FSN: Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

[China]

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey

More than three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn't exactly what the bees produce, according to testing done exclusively for Food Safety News.

The results show that the pollen frequently has been filtered out of products labeled "honey."
The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world's food safety agencies.

The food safety divisions of the World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others also have ruled that without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration says that any product that's been ultra-filtered and no longer contains pollen isn't honey. However, the FDA isn't checking honey sold here to see if it contains pollen.

Click on the link for the full article

[dockeryfan]

I'm a honey junkie. j/k but I really do like the stuff. These two I always have in the house. The first one is local to the Balt/Wash area for those interested in eating local honey for allergies. (no real studies on this btw, but lots of anecdotal evidence that it works. Choose to discount it or try it whatever. I never had allergies so I can't say)

[AsburySkinsFan]

We love acacia honey! But the kids love getting roadside honey from vendors with the comb in the jar...now that's fresh!

[frostyj]

So because the pollen is filtered out it is not honey? Seems like it is symantics. But I do get why they want the pollen in, so it can be traced back to it's origin. But to say it's not honey is baloney.

[AsburySkinsFan]

So because the pollen is filtered out it is not honey? Seems like it is symantics. But I do get why they want the pollen in, so it can be traced back to it's origin. But to say it's not honey is baloney.

I liked it because they set up a contradiction in terms.
1. Honey without the pollen in it isn't honey.
2. Honey with the pollen in it doesn't pass FDA standards.
3. Conclusion honey can't be sold in the US.

[Botched]

I don't care about pollen. All I care is that it falls gracefully from the wand as I'm drizzling it on my Honey Nut Cheerios.

Some of that fancy country honey is the bomb though. I got some wildflower honey last year and you could actually taste the floweryness in it. Eating it was like making out with Mother Nature. If it didn't cost 3 times as much as the fake honey at Food Lion I'd probably keep buying it.

[China]

So because the pollen is filtered out it is not honey? Seems like it is symantics. But I do get why they want the pollen in, so it can be traced back to it's origin. But to say it's not honey is baloney.

Don't confuse the regulatory definition of honey with the common definition of honey. Of course it's honey, but not from a regulatory standpoint which is designed to maintain standards and safety/traceability.

[Enter Apotheosis]

I liked it because they set up a contradiction in terms.
1. Honey without the pollen in it isn't honey.
2. Honey with the pollen in it doesn't pass FDA standards.
3. Conclusion honey can't be sold in the US.

Where did they say that?