a shame for companies to ruin such wonderful honey 🍯.

[saltybluegrass]

Help me with the math here-
One ounce of raw, unfiltered honey contains approximately 20 vitamins, 18 amino acids, 16 minerals, and a ton of antioxidants
There?s a ton in an ounce?

Is there an inherent problem with Chinese honey as far as say, questionable ingredients? Poor regulations, Etc? Poor unaware American consumer !! 

I saw on the news the fda has warned frozen pie makers they must include at least 25% real fruit. There?s no telling what we are eating in boxes.

[Michael Bush]

>This is a strong argument for buying direct from the beekeeper.

Yes.

>One ounce of raw, unfiltered honey contains approximately 20 vitamins, 18 amino acids, 16 minerals, and a ton of antioxidants
There?s a ton in an ounce?

The author is apparently not good at math...

[saltybluegrass]

When I talk to people I mention there?s nothing more medicinal than honey from your area as it contains healing properties specific for where you live as in pollen allergies

[Skeggley]

One of the problems with this report is that there is no name naming, which brands were tested? Which brands failed? Most here know which ones but cannot name names.
Yeah we're smart cookies here, we export our good honey and import cheap honey, mix it with a bit of Oz honey then call it our own... Do we need to label country of origin? Nope.
https://www.change.org/p/imported-honey-must-be-banned-or-labelled-with-country-of-origin-eg-china-argentina/u/24454437?cs_tk=Ai3p3c1QS_mJIfPzwFwAAXicyyvNyQEABF8BvB6XYHSywk7ISgXBt-8BRaA%3D&utm_campaign=95ca13b6f2d34dacbd32f56e32450462&utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_update&utm_term=cs

The problem is that we are all tainted now in the publics eye so why not just buy the cheap stuff...
Name and shame I say.

[CoolBees]

HAHA! I get to go settle an argument with my wife now! ... I'm always complaining that I can taste sugar in purchased honey(s). She's says I'm just prejudiced towards my own honey - but I'm serious. Ha! Now I can show her some proof. (Not that she'll listen [chuckles])

On a serious note, it [often] seems whenever we go some where (friends house) for dinner and my wife tells them I keep bees, people often say something like "we got some really awesome honey from (country - fill in the blank)".  First - its annoying - if I wanted honey from that place, I'd go there and raise bees. But I digress. ... 2nd, they want me to taste it - so I do. It usually tastes like a combination of molasses, smoke, and sugar syrup. The most recent 2 were from Vietnam, and South Africa (respectively). Nasty stuff in every case.. .. modified honey is a pet peeve of mine (one of many I suppose). Cheers! ... and don't get me started about how nasty USA store bought (grocery store) honey is .... especially those little honey packets, "Put this crap in your coffee" ... "no thanks!". ... Grrrrrrr!

Thanks for posting this Michael.

[Michael Bush]

I think if there is a lesson it's make sure you know and trust the beekeeper you buy your honey from.

[CoolBees]

The local farmers markets around here get $15 to $26 per lb (average) for local, raw, unfiltered, "wild flower" honey ... and you still don't know what your getting.

Last lady I asked (at the farmers market) said her outfit runs a thousand hives in Monterey County. That's an agricultural county - lots of chemicals. ... and I've seen the syrup bottles on all of their hives ...

... but I trust ME and My bees - I can taste the difference  ... harumph.

[Michael Bush]

Yes.  I wonder how many of those adulterated honey were not directly adulterated, but indirectly--i.e. they were fed a lot of syrup that the bees stored, rather than beekeepers mixing syrup with the honey...

[Oldbeavo]

Skeggley
The Australian results are a bit skewed as they were testing for sucrose, white sugar, and set the level at 5% for the limit.
Some of the honey in Australia will naturally have greater than 5% sucrose, Red Gum honey is one that I know will go above the limit set by the testers.
There are some other honeys that I can't recall that naturally exceed 5%.
The researchers won't say what type of honey or what brands they tested. They just say it was a selection from the supermarket shelf.
If you read the labels you will see that some brands declare imported product used but will still sell as "Pure Honey".

[van from Arkansas]

HAHA! I get to go settle an argument with my wife now! ... I'm always complaining that I can taste sugar in purchased honey(s). She's says I'm just prejudiced towards my own honey - but I'm serious. Ha! Now I can show her some proof. (Not that she'll listen [chuckles])

On a serious note, it [often] seems whenever we go some where (friends house) for dinner and my wife tells them I keep bees, people often say something like "we got some really awesome honey from (country - fill in the blank)".  First - its annoying - if I wanted honey from that place, I'd go there and raise bees. But I digress. ... 2nd, they want me to taste it - so I do. It usually tastes like a combination of molasses, smoke, and sugar syrup. The most recent 2 were from Vietnam, and South Africa (respectively). Nasty stuff in every case.. .. modified honey is a pet peeve of mine (one of many I suppose). Cheers! ... and don't get me started about how nasty USA store bought (grocery store) honey is .... especially those little honey packets, "Put this crap in your coffee" ... "no thanks!". ... Grrrrrrr!

Thanks for posting this Michael.

Cool, if you would like a simple test for pure honey read: simple test.

Place a few drops of honey into a glass of water.  Real honey falls into the water and puddles to the bottom and will stay puddled for a while.  Sugar honey will dissolve into the water.

The last step in honey making by bees, just prior to capping is the honeybees add enzymes to repel water.  These enzymes cause the honey to puddle in a glass of water as the honey resist mixing with water.  Yes, stirring will cause the honey to dissolve.

[CoolBees]

Very interesting and educational Van. Now I've got to test my honey and check it out. 

Thanks for sharing that.

Alan

[Skeggley]

Skeggley
The Australian results are a bit skewed as they were testing for sucrose, white sugar, and set the level at 5% for the limit.
Some of the honey in Australia will naturally have greater than 5% sucrose, Red Gum honey is one that I know will go above the limit set by the testers.
There are some other honeys that I can't recall that naturally exceed 5%.
The researchers won't say what type of honey or what brands they tested. They just say it was a selection from the supermarket shelf.
If you read the labels you will see that some brands declare imported product used but will still sell as "Pure Honey".

Ok fair enough but I still think that specifying country of origin should be stated and if it's not a big deal why is it being fought against?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-03/capilano-and-supermarkets-accused-of-selling-fake-honey/10187628?section=business
Not sure if our Northern friends can access this link but FYI Oldbeavo, all samples passed the C4 test but not all passed the NMR test in this particular study.

[saltybluegrass]

Alan, I?m sure we can?t guarantee a clean product around Agri businesses but here in residential areas , how can we confirm our bees aren?t visiting sprayed yards?  My son tells me I can?t sell my honey as (organic) as I don?t know where it is coming from.
Does using (wildflower) name circumvent this?

[Michael Bush]

You can't sell your honey as Organic because 1) the USDA had co-opted the term.  They now own it.  And 2) there is no organic standard for honey.  Because of NAFTA Brazil can sell honey here that they call Organic because Brazil says it is.  But we have no standard so we can't...

If we DID have a standard, then the problem is that the bees forage the 8,000 acres around them and since very few people can guarantee that nothing is sprayed with chemicals for 8,000 acres around them, that would be a problem.

[CoolBees]

Alan, I?m sure we can?t guarantee a clean product around Agri businesses but here in residential areas , how can we confirm our bees aren?t visiting sprayed yards?  My son tells me I can?t sell my honey as (organic) as I don?t know where it is coming from.
Does using (wildflower) name circumvent this?

Salty, you are correct. I have no way to control, or even know about, sprays used in the neighborhoods around. I'm just glad that I'm nowhere near any commercial agriculture, which I hope lessens the impact of chemicals coming into the hives. Additionally, actual "neighborhoods" are at the farther limit of the bees normal flight range. It's fairly "empty" in the nearer distances.

As for naming, around here the terms used (that I've seen) are "raw, unfiltered, wildflower, pure, natural, etc".

[Oldbeavo]

You can get organic certification in Australia but your site must be inspected and have no farm land within a 5km radius of your hives. Very difficult to achieve unless you get into some very remote forest country or some outback areas.

[Acebird]

There?s no telling what we are eating in boxes.

If it is a sweet food then the choice is either beets or corn.