Fake Tainted Honey From China @ A Store Near You

[otohara]

Peruse the sweetener shelf of a US supermarket, and you'll find an array of bear-shaped jars glistening with golden honey, all of it priced to move.

Ever wonder why the ongoing collapse of US honeybee populations hasn't caused a scarcity of honey or a spike in prices? I think the ace investigative reporter Andrew Schneider of Food Safety News might have the answer. In an August investigation, Schneider revealed:

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.

Today, Schneider is back with a new report, already highlighted by my colleague Stephanie Mencimer but worth delving into more.

Schneider rounded up more than 60 samples of honey from retailers in 10 states and the District of Columbia and had them analyzed at a Texas A&M lab. The result: three-quarters of the samples were "ultra-filtered"—a process in which honey is "heated, sometimes watered down and then forced at high pressure through extremely small filters to remove pollen, which is the only foolproof sign identifying the source of the honey."http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/11/supermarkets-sell-fake-honey

[MineralMan]

1. Did they also test it for those "illegal antibiotics and heavy metals?"

Do you have a reference for the "tainted" part of your headline? The article says that the FDA blocks import of contaminated honey. Also, American honey producers also use ultrafiltration. It seems that US consumers like their honey clear and transparent. Does honey require origins on the label?

Personally, I buy my honey from a beekeeper. It's very nice, and the gallon jar has a nice chunk of comb in it. Every once in a while I break off a piece and chew it. After the honey's gone from the comb, I can continue to chew the beeswax. Good times.

[htuttle]

3. That's how I cured my hay fever

Just make sure to find honey from within 10-20 miles from where you live.

[MineralMan]

7. I don't have hay fever, so it doesn't really matter.

But, I buy honey once a year at the farmer's market, from a beekeeper. Pretty good stuff. I like the buckwheat honey best, but there are other good honeys here in Minnesota too. Nice maple syrup, as well. I keep meaning to tap my huge sugar maple in the front yard, but still haven't done it yet.

[tsuki]

18. OMG. When I live up north, husband and I did that. But no one told

me not to boil it down in the house.

I buy honey only from beekeepers I personally know. I have heard reports of thinning it down with corn syrup.

[MineralMan]

22. Somehow I know not to boil it in the house. I have a propane burner

I could use, and a pot that holds about 10 gallons. Maybe this year.

[tsuki]

26. I am glad you are smarter than I. It was a rough clean up, but it was yummy.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. More garbage from China. How lucky we are that all our manufacturing jobs are over there...

And now our food is coming from there, tainted.

[MineralMan]

8. You can buy US honey. Just read the label.

In fact, depending on where you live, you can buy your honey directly from a beekeeper. Instead of complaining, go buy local honey. It's available to you. The Tupelo honey produced near Tallahassee is some of the best honey in the world. Go get some.

See this link:

http://www.floridatupelohoney.com/tupelofacts.cfm

[redqueen]

10. Did you see the part where this crap has been shipped to IL?

I was just buying honey last night. The majority were from (drumroll please) that's right, IL.

[MineralMan]

12. Buy local honey from local producers. I have no idea where

you are, but there is probably honey produced there. There's honey produced in Illinois, too. Read the label.

[redqueen]

13. I normally do. I would love to.

Unfortunately I don't have gas money this month to drive around looking for it. I used to be able to get it at the one local grocery store. Not anymore.

Also, I guess you missed it somehow, but I was actually reading the actual labels, which is how I noticed the sudden popularity of honey that comes from IL.

Thanks for the condescending advice just the same, though. 'Preciate it.

[AnneD]

24. Your local farmers market...

should have local honey. A natural foods store will have some. My best resource...your county extension agent.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

14. I do. I buy local honey, thank goodness. nt

[MineralMan]

17. Then you're not getting honey from China.

That's good. Not everyone cares where their honey comes from. But everyone can get American grown and produced honey, if they wish. You don't have to worry, it'll say so right on the label. People are proud of their local honey, and they'll tell you where it came from. It's more expensive, but good things are, I find.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

20. Yes. :) I try to buy American, but it's not easy.

I would like my hard-earned money to go only to American workers. Our country is in trouble.

[PearliePoo2]

4. If it comes from China...I put it back on the shelf.

Same thing now with products from Japan.
There's too big of an incentive to pass on contaminated products for profit.

[closeupready]

5. Me, 2 - on both counts.

Sadly, I think Japan's food products will be of questionable quality for at least the rest of my life. Sad, because I love Japanese food. :(

[dembotoz]

6. i always thought a tainted honey was a fallen woman.

but seriously
even our honey comes from china?

[AnneD]

25. You are thinking about tainted dove...

or soiled rose.

[kestrel91316]

9. I buy local honey. Happy that I can. It's EXTREMELY pricey so I don't use much.

[silverweb]

11. They're also subbing corn syrup.

I read some time ago that many honey suppliers are now mixing mostly high-fructose corn syrup with a little honey and not labeling it as such. In fact, I recently bought a small jar of honey at the corner store that was not my usual source and learned very quickly that it was not pure honey.

Here's one way to tell:
Put a teaspoon of honey in a tablespoon or so of cooking oil and microwave it for 30 seconds. If the honey thins and is easy to stir with the oil, it's real honey. If the honey forms a taffy-like blob that gets hard as it cools, it's mostly HFCS (and candy making relies on this property of corn syrup).

The article I read about the corn syrup substitution said that the majority of popular brands in U.S. grocery stores are at least partly corn syrup now.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

15. if you can get your hands on local honey

it is the way to go...we have a beekeeper/honey producer near us and if you aren't scared to death of bees, you can walk right out into the hives and he gives tours of the 'production facility' any time he can...he is very proud of his trade and his honey...

sP

[AtomicKitten]

16. Buy it a local farmer's market. Local honey is key in treating allergies homeopathically.

It's expense but well worth it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. i buy those bear shaped bottles. Won't anymore. Thanks for the heads up

[bvar22]

21. Even honey from "Local BeeKeepers"...

...can be nothing more than Corn Syrup reprocessed through a bee.
Most Commercial Bee Yards keep such a high density of hives
that there is no possible way for the bees to forage for natural Honey Sources,
so they stick on Corn Syrup feeders,
then call the Product "100% Natural Honey".
69cents a pint Corn Syrup converted to $9.00/pint "Natural Honey".
It happens.

Tightly packed Commercial Bee Yards that feed Corn Syrup to their Bees in areas where there is no natural forage is another reason WHY there would be no pollen in the Honey.

We have observed local Bee Keepers put sugar feeders on their hives during Flow Season with Production Supers on their hives.
They later bottle and sell the product as 100% Organic Honey,
and for all legal purposes, they are telling the truth,
but it is not the same.

There was a Drought/Heat Wave in the central states this year.
It killed all the natural clover and most wild flowers in early spring here in Central Arkansas.
We were forced to feed our bees Cane Sugar to keep them alive
since there was not enough natural forage for them to store for Winter.
But we still see local vendors of 100% Natural Honey selling their product.

We are Purists when it comes to our honey.
If we are forced to put a feeder on our hives, we take off Production Supers so that they will not be tainted or diluted with Reprocessed Sugar Water or Reprocessed Corn Syrup.

Corn Syrup is cheaper and easier to use than Cane Sugar,
but it is something we would never feed to our bees.

This year, we will take off no honey.
Its part of The Deal.
We will also buy NO "100% Natural Honey" from any local vendor.
I guess it is possible that at their place there were plenty of flowers this Summer,
but that seems unlikely to us.

The only way to know for sure is to Keep your own Bees.


......................................100% Pure Natural Wildflower Honey

[ProdigalJunkMail]

23. you can know by VISITING your local honey source

and learning about how they do 'production.' you don't have to keep your own bees (though I think that would be really rewarding). my preference is for sourwood honey but wildflower rocks too!

sP

[MineralMan]

27. My parents have a small citrus farm in California.

Each year, a local beekeeper puts hives in the orchard there. There's a modest fee for that service, but it comes with a couple of quarts of orange blossom honey. That is one of the best varieties of honey I have ever tasted. Can't get that here in Minnesota, but there will be some when I'm home for Thanksgiving.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

28. that is one of my joys in getting to travel

in that i get to sample honey from various places and plant types...my folks live down in FL and i have yet to taste any orange blossom honey...now i have a NEW VARIETY to try...

thanks for the recommendation!

sP

[MineralMan]

29. It's wonderful. The only thing better is to be in an orange

grove while the blossoms are on the trees. The aroma is absolutely orgasmic. The honey is awfully good, too.