The Honey you eat might be fake or even worse.

[Ichingcarpenter]

A third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals. A Food Safety News investigation has documented that millions of pounds of honey banned as unsafe in dozens of countries are being imported and sold here in record quantities. ...

Experts interviewed by Food Safety News say some of the largest and most long-established U.S. honey packers are knowingly buying mislabeled, transshipped or possibly altered honey so they can sell it cheaper than those companies who demand safety, quality and rigorously inspected honey.
This is a serious issue because China has a monumental problem with its honey industry. A bee epidemic in China several years ago led beekeepers there to use an antibiotic that the U.S. FDA has banned in food and that has been linked to DNA damage in children. And as FSN observes, though China has a state-of-the-art honey processing industry, its beekeeping has not kept up -- resulting, for example, in some Chinese honey being contaminated with lead from the use of improper storage containers.

Even worse, Chinese honey brokers have been known to create counterfeit product made of "a mix of sugar water, malt sweeteners, corn or rice syrup, jaggery , barley malt sweetener or other additives with a bit of actual honey." A label is slapped on the container and the adulterated honey is shipped through another country -- for the most part, India -- before finally making its way to the US.


snip.........

For all of the above reasons, honey from India is already banned in the European Union, and it's supposed to be illegal to import food into the U.S. that's been banned in other countries. However, the FDA response has been muted.

http://www.grist.org/food-safety/2011-08-18-honey-laundering-tainted-counterfeit-from-china-in-US

[chrisa]

1. We buy our honey local.

It can't be beaten! :thumbsup:

[malaise]

4. Wanna bet?

One of our neighbors is the son of a beekeeper. :evilgrin:

[ZombieHorde]

27. Bees live in my mouth and make honey as I need it. nt

[Tuesday Afternoon]

46. !

:rofl:

[myrna minx]

55. .

I :spray: honey.

[valerief]

59. LOL!

:rofl:

[Matariki]

73. And I know Bee Kung Fu!

;-)

[Rosa Luxemburg]

8. yes we do too

[TwilightGardener]

19. We do, too--supposedly it's good for conquering local pollen allergies.

[pansypoo53219]

71. yes, i used a jar of local honey one winter + no hay fever.

i haven't had hay fever in years. better than neosporin on cuts too.

[spinbaby]

23. Are you sure it's local?

I know we have a couple of outfits locally that package honey they got somewhere else under their own label. That nice "Amish" jar of honey may not be.

[truedelphi]

35. One way around the honey problem is to pick up your honey at the

Local farmer's market. You can talk to the people selling the honey.

Generally scam artists have better things to do than to sit behind a table and net a small bit of pocket change in exchange for a very good product.

[midnight]

57. True....

[Scuba]

76. Bingo. Support the local farmers market, take care of yourself at the same time. n/t

[Mojorabbit]

39. I keep bees so I know mine is pure. nt

[BlueJazz]

60. Just a side question. Have you heard of Diane Stein ??

[Mojorabbit]

68. Yes I have. :)

I have several of her books and thoroughly enjoy her writing.

[BlueJazz]

83. I've done computer work for her for 7-8 years and go to her house just

...to visit.
She's writing another of her Reiki books at this time.

(saw your Logo pentagram (or whatever you call it)

Looks like one of the ones I used on her web-site. :)

[xmas74]

63. Mine is.

I know the guy and I've walked around his place. That's where I buy it-at his place. Huge difference in taste between the store and his product.

[Le Taz Hot]

75. Me too.

From Bob the Bee Guy. Locally-raised bees process locally-grown pollens. Consuming local honey helps build up a resistance to those with allergies to local pollens. Besides, Bob the Bee Guy looks like Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.

[japple]

2. One more good reason to buy locally produced honey. n/t

[TuxedoKat]

24. I love

your avatar picture. One of these days I'm going to have a similar one when I can get someone to help me do it as I am not that good with computers.

[WhiteTara]

3. I buy local honey, but now I think

I want my own bees too.

[mopinko]

7. +1

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. To all of the above that buy from local growers .... great but

as you can see the demand in the US Can't meet the supply by one third, thus the public is buying crap and the FDA is doing nothing about it.

[amborin]

25. "Sue Bee" or "naturally preferred" supposedly made in USA?

[Mojorabbit]

41. It is mentioned in this article I posted above so

it seems they do test but they don't seem to be as responsible as they could be. http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Honey-Laundering-Tainted-product-still-slips-1298413.php

[amborin]

44. thanks! incredible; the "Sue Bee" label says 100% USA....

guess I should toss it out and find a new source...

[Kurovski]

6. This is good to know. Thank you.

K&R

[WinkyDink]

9. Get used to it.

[mopinko]

10. this article seems hard to believe.

or at least it is very shallow, more like just spreading rumors.

the 2 things that jump out- i have never heard of an antibiotic that damages human dna. it seems improbable that if there were such a drug, it could be safely used on bees. either way, such a drug should be notorious in safe food circles, and should have been a fact included in the story.

the other is the idea that tainted honey would be smuggled into the usa. a- i think the usual remedy in china is to bribe someone to cover it up, and export it through the regular channels. failing that, there are plenty of ways to sell it in china. the idea of running it through india, where they could also easily sell it, is just too over the top for me.

as far as making and exporting fake honey, that seems not only perfectly plausible, but more likely the norm. still, some sort of source or facts would be nice.

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. chloramphenicol

has a toxic effect of the drug on human mitochondria.

other adverse effects
There is an increased risk of childhood leukemia, as demonstrated in a Chinese case-controlled study,<10> and the risk increases with length of treatment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramphenicol


Why Is Chinese Honey Considered Dangerous?

Chinese honeymakers began using various illegal methods to conceal the origin of their honey beginning in about 2001. That's when the U.S. Commerce Department imposed a stiff tariff - as much as $1.20 a pound -- on Chinese honey to dissuade that country from dumping its dirt-cheap product on the American market and forcing hundreds of U.S. beekeepers out of the business.

About the same time, Chinese beekeepers saw a bacterial epidemic of foulbrood disease race through their hives at wildfire speed, killing tens of millions of bees. They fought the disease with several Indian-made animal antibiotics, including chloramphenicol. Medical researchers found that children given chloramphenicol as an antibiotic are susceptible to DNA damage and carcinogenicity. Soon after, the FDA banned its presence in food.

"We need imported honey in this country. But, what we don't need is circumvented honey, honey that is mislabeled as to country of origin, honey that is contaminated with antibiotics or heavy metal," said Ronald Phipps, co-chairman of the International Committee for Promotion of Honey and Health and head of the major honey brokerage firm CPNA International.

Heavy Metal Contamination...... much detail in article.


http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/08/honey-laundering/

............... Much more in this article be sure to read the comments they have both pro and negative.

[mopinko]

14. thank you

[snagglepuss]

21. Several years the LA Times ran a piece by a Chinese scientist who wrote

about bee keeping practices in China such as collecting honey in lead lined pots. Very insightful article.

[mopinko]

26. lead, unfortunately, is very handy stuff.

do you know if they are metal pots lined with metallic lead, or were they clay pots with lead glaze?

[Mojorabbit]

40. Here is a good article on honey laundering

from 09. It has been a hot topic at the state beekeeping conferences.
http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Honey-Laundering-Tainted-product-still-slips-1298413.php

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Locally produced honey is not only safer (and supports local farmers), but

since it's made with local pollen, it can help alleviate allergies.

[tridim]

13. KFC's new "Honey" is mostly HFCS.

I wonder if the tiny bit of honey they use is pre-cut with HFCS?

[quakerboy]

48. "honey sauce", not "honey"

Thats what it says on the package.

[eppur_se_muova]

66. Ah, truth in packaging.

Just like "orange flavored drink" etc.

[yardwork]

15. I'll bet this means that Bit o Honey has fake/tainted honey in it now.

Another childhood treat shot to hell.

[ensho]

16. thanks for this info

nt

[Zorra]

17. Good info. More reason to buy local, and organic if possible.nt

[TwilightGardener]

18. You can really taste the jaggery.

I'm going to have to look up jaggery, actually.

[BiggJawn]

29. Unrefined Cane Sugar.

At least it's not HFCS...

[kestrel91316]

20. I buy local honey. It's pricey, so I use it sparingly. But the flavor is

absolutely out of this world!

[donheld]

22. You don't even know my honey, leave him alone.

:D

[LeftyMom]

28. Even worse, it might be pure bee vomit.

Ick.

[Curmudgeoness]

37. Are you attempting to educate us, or nauseate us? nt

[YellowRubberDuckie]

42. LOL Honey IS bee vomit.

Sorry if it is nauseating, but it is the truth.
Duckie

[iamthebandfanman]

50. maybe our vomit tastes like honey

to dogs.

[Divine Discontent]

77. ...

:rofl: I think you're on to something there! It probably is. I sure love bee 'honey'. ha!

PS - my two cents on this story, went with a friend to an Asian food store, and laughed at the "HONEY" they were selling from China. I told my friend people would have to be crazy to buy that fake looking honey in the cheap looking prepared packaging.

[BiggJawn]

30. I have a supply of German honey

When that's gone, I want to be able to meet the bees that make what I buy.

Fascinating critters, wish I could have a hive of my own, but the neighbours would freak. wrongly so, but they'd still freak.

[PavePusher]

34. So what?

If we all limited ourseves by what makes the neighbors "freak", we'd never get anywhere. Storing hazardous chemicals would certainly be an issue for concern, but unless you neighbors are highly allergic to bee stings, and sneaking onto your property to kick the hives, there shouldn't be an issue.

[BiggJawn]

36. One man's harmless insects are another's Hazardous Chemicals.

Face it, bees freak people out. If they didn't, TV stations wouldn't run "news" stories about "Bee Beards" during Sweeps Week.

I'm the last person to give a flying fuck at a rolling donut hole over what the neighbours think, but I like visits from Law Enforcement even less.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

70. I'd like having you as a neighbor.

The poster you're replying too... who's a right-wing troll, of the "RW about every possible subject" variety, and can FOESADIAF...

not so much.

[arikara]

38. I heard of a guy living in a high rise

who kept bees on his balcony. Downtown Vancouver. The bees did fine foraging on the pollen in flowers in Stanley Park, and the neighbors appreciated the bounty. They wouldn't necessarily know that you had a hive for a few months, just share a jar with them here and there.

[DFW]

53. I live much of the year in Germany

The honey we use is either locally made, or made by people we know in Crete, Corsica or Hungary.

It's pricey, but worth it.

[bvar22]

31. Its worse than that.

In 2006, my Wife & I moved to The Woods and started our own HoneyBee Colonies.
Its the only way to KNOW for sure.


Some Bee Keepers feed their Bees Corn Syrup, and then sell the "honey" produced.
This is especially likely for BeeKeepes with large, overcrowded Bee Yards,
or during Off Years when there is not enough natural forage.

This was an Off Year.
We are very suspicious of any local BeeKeepers selling "100% Pure Natural Honey"
in Arkansas this year.

[madrchsod]

47. that`s close to a billion dollars worth of honey!

i always wondered why home grown honey tasted so different than the commercial brands.

[glinda]

32. I buy local.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[AsahinaKimi]

43. So how about this?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4196SGajTeL._SL500_AA300_PIbundle-12,TopRight,0,0_AA300_SH20_.jpg
I have always bought "the Bear". I hope its not imported..

[amborin]

45. that's what I asked her upthread...turns out it might be:

http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Honey-Laundering-Tainted-product-still-slips-1298413.php

[AsahinaKimi]

49. Guess I won't buy SUE BEE anymore..

I could go with less sugar anyway.

[Bette Noir]

51. I saw a story about this a couple of days ago,

and immediately decided to get all my honey from local producers, even though that costs more.

I haven't trusted food from China since they started poisoning our dogs and cats a few years ago.

[gateley]

69. I don't trust ANYTHING from China, which makes it tough since

just about everything IS! When they get busted, they say they stop, yet keep on doing what got them busted in the first place!

There was something about drywall a few years back, too -- making people sick.

[bertman]

52. Thanks for posting this. Even though I buy local honey, I will ask questions. REC. nt

[DeSwiss]

54. K&R

I http://www.suebee.com/contact">emailed a note along with a link to the http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Honey-Laundering-Tainted-product-still-slips-1298413.php">Seattle newspaper article where a company official tries to justify his disclaiming their company's responsibility in not reporting these law violations when others try to sell fake/adulterated honey to an unaware American public. I told them that I won't be buying anymore of their products but only local from now on.

- I saw a small blurb about this (I can't remember where now), a few weeks ago. Anyway, thanks for the article.

K&R

[DeSwiss]

85. Follow-up to my email to SueBee:

FW: Sue Bee Honey Website Statement
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 5:27 PM

From: "Dave Allibone" <[email protected]>
Add sender to Contacts

To: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sioux Honey Association closely monitors all our purchases to ensure a quality product is available to our customers. Listed below is the link to our Statement of Quality from our website www.suebee.com for your information. Sioux Honey Assocaition is a Marketing Cooperative of domestic beekeepers.

http://www.suebee.com/honey/statement_of_quality

David Allibone
President/CEO

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And my reply:

Re: FW: Sue Bee Honey Website Statement
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 8:03 PM

From: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To: "Dave Allibone" <[email protected]>

So you answer my complaint by ignoring it. Typical. Still not buying your products. I will encourage everyone I know to do the same until you follow the law and report these criminals. Period.

Comprende?

[myrna minx]

56. K&R n/t

[krispos42]

58. There's a guy down the street that sells his own honey, as well as vegetables

Let me put it this way... if those AREN'T beehives swarming with bees on his property, he's been really busy with a very small paintbrush and yellow paint.


It's a bit odd, being in a wealthy suburb and having this right along a busy street in a crowded neighborhood, but his house predates the Revolutionary War, so I imagine the entire neighborhood used to belong to the person living in that house a century or so ago.

:-)

[dogmoma56]

61. i bought some honey, it made the bread wet..!! i quit buying any honey.

[xmas74]

62. Thank goodness I know exactly where my honey comes from!

I drive out there, talk to the nice man, see all the action and hand him a fiver. He does it as a hobby and sells only to maintain his hobby. He's offered to help me out someday in starting my own operation.

[handmade34]

64. as a former beekeeper

only buy local honey... or verify the source... much tainted honey on the market today

[Flatulo]

65. It's only a matter of time before tainted Chinese goods cause

another mass poisoning. Next time it may not be dog, but humans.

[quakerboy]

67. Won't change anything

Life post zygote is cheap when compared to the chance to make a little profit.

[gateley]

80. Well put. nt

[alp227]

72. whoever is making this fake honey deserves to get their heads shoved into beehives. n/t

[amyrose2712]

74. I fear things like this are going to be more common, with Monsanto appointees and such.

http://networkedblogs.com/lMhWu

OBAMA APPOINTS MONSANTO'S VICE PRESIDENT AS SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE COMMISSIONER AT THE FDA

[Ichingcarpenter]

79. ''We're going to put the people's interests ahead of the special interests."

This was Obama's speech in 07 on stopping agribusiness interests vs farmers and this thread I did gave the list of all the agribusiness cronies he's hired. .. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1776813

also in this thread the second link I gave explains the bee producers problems with the FDA.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/08/honey-laundering/

[edhopper]

78. In a rational World

we would have banned ALL food from China a decade ago.

[gateley]

81. All products. I mentioned upstream about some drywall a few years

back, I think it was making people ill. The lead in the toys, the list is endless.

[edhopper]

82. Or do what we did for 200 years

impose a tariff on imported goods so that they are competitive with domestic products and not cheapo crap that floods the market. People can then tell Walmart and Home Depo to screw it.

[snagglepuss]

84. Kick. nt