77% of US retail "Honey" . . . isn't

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/t ... snt-honey/

I guess that's expected when I buy those $1.99 plastic honey bears

This article makes me glad my relatives actually make their own honey and gives plenty of it away to the rest of the family.

Wow! I buy local or greek imported.

Hi- All you have to do to make sure you are really buying honey, is to buy raw honey. You can buy raw honey at Whole Foods and probably Trader Joe's. I am sure you can buy it at some of the farmer's markets too. The only bad thing about raw honey is that it eventually crystallizes. When that happens, you just put the bottle of honey in a pan of warm water.

The beekeeper that we used to rent bees from to pollinate our fruit trees in the spring time, used to make honey out of the hives that he placed in local blueberry fields. The honey had a slight blueberry flavor to it, and was wonderful. We used to sell it at our farm market in Michigan. Hope this helps, Nancy

I'm just curious. Because it's filtered, how is it not still real honey? Pasteurizing milk destroys most of milk's health benefits, but we still consider it milk.

It may not be "good" honey anymore, and it may not be as healthful, but it's still honey. I thought from the title they were going to tell us it was like "pancake syrup," which has no maple in it, though people often call it maple syrup.

So I'm not sure why they're saying it's no longer really honey. I, too, use raw honey, because it's got greater health benefits, but I can't see how even mediocre honey isn't still really honey.

Can anyone explain why it is no longer considered honey?

Just a note re. local, raw honey: One of my docs who takes a more holistic approach to health has recommend that I regularly eat a big spoonful of local raw honey. As she explained it to me, there's evidence that shows regular exposure the local pollen in the honey can boost your immunity to if you have allergies to those pollens. Another reason to avoid the mass-produced honey.

chgoeditor wrote:Just a note re. local, raw honey: One of my docs who takes a more holistic approach to health has recommend that I regularly eat a big spoonful of local raw honey. As she explained it to me, there's evidence that shows regular exposure the local pollen in the honey can boost your immunity to if you have allergies to those pollens. Another reason to avoid the mass-produced honey.

Yes -- I've read that for years.

And how nice to have a doctor who considers integrating nutrition.

Cynthia, when the honey is filtered it no longer contains pollen. Pollen is what is looked at in honey to determine where the honey came from. If the honey came from China, there is a good chance that the honey has been adulterated with antibiotics (usually used to keep disease out of the bee colony) and possibly the honey could be supplemented with cheap sugar syrups. The problem is that the FDA won't set a standard for domestic and US honey imports. If I were buying something called honey from China, I wouldn't consider it honey, but the FDA might. Between you and me, I think there is some graft going on here. There is no reason not to have a standard set for honey. FYI, I like my honey cloudy, and even crystallized!

razbry wrote:Cynthia, when the honey is filtered it no longer contains pollen. Pollen is what is looked at in honey to determine where the honey came from. If the honey came from China, there is a good chance that the honey has been adulterated with antibiotics (usually used to keep disease out of the bee colony) and possibly the honey could be supplemented with cheap sugar syrups. The problem is that the FDA won't set a standard for domestic and US honey imports. If I were buying something called honey from China, I wouldn't consider it honey, but the FDA might. Between you and me, I think there is some graft going on here. There is no reason not to have a standard set for honey. FYI, I like my honey cloudy, and even crystallized!

Yeah -- I got the no pollen and possible adulteration from the article. And I agree that there is something funny going on and there should be a standard. But just as milk processed to the point of being unrecognizable is still called milk, I was wondering what they thought was in those jars -- because really bad honey that has been damaged by processing is still honey.

That said, I did a search and found a few articles that said there were potentially "mystery sweeteners" in the Chinese honey -- which makes more sense if you're saying it's not honey.

Here's a quote I found from a honey site: "It has been said that "honey is honey, as long as it has FDA approval, so you might as well buy it from a discount store." Nothing could be further from the truth. The Clinton Administration allowed the importation of Chinese "honey" as early as 1992, which sold for $0.25 per pound, wholesale. Studies in Canada found that Chinese "honey" was at least 40% corn syrup, contained carmel coloring, and Canada joined Europe in banning its importation."

So at least in countries that have banned Chinese "honey," it's the stuff that's truly not honey that makes it not honey. That makes more sense than saying filtering, even extreme filtering, makes it not honey.

Cynthia wrote:Yeah -- I got the no pollen and possible adulteration from the article. And I agree that there is something funny going on and there should be a standard. But just as milk processed to the point of being unrecognizable is still called milk, I was wondering what they thought was in those jars -- because really bad honey that has been damaged by processing is still honey.

It is odd that some products have very strict definitions and other product definitions are very loose. Take "chocolate," for example (from Wikipedia):
"In 2007, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in the United States, whose members include Hershey, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to change the legal definition of chocolate to let them substitute partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for cocoa butter, in addition to using artificial sweeteners and milk substitutes. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not allow a product to be referred to as "chocolate" if the product contains any of these ingredients."

This definition is the reason you'll see some candy bars, etc., advertised as having "a chocolatey coating" rather than chocolate.

The milk example is another good one. I have friends who insist on buying only organic milk, but in my experience, most of it is ultrapasteurized. What does that mean? Well, as best I can guess, they've killed everything that's living & good for you in the milk. Buy two containers of milk: One ultrapasteurized and one just regular pasteurized. Get approximately the same expiration dates. Break the seal then close again, put them in your fridge. After 3 weeks, take a sniff or even a sip. While the pasteurized milk has gone sour, the ultrapasteurized still tastes fine. That doesn't seem like a good thing to me!

I'm with Cynthia on this one, and wondered the same thing. My takeaway from the article was that ultrafiltering the honey to remove the pollen is akin to burning off one's fingerprints - while your fingers can no longer be used to identify you, they're still most definitely considered fingers.

My takeaway from the article was that ultrafiltering the honey to remove the pollen is akin to burning off one's fingerprints - while your fingers can no longer be used to identify you, they're still most definitely considered fingers.

Ewwww. You have been watching too much "CSI" Good metaphor, though.

A few weeks ago, at a wine tasting dinner at Autre Monde in Berwyn, I had some of the sweetest, most wonderful honey (served with the cheese course and still on the comb) from this place. Definitely worth checking out if you're a honey aficionado.

http://www.chicagohoneycoop.com/

Though they don't have a brick and mortar retail outlet, you can find their honey at Green City Market and Logan Square Farmers Market and also purchase online.