On Aug 15, 2011, at 6:21 AM, richardsan wrote: > an interesting read...but i wonder...it seems as though they have invested > considerable capital to make a product. why don't they work it the legal > way, instead of 'counterfeiting' ?
It's cheaper to make it than grow it. HFCS is cheaper than honey, water and sucralose are cheaper still. Until the FDA was equipped with the equipment to detect it, adulteration of honey with HFCS (which is itself an industrial 'fake honey') was common in the US. > > wouldn't honey making be profitable without the illegal angles? do the > chinese love intrigue more than profit? did you read the article? The honey making isn't profitable when your hives are being wiped out diseases..and they're not willing to burn the hives to eradicate the spores (the only way to truly eliminate a foulbrood infection of a hive. If you're not careful sloppy handling can spread foulbrood through an entire apiary quickly, and from the descriptions it sounds like their beekeeping practices were horrible.) They were using cheap, largely ineffective animal antibiotics to try to treat infected hives, and recycling drums with lead-based solder to store it (honey is very mildly acidic and an oxidizing agent, not a good combination with heavy metals. We always used polypropylene drums for honey storage at the bee labs where I worked. <http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=53-42-03-00>) This is why you should support your local beekeepers...their honey also tastes like honey, not thick sugar water. <http://www.crocketthoney.com/About_Us.html> -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "StrataList-OT" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/stratalist-ot?hl=en.
