> What surprised me was Dr. Mercola's allegation that a > good chunk of US honey is based on HFCS. Anybody have > 3rd party references on this? There aren't any. The claim is bogus, random, and specious. Mercola was quoting a mere comment posted on his message board about one of his other "articles". It was contributed by someone named "Russ Bianchi", who claims to be a biochemist, but is apparently much more interested in dissing everything that his product might replace: http://www.zijapower.com/zija-management-team.html http://www.zijapower.com/what-is-zija.html ...and seems to spend most of his time posting such comments on various "alternative health" message boards. (Based upon a quick Google.) The specific claims made by this Bianchi person are below, and are about what one would expect from a "comment" made on a public website where "health" and "alternative healing" is discussed. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/08/13/honey-as-m edicine-is-making-a-comeback.aspx "Of course all naturally derived Manuka Honey works for this application, just don't try this with domestic (USA) Grade A Honey which has an over 75% probability of being force fed and regurgitated (BEE BARF) High Fructose Corn Syrup, or Invert Sugar, flavored and colored "honey", that increases infection, based on pH and lack of any naturally occurring enzymatic or anti bacterial or anti microbial characteristics. The dirty BIG secret in the USA is the VAST majority of honey produced in late Summer, all of Fall, all of Winter, and early Spring, is NOT real honey from botanical sources (pollen, sap, nectar, etc.) converted by bees, but rather force fed man made refined and HARMFUL sugars, irrespective of USDA certification or organic certification!!! How can you tell the difference as a consumer? Invariably REAL HONEY cost two to three time more the supermarket or generic mass produced brands in the plastic honey bear packaging. Price is also a indicator of real maple syrup versus economically cut with other sweeteners or water or preservatives (many times not declared and way under policed)." Now this person clearly hasn't a single clue. He also does not write in the style of someone educated in the sciences. "Pop Tart" is simply too good for him - we'll have to call him a mere "Generic Toaster Pastry". If he was a "biochemist" he would know the ease with which HFCS contamination (or even deliberate adulteration) can be detected in honey, and the ubiquitous nature of such tests when honey changes hands in any quantity. Recall that Mercola himself is an "alternative medicine practitioner" who uses "lab tests" that may be unique to his "practice", and engages in "lifestyle medicine", which is a fancy way of charging suckers^h^h^h^h^h^h^h patients a fee for giving them a sales pitch on all sorts of dubious stuff. For example, he says in his FAQ: "You are welcome to bring a copy of your blood work results for us to review but we perform more comprehensive lab tests than the standard lab tests and we have a more precise interpretation of the lab tests we run. Therefore, it is required for each patient to run our specific battery of lab tests." If it quacks like a quack, and walks like a quack.... ****************************************************** * Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at: * * http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm * ******************************************************