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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.
