Food Safety News Examines Honey Trade

“A third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been
smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy
metals,” writes reporter Andrew Schneider in an August 15, 2011, Food Safety
News article investigating the U.S. honey trade. Building on earlier media
stories such as a January 5, 2011, Globe and Mail exposé covered in Issue 377
of this Update, the latest feature includes U.S. Customs import data indicating,
for example, that the United States “imported 208 million pounds of honey
over the past 18 months,” with almost 60 percent or 123 million pounds
coming “from Asian countries—traditional laundering points for Chinese
honey,” and “45 million pounds from India alone.”

“This should be a red flag to FDA [the Food and Drug Administration] and the
federal investigators. India doesn’t have anywhere near the capacity—enough
bees—to produce 45 million pounds of honey. It has to come from China,”
claimed one spokesperson for the American Honey Producers Association.
Domestic suppliers and other industry insiders also told Schneider that “some
of the largest and most established U.S. honey packers are knowingly buying mislabeled, transshipped or possibly altered honey so they can sell it cheaper than those companies who demand safety, quality and rigorously inspected honey.” The article highlights some of the tactics allegedly used to circumvent FDA inspectors and customs officials, as well legislative, regulatory and industry efforts to curb abuse.

“There are still millions of pounds of transshipped Chinese honey coming into
the U.S.A. and it’s all coming now from India and Vietnam. Everybody in the
industry knows that,” said Odem International President Elise Gagnon, who
also serves as vice chair of True Source Honey. “We need an origin traceability
program, a professional audit of both exporters and the packers so those
buying and selling honey can ensure its authenticity and quality.”