MOST STORE HONEY IS NOT REALLY HONEY : WHAT CONSUMERS SHOULD KNOW

 

Most people buy honey for health benefits, if not for taste.  But unless you have been raised on a honey farm, chances are you would not know how to recognize real honey from honey that has been cut or diluted, or cooked.

And that's a very important question, because producers of most cheaper honey brands, and even some expensive ones, available on store shelves know of this lack of knowledge and make the most of it by selling a product that is not what it is labeled to be. 

In fact, more than 3/4 of the honey sold in stores is not produced by bees.  

Another problem is that the pollen has been filtered out. Pollen is very important, especially for those who eat honey to acquire a certain desensitization to flowers in the environment.  

Without pollen, furthermore, there is no way to determine where the honey came from and whether is it safe. 

The FDA in its rules stipulates that honey where pollen has been removed is no longer to be considered honey.  However, the FDA does not test nor regulate honey produced or sold in the United States. 

To remove the pollen, producers heat the honey and mostly water it down, and then remove the pollen by high pressure filtration through very fine filters.  The Chinese pioneered this technique, and they also have illegally dumped tons of honey on the US market for years.  

Food Safety News has tested many available brands in the US to see which brands do not contain pollen. The list is below or on their internet site.

 

A team of researcher at Texas A&M tested the samples for Food Safety News.  Of all the samples taken, 76% had all the pollen removed.  Many of the brands were in most grocery stores, even upscale ones.  

Of the samples tested that were carried by drugstores, 100% of the honey was completely devoid of pollen. 

Of big box store like Costco and Walmart, etc, 77% had pollen removed. 

The National Honey Board, a federal research and promotion organization says that the bulk of foreign honey (at least 60%) is bought by the food industry for use in baked goods and beverages and other processed foods.  

Why then is the pollen removed? Most food experts are agreed that the honey whose pollen is removed comes from China or from sources that want to conceal their origin, due to their practices or because people have a negative outlook of products coming from their country.  But is also a way to thin the honey and get more out of it. 

But what is filtered out in this process is exactly what makes honey so precious and so valuable and nutritious. 

AS always, caveat emptor. 

Source : Food Safety News 5.7.13