Peter D. said:
It is the role of the regulating authorities to ensure that these customers
are protected from false and adulterated honey!
The regulating authorities in the U.S. act on a complaint basis. When there
are not complaints packers can get away with many things. When the focus of
the FDA is on honey then the situation is different.
Many health departments do the same.
We had a local packer (now out of business) which whenever he saw a new
beekeepers honey on a shelf in a store he was in would call the health
department and say he bought a jar of the new beekeepers honey and found a
dead bug in the jar. Health departments will not tell you the name of the
person making the complaint.
The health department went immediately to check on the problem and if the
new beekeeper did not process in the proper environment his honey was pulled
from store shelves till he did comply. If the new beekeeper was processing
in his kitchen it might take months and quite a bit of money to comply!
Bob