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For as long as I can remember, it's been conventional wisdom that honey is a more healthful source of sweetness than table sugar (I used it in place of brown sugar last night in a batch of rice pudding, in an attempt to make it more virtuous). It is said to have antibiotic properties and has even been found to just as effect in suppressing a cough as over-the-counter medication. However, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has recently done a special investigation into the world of honey production and importation and has found that honey, at the least the stuff produced on a large scale, has a seedy underbelly.
Here's some of what the Seattle P-I has found in their honey investigation:
- Importers are fudging the country of origin to avoid tariffs and taxes.
- There's no legal definition of what constitutes pure honey, which makes it increasingly difficult for government agents to get bad honey off shelves.
- Until 1997, China was the largest supplier of honey to the U.S. That year, the Chinese hives contracted a bacteria that slashed production. Instead of killing the hives, Chinese beekeepers applied an antibiotic that is illegal in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Now all the hives are tainted and the contaminated honey continues to find its way into our supply.
- It's impossible to tell via laboratory testing where honey comes from, and so while much of the honey on store shelves is labeled, that information is unverifiable and thus suspect.
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1-06-2009 @8:37PM MM said... If it's impossible to even detect differences between honey from different origins, why do we have to worry about the differences between them?
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1-06-2009 @8:20PM Marisa McClellan said... Well, it's possible to detect flavor differences, which is the thing most folks look for. And it's not particularly healthy to eat honey with major contaminants.
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1-06-2009 @8:46PM Rt said... So odd, Marisa's comment disappeared. Anyway -
Health concerns are usually measured in parts per million (ppm) so it would depend on how much bad honey you eat. Nothing is ever 'pure'.
I think MM's point, correct me if I am wrong, may have been the commercialization of honey. Yes, fans will say there are differences but will the rest of us know?
If science can not detect a difference why would our palates be able to?
I'm thinking "It's impossible to tell via laboratory testing where honey comes from,..." doesn't address taste. But one never knows.
I just know I love honey - especially on ice cream. Oh yeah, 'honey bear honey drink' (chocolate milk with cinnamon and honey). A great substitute in many, many situations. I just don't buy into all the hype that honey has attracted these days.
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1-06-2009 @10:20PM Karen Aguiar said... This why it is so important to buy your honey from a local beekeeper.
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1-06-2009 @10:38PM MM said... Yes, that was essentially my point. Obviously major contaminants are bad, but wouldn't dangerous levels of most chemicals also be detectable by laboratory tests?
I completely understand there are differences in flavor in honeys produced from different plant species and that can make for an entirely different and fascinating discussion, but it sounded like the primary issue being raised in the article was mislabeling geographic origin, not mislabeling of the food the bees were feed.
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1-06-2009 @10:35PM Marisa McClellan said... I think the issue is that right now, honey is deemed acceptable depending on the part of the world it's from, not from laboratory tests. There's no standard for chemically pure honey, so they can't test it and say yay or nae. They can only block it according to where it came from. Which is why the issue of testing to determine geographic origin comes up.
And since the Chinese honey is tainted with harmful antibiotics, they bring it in through Russia (whose honey is acceptable) and so it would be good if there was some sort of easy test to determine if that was happening.
But yes, I'm with you. Buying local honey from beekeepers you know is the best way to go. I'm lucky that I have a friend who keeps bees, so I get most of my honey from her.
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1-06-2009 @10:54PM Rachelle said... I second Karen's comment -- buy your honey from local beekeepers. It's good for combating airborne allergies!
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1-07-2009 @8:24AM Laura said... I get all of my honey at the farmer's market or through my CSA. I try to do this with as many types of food as I can, in general.
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1-07-2009 @8:26AM Melissa A. said... I buy local honey that is available at all grocery stores which is great that I don't have to go out of my way for it.
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1-08-2009 @11:48AM Patrick said... I just got a bottle of Active Manuka Honey 16+ delivered a few days ago. It tastes fantastic, and it's healing the cut on my arm nicely.
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1-13-2009 @9:24AM Gobo said... Adding a second to Patrick's comment about Manuka honey. It's imported from New Zealand, and the quality control down there is pretty stringent.
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1-27-2009 @7:47AM Ruth said... How to determine if a bottle of honey is pure or of good quality can be tricky. If there's no way for me to get access to bee farms or beekeepers for honey, I would go for known and reputable brands.
Read article on "How to Test for Pure Honey": http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/pure-honey.html
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