>> By this I mean that if a beekeeper feeds in such a way that feed gets into the honey in some amount, then should the label _really_ read pure honey?  ...at .0005%? .5%?  5%?  10%?  30%?  50%? 

>I think you are taking these to extremes and missing the key point. The key issue is the deliberate adulteration of honey in order to defraud the customer and make more money, not the inadvertent effect of a minute amount of sugar winding up in the supers as a result of supplemental feeding.

With all due respect, I think there are two separate issues here.

1.) Economic adulteration

2.) Product purity in the context of food sensitivities and the right to know what is in food.

I agree with you as far as the first issue is concerned.  The amount of feed in honey produced by scrupulous beekeepers should not be an isssue, however the second issue is an open question.  I addressed it in a previous post, but often replies are written before the entire inbox is read or perhaps it was missed.

A few years back, peanuts were served routinely as snacks on airplanes, but in more recent times, airlines have eliminated peanuts (although cashews are available) due to acute sensitivities.  A[apparently some people are acutely sensitive to even the presence of peanuts.  I have a niece who has to be very careful what she eats, although I don't think being near peanuts bothers her.  As mentioned previously, my mother has a friend who reacts to even small amounts of table sugar.

For such people, food purity is more than an academic question.  Of course, people with extreme food sensitivities should probaly not be eating honey unless they are very aware of the source and the practices of the supplying beekeeper.  Even then it could be a gamble.

The catch 22 is that honey is often claimed to be a treatment for sensitivities.  Is it?  Even if it is imported from who knows where, fine filtered or ultra filtered, heated, then stored for an unknown period of time?

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