I've written twice before about the scale of international fraud involving adulterated honey from the Far East. Now it looks like at least some of those involved are being brought to justice. Here's an excerpt from a recent BusinessWeek report.
ALW relied on a network of brokers from China and Taiwan, who shipped honey from China to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, South Korea, Mongolia, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines. The 50-gallon drums would be relabeled in these countries and sent on to the U.S. Often the honey was filtered to remove the pollen, which could help identify its origin. Some of the honey was adulterated with rice sugar, molasses, or fructose syrup.
In a few cases the honey was contaminated with the residue of antibiotics banned in the U.S. In late 2006 an ALW customer rejected part of Order 995, three container loads of “Polish Light Amber,” valued at $85,000. Testing revealed one container was contaminated with chloramphenicol, an antibiotic the U.S. bans from food. Chinese beekeepers use chloramphenicol to prevent Foulbrood disease, which is widespread and destructive. A deal was made to sell the contaminated honey at a big discount to another customer in Texas, a processor that sold honey to food companies. According to court documents, ALW executives called Honey Holding the “garbage can” for the company’s willingness to buy what others would not.
There's much more at the link.
There's so much corruption and fraud in the international food trade that it's truly scary. The potential consequences for consumers' health are very dangerous. I urge you to read that whole report, and those I've cited before about Far Eastern seafood, and educate yourself about the risks involved. I've become very picky indeed about checking the source on every package of food I buy. Unless I'm reasonably confident it came from a trustworthy supplier and/or region of the world, I won't purchase it.
Peter
3 comments:
Excellent point Peter, and damn well worth the read! Just buying the cheapest thing on the shelves is NOT a good idea! Re honey, the best is locally made, as it will prompt the body to react correctly to local pahtogens/hayfever/plants.
I avoid honey these days, but I know three guys who keep bees and sell honey. The situation you describe about bulk honey importing is genuinely scary.
Thing is, there's no reason to suspect it's limited to honey. Remember the pet food contaminated with melamine to make it look higher in protein? Since virtually all the vitamins are coming in from the orient these days, we have no idea ho badly that stuff is contaminated.
Local production and sourcing looking better and better every day.
My household's honey comes from beekeepers we know, hives we've seen and bees living on their large organic farm.
The rest (store bought) is an unknown, as some sources cite 80% of store brand & bulk honey as contaminated.
We local source what we can - eggs, meats, the honey, and CSA produced veggies.
Post a Comment