Illegal Honey

In the last few months I’ve come across many articles on the subject of “illegal honey”.  Many of these articles talk about what a problem this has been, and that the problem seems to focused on honey from China, but very few give great detail about what “illegal honey” really means.  I decided to do a little checking around and I contacted the honey experts at Honibe.  I talked to John Rowe from Honibe on this subject and he cleared up a lot.

He focused on three key impacts that illegal honey is having on the honey industry, environmental, trade, and health.  I have to admit that I was rather sceptical about this talk of illegal honey, and I imagined that it might be a ploy by honey producers to try and stop the trade of cheaper honeys into the market.  While this is an issue, the real problem comes down to why this honey is cheaper.

John told me that there are really two problems with these cheaper honeys (often coming from China). Some of these honeys contain a “blend of honey with corn syrup”.  While this is not dangerous, unless you have an allergy to corn, it is dishonest.  The bigger concern comes from the use of antibiotics in these illegal honeys.  Many of the honeys coming out of China use antibiotics that are banned in Canada and the US and have been found to be very unhealthy.

Both Canada and the US have been working hard at fighting this kind of honey from entering their borders.  After discovering that Chinese honey was a problem a huge tariff was implemented in order to make honey harder to export. Regular inspections of honey imported into the US and Canada make sure it doesn’t slip through the cracks.  This tariff or basically a ban on importing Chinese honey hasn’t been easy.  As soon as the tariffs went up for Chinese honey, suddenly some other countries would have a boom in the amount of honey available to export.  It was/is thought that these countries would bring in Chinese honey, re-label it as their own, and send it to Canada and the US.  It’s become such a problem that John tells me “people have gone to jail for this” and the department of homeland security is now involved.

I asked John about his opinions of small producers of honey (the kind you might find at a county fair) and if home hives are a problem to the honey business.  John explains that “everybody should have a hive”.  To John, honey is not just about business, it’s also about taking care of the world.  He has no problem with low priced honey; he has a problem with dishonest honey and unhealthy honey.  In fact, he explained to me how important honey and honey manufacturing is to the world. 90% or all pollination comes from bees, so the environmental impact of the loss of bees is gigantic.

What I got from this conversation is the passion that many of these honey producers and users have.  Although there is money involved, there are bigger problems that illegal honey creates such as health and the environment issues.  Paying a little more for a quality honey isn’t just about supporting an industry, it’s also about making sure you’re food is healthy and so is the world.

I also found a great link on the subject of home honey hives, well worth reading.

CC