Honey that's not honey?

Heads up, apparently cheap honey might contain undesirables. Sorry if this is a repost.

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/

The cheap off-brand and some name brand honeys are apparently microfiltered which suggests they're hiding something. I don't know how this would affect brewing but it's something to think about.

I used SAMs Club honey to brew up 30 gallons of mead for a medieval-themed dinner, and it worked out ok. I couldn't taste anything off.

Removing the pollen removes the protein that the yeast would use for growth. A little extra nutrient would take care of that. Filtering results in a more uniform product, which is good if you are running millions of pounds of it. As far as the FDA saying it isn't honey without pollen, they also say tomato catchup without sucrose isn't catchup.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/do-you-use-real-honey-279925/

Posted it this morning

Maybe the mods can combine the threads

ShakerD said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/do-you-use-real-honey-279925/

Posted it this morning

Maybe the mods can combine the threads

Click to expand...

My bad, we can let this one die since honey is more related to mead anyways.

david_42 said:

Removing the pollen removes the protein that the yeast would use for growth. A little extra nutrient would take care of that. Filtering results in a more uniform product, which is good if you are running millions of pounds of it. As far as the FDA saying it isn't honey without pollen, they also say tomato catchup without sucrose isn't catchup.

Click to expand...

There is actually more to it than the removal of the pollen. What they are doing is removing the pollen so the source of the honey is not as easily identified.

Why is that important? Honey from some countries is contaminated with pollutants. Most notably China. The Chinese actually are shipping their honey to other countries that do have trade agreements to export honey into the US. Once in those countries the honey is relabled as a product of that country and exported to the US. There have been some importers here in the US that have received prison terms for knowing importing contaminated honey.

Also the club someone mentioned above has sold honey that was packaged by companies that bought from these importers.

The bottom line is if you want honey for your table, to put in your wine, bake with, or to make mead from, buy it from a local producer you know and trust. It is well worth the extra cost.

KC, I appreciate that as someone who produces his own honey, you would feel strongly about this, but next thing you're gonna tell us that we shouldn't brew with tap water because of the fluoride mind-control agents.

DMartin said:

KC, I appreciate that as someone who produces his own honey, you would feel strongly about this, but next thing you're gonna tell us that we shouldn't brew with tap water because of the fluoride mind-control agents.

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Did you read the article?

because to me it looks like your trolling.

Here is a Google link to pictures of china's pollution

LINK

Note that per NPR, the previously mentioned website Food Safety News is an online publication sponsored by a law firm that represents plaintiffs in food safety lawsuits.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...g-the-pollen-out-of-honey-makes-a-sticky-mess

And a reply from the national honey board: http://www.honey.com/nhb/about-honey/frequently-asked-questions/#honey-filtration

"November 9, 2011

The choices consumers make today about most products, including honey, are extremely personal. In regards to honey, consumers may have varying opinions about their choice of honey type, flavor and origin. To enable a truly personal choice, there are many different kinds of honey available in the U.S. market. Some consumers prefer honey in the comb or liquid honey that is unprocessed or raw, while some prefer honey that is crystallized or cremed. Others will seek out honey that is organically produced and certified. However, the majority of honey sold at retail in the U.S. every year is the clear, golden liquid honey that has been strained or filtered.

There are a number of filtration processes that remove fine particles, including pollen, from honey - but the end result is still pure honey. Pollen particles may or may not be present in the honey an individual chooses, but the product is still honey.

Unfortunately, inaccuracies in a recent news story have fueled a considerable amount of confusion about the term “ultrafiltered honey.” Ultrafiltration is a specific process used in the food industry. When applied to honey, ultrafiltration results in a sweetener product that is not honey because of the significant changes it causes in the original honey. It is an expensive process that requires the addition of water to the honey, high pressure filtration at the molecular level, and then removal of the water. While it is known to have been used with honey overseas to create a sweetener product for beverages, ultrafiltration is not generally used in the U.S. Other filtration methods have been used for many years in the U.S. honey industry. These filtration methods are designed to remove fine particles such as bits of wax, bee parts, air bubbles and pollen that hasten crystallization of the honey and affect clarity. Recent articles have also incorrectly stated that the FDA does not consider honey without pollen to be honey - that is simply not true.
"

DMartin said:

KC, I appreciate that as someone who produces his own honey, you would feel strongly about this, but next thing you're gonna tell us that we shouldn't brew with tap water because of the fluoride mind-control agents.

Click to expand...

No actually I don't have a problem with a person using what they want to brew with.

One of my problem's is that the laws we have to protect the people of this country from substances that are not good for them, are being ignored all in the name of commerce. Therefore people are buying products that the law says should be produced in a safe way but in actuallality is full of harmful substances.

I speak of honey because I know honey but this same problem extends into all parts of our commerce.

I wanted to edit my post to include an article put out a few days ago rather than bringing this post back up, but because it won't let me and I found this interesting and informative: Relax, Folks. It Really Is Honey After All : The Salt : NPR
Which includes links to their research.

I posted about this stuff three years ago.

Honey Laundering, the new international scandal.

I'm glad this is continuing to be posted/revealed I find this sort of thig rather despicable. One nice thing about brewing is knowing generally what you are putting into your mouth but of course we don't really know that right? The more it is discussed, them more people know , the less easy it is for these sorts of things to continue.

It is the power of our new digital world! Google collects everything, including this thread, Sam's club marketers note the correlation between falling honey sales and recent discussions, change their suppliers and so on....!

When I first heard about this, it stank of "conspiracy theory" and was hard to take seriously (see my post on the first page). After a little research I can see that this does deserve some attention.

I'm not a purist by any definition of the word; I made 6 5-gal batches of mead with Walmart honey and it all tastes like it should, so I don't worry about it. I guess I just can't get angry about diluted honey if it is cheap and still tastes and brews like honey.

I didn't read the whole article, 'cause I'm illiterate (had to spell check that word).

Although I have bought cheap honey for meads and found no difference in taste, I'm buying my honey locally from a guy I work with from now on. There's random black specks in it that I'm assuming are bee legs. It adds to the character

Edit: It also costs the same price, and I'd much rather help out the locals.