On Sat, 6 Oct 2007 18:23:41 EDT, Chris Slade <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> What does irradiation do to honey, especially the more subtle parts  such as
>enzymes or "UMF" ?

The thing is Chris... your suppose to AVOID irradiating honey on comb
because it reduces the penetration of the beam, thus weakening beam
strength, resulting in the poor clean up of bee pathogens.  I know of no
instance of anyone irradiating honey for human consumption - why spend money
on something you don't need to do - it is not like steaks which can harbor
O157:H7 E. coli or mangos from Hawaii that might contain pests like fruit
flies.  This is a NON ISSUE.  The only use of irradiation is for comb and
bee-feed pollen for AFB and other diseases... and in this context you should
not be sending combs full of honey or else you would be defeating the
purpose of the exercise. A

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