Some say local honey will cure your seasonal allergies, and others say it's just plain good. Whether you want to reduce your carbon footprint or support local agriculture, buying honey that's made by bees in your own neighborhood is a good thing to do. But there's another reason you should support your local beekeeper when buying honey - your own safety.
Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA Agricultural Research Service
International honey launderers (yes, honey launderers) ship contaminated honey from China to the U.S., using intermediaries to falsify shipping labels and documents. The honey you purchase in your grocery chain might be labeled as a product of Australia, Thailand, or India, but there's a good chance it came from China. Barrels of honey travel from China to one of several other countries, where they are relabeled and reshipped to the U.S., to be distributed by packing companies unaware of the scheme.
In some cases, the Chinese honey is diluted with corn syrup or sugar water, and the consumer may not even she's being ripped off. Of greater concern is the likelihood of contamination by antibiotics or pesticides. In the late 1990's, a bacterial disease spread throughout China's bee hives. Rather than destroy the infected hives as recommended, Chinese beekeepers opted to treat them with chloramphenicol, a cheap but powerful antibiotic. Chloramphenicol is not approved for such use in the U.S., Canada, or in most of Europe. Two other antibiotics - iprofloxacin and Enrofloxacin - have also been identified in honey traced to China.
Last December, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published an in-depth investigation of the honey laundering business. It's well worth a read, and I guarantee you'll only buy your honey from local sources once you've learned the whole story about imported honey.
Comments
I don’t agree with what you say.I’m a farmer in China that produce honey. My honey is pure.
What he said is correct about most honey grown in China… he didn’t mean all of it.
If you do keep yours clean and pure, that’s great.
I am sure there are many great beekeepers in China. However, the fact is that honey is being dumped in the US. I am a small scale US beekeeper and the honey prices in the US have been driven down for many years due to cheap imports from other countries. In addition, the consumer simply can’t tell if a so called honey is pure when it is imported and sometimes mixed with other honey from several different countries.
I would not be able to support myself from my honey sales alone due to the low price for honey. Honey should only be grown and sold locally. That is my opinion.