Who's Watching Our Nation's Honey Imports? Pretty Much No One
The Seattle P.I. reports that "two-thirds of the honey Americans consume is imported and almost half of that, regardless of what's on the label, comes from China." The first problem with that is some Chinese honey is "tainted with banned antibiotics" such as ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol. The second problem, according to U.S. honey producers who are upset about the lack of oversight, is that whenever contaminated honey is discovered, many companies just sent it back to the importer and never tell the FDA—which means it can be resold elsewhere, including to other U.S. packers.
Bill Allibone, Sue Bee's president, said the company has no intention of telling government regulators about the bad honey it finds.
It's not really Sue Bee's honey, he said, "because technically, it's still (the importer's) property until we pay for it.
"We have not notified the FDA in the past because we don't have title to that property," Allibone said.
"We deal with a core group of suppliers that have long, established ties in the import business, and we're assuming that when we reject a load of honey, they'll return it to the people they purchased it from."
The National Honey Board, an industry trade group created by the USDA, says it's not their job to monitor the safety of imported honey:
"It's not something we do," he said. "We have no knowledge about any bad honey out there. That's not our job, and we never get reports of problems."
But in 2006, he sent an e-mail to honey board members, warning that tainted honey had been found in stores. In his warning, Boynton wrote that the industry had tested samples taken from products on supermarket shelves and found illegal levels of antibiotics.
"Two samples tested positive for ciprofloxacin at the level of 14.07 (parts per billion) and 5.61 ppb," Boynton wrote.
In a recent interview, Boynton initially denied any knowledge of the warning. He stressed that the board is "not a regulatory agency" and has no obligation to notify health agencies of potential hazards.
It seems that local honey producers are the ones sounding the alarm, and they may be doing this partly to stem anticompetitive practices from larger companies. But really, we're fine with that; the past couple of years of food safety failures have made it fairly clear that every food safety issue should be taken seriously.
"Honey Laundering: Tainted product still slips easily into U.S." [Seattle PI]
(Photo: TheTruthAbout...)
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Who's watching most of our nation's imports? Pretty much no one.
Another reason I'm glad I only buy locally produced honey.
Well, I do my part as a honey-loving bear to keep tabs on the quality of what I consume. So far, I've noticed that my best option for pure honey is to visit my local farmer's market.
Still in the honeycomb. MMMMMMmmm!
Although, bear-shaped bottles are still cute! (I wash & refill them with fresh honey.)
That doesn't mean my honey that says it's from New Jersey is really from China, does it? I mean, not that Jersey is a whole lot better than China...but it says New Jersey all over the bottle and gives a specific honey farm name!
Wow, this freaks me out as I just bought a bear full of honey yesterday (for the first time in years, as part of a diet).
I checked, and it was at least distributed by a company in NJ (it had a NJ address on it), but it didnt specifiy where it was made. I'm concerned now.
This may be a myth, but I heard consuming local honey will also help your allergies, as you are getting trace amounts of the pollen, which builds up a tolerance. Luckily, NJ Bee's are so radioactive, anything harmful gets burned away. ;)
There are supposedly health benefits to eating local honey, though I have yet to see any convincing evidence of that. But for my money, Tasmanian leatherwood honey, which obviously cannot come from China, is the best on earth. It's pricey but totally worth it. If you're going to buy honey from halfway around the world, you may as well get the best. Go to [www.tasmanianhoney.com] to find out more.
Beer brewers: Honey makes a wonderful adjunct in beer making. You get the essence of what the bees made the honey from without the sweetness. Honey is wonderful stuff!
And apparently, Chinese honey can cure anthrax! Is there anything honey can't do?
Why would there be antibiotics in Honey? are they giving antibiotics to sick bees?
I buy my honey from the bulk foods section of Whole Foods because I'm happy with the price and quality, but I just now realize that I have no idea if this is foreign or domestic honey.
@Julia Rosenfield: One thing I forgot to add, I read last year that if our nation's imports of shrimp filled the Sears Tower, the FDA wouldn't even get to the second floor before it stopped inspecting. It's pretty scary.
@nicemarmot617: I buy my honey from a local guy who pays Amish people for it. (I live in NJ too).
It's unprocessed pure 100% honey.
Another problem with Honey is many companies Boil it making it lose many of it's health properties. Of course the only problem with 100% honey not boiled or processed is that sometimes you may find bee parts :)
the National Honey Board should take a cue from the American Peanut Council regarding consumer information. Sure, it's "not their job" but don't they want to ensure that people continue to buy honey?
@You-Me-Us: It's the pollen the bee's collect, it should help with Allergies which has been proven.
but honey is a very natural way humans got sugar way back in the day, and our first alcoholic beverages mead.
All and all honey is way better for you than sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
Does "Product of U.S.A." = not from China?
Somehow I think they could argue that if they imported it but shipped and sold it here, they could still label it as being a "Product of U.S.A."
In my neighborhood you can also buy imported Polish "honey flavored syrup." It's mainly corn syrup with a small amount of honey and flavoring. I wonder if this stuff is ever accidentally or intentionally mislabeled?
I'm also paranoid about fake olive oil!
You think it's bad in the US, try living in Japan. I swear half my grocery-shopping time is spent looking on the back of packages to see where stuff comes from - after a few people died last year eating Chinese frozen vegetables, the store by my house changed all the "from China" signs to say "from a foreign country" on the produce for a few weeks. Nobody trusts their crap anymore, but yet almost all our honey (and a lot of other food as well) is Chinese - it scares me, so I pay twice as much now to get Canadian honey. I heard somewhere that local honey can help if you have seasonal allergies, but I live in the middle of Osaka and can't remember the last time I saw a tree, so hell, Canadian it is.
If you're in Texas, look for bee poo from English Honey Farms in El Campo. My dad grew up there (in El Campo, not on the honey farm) :D
I am sure the same thing is happening with apple juice from China. Ever wonder why any "juice" product always has apple juice in the ingredients. China exports close to 50% of the apple juice they produce.
Who's Watching Our Nation's Honey Imports? Pretty Much No One
Well, I was until about an hour ago. Then I starting looking at Consumerist. Cut me some slack, huh?
Orange blossom honey is the best kind. By far. And it's local.
What about Pitcairn Island Honey?
Upside: "Pitcairn has one of the most disease free bee populations of anywhere in the world and the honey produced is of an exceptionally high quality."
Downside: "due to mailing difficulties, honey may not be received for anything from 2 months to 5 months."
@SkittleKicks: I'll see your orange blossom and raise you our local sourwood honey. I'd fight my own sister over that stuff.
@mythago: No doubt. So much for the fuzzy feeling those cute bottles always gave me. I've got your honey right here, Bill Allibone.
CIPRO?! Seriously? As in the same stuff we were trying to avoid giving out to anthrax-fearing Americans to prevent microbes from evolving resistances?
And they're giving it to BEES in China. Shit, it's like we might as well not bother trying to be environmentally and socially responsible if we're still importing stuff from there.
This is a pretty sweet article.
@richcreamerybutter: The guy we buy our honey from at our local farmer's market says that's a myth. He was quick to point out all the other selling points to his honey but told me if it actually helped with allergies he'd be a lot richer than he is. :)
I bought a big bottle of honey at Sam's Club recently. It is labeled Virginia Brand Honey Co. but nothing about origin of said honey. I looked on the website on the bottle, it just goes to some online retailer that sells all sorts of food mail order. So there is no way of knowing where the heck this honey came from. But the label is subtly misleading that it is honey from Virginia, if you don't read the label close.
This is getting old fast. I am still perplexed about the whole olive oil mess and have no idea what labels to believe as far as origin or if it even actually IS olive oil.
Free market FTW! Not.
@mythago: Honey is one of those awesome products that is at a farmer's market no matter where you live. I love it.
@Skankingmike: Well, that and it's much more likely to recrystallize. Because the added step of heating the honey before use is too much for some people.
@morganlh85: Me too, but now I'm wondering about how many of them actually produce their honey and how many of them are just repackaging to turn a quick buck? The labeling on such honey is so minimalistic.
@apronk: Um, I may be wrong, but I thought "Product of U.S.A" just meant that a portion of it was from the US or it was finished here. There are no controls on what that phrase means. This could mean that the bulk honey was harvested in China and repackaged in the US.
@mythago: Exactly. I only buy pure raw honey from local sources. Some of those products sold in stores aren't even honey. They include corn syrup and HFCS and honey flavors.
@MikeF74: Yup. I believe that's been occurring with the produce now and then, too--a quick trip to the supermarket can get you some nice viable product in advance of the local season, and the consumer is none the wiser.
Okay. So, as a pregnant woman, I'm not supposed to have unpasteurized foods, including honey. So that knocks out the farmer's market.
But apparently, now I can't have commercially produced pasteurised honey, either.
Where's my honey? :(
@SWM,30isoSWF_GitEmSteveDave: Even if it did help with allergies, it would only help if you were allergic to the specific pollinators for that honey. Odds of that are not so good.
I am a beekeeper.
The antibiotics are residues from beekeepers in China eing supplied with Chloramphenicol by their government.
They use it to control a disease called "foulbrood".
It was clearly a very poor choice.
If honey does not say "PRODUCED in USA", then it may only be packed in the USA, which means it is imported honey from who-knows-where. Farmer's market honey is certain to be locally produced, as long as the person selling is an actual beekeeper. Sadly, it is not impossible for someone to get a table at the farmers market, and sell mostly honey that they bought elsewhere, as they may not have enough honey from their own hives to meet demand.
Years ago, honey from South American producers was contaminated by Nitrofurans at even lower trace levels. Regardless of the level of contamination, the honey is unfit for human consumption if it contains anything other than honey. As the contamination was barely detectable, there was never any threat to health, so we all made jokes about it, such as this:
[bee-quick.com]
Crap. I'm eating honey on cornbread right now. . . .
Damn, well I guess getting the cheapest honey shouldn't be my priority any more. Well fuck.
So what?! My honey was sourced from Plum Island, made right here in the USA, just off the coast of Long Island, New York.
Because technically, it's still (the importer's) property until we pay for it.
In Washington, this is called working within the spirit of the law.
What if it's organic honey? Surely that has to be regulated somehow...
The Werner von Braun defense, eh?
note to self: continue to buy honey from the farmer's market where it is sold by local producers. Fuck you, Sue Bee.