Remarkable as it may seem, food fraud is a huge business and a rampant
problem. Award-winning journalist and best-selling author Larry Olmsted
revealed many of the food fraud tricks in his 2016 book, “Real Food/Fake
Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do About It.”

For example, tests have revealed anywhere from 60 percent to 90 percent3
of the olive oils you find in grocery stores and restaurants are
adulterated with cheap, linoleic acid-rich seed oils that are pernicious
to health in several ways.

Most Honey on the Market Is Not Real Honey

Another food that is frequently adulterated is honey. Tests have
revealed 50 percent to 70 percent of all U.S. honey is fake or
adulterated,4,5 and according to a comprehensive review of fake foods
published in the Journal of Food Science,6 honey is the third most-faked
food in the world. As reported by Better Homes & Gardens, Oct. 2, 2023

“You probably weren't aware that much of the honey found on grocery
store shelves is actually fake—in some cases, it contains little to no
actual honey. In fact, honey is one of the most faked foods found in our
food supply today ...

“Honey can be adulterated in many ways—from treating it with heat to
filtering it to diluting it with modified additives like sugar or syrup.
It can be harvested too early as plant nectar, doctored up, and sold
falsely as the end product, honey.

“It can even be labeled as local when it’s really sourced
internationally. Other particularly savvy honey-making imposters go as
far as to feed bees sugar and syrup to produce honey, rather than
natural foraging — severely impacting the product’s nutritional benefits ...

“When we consume fake honey — made from refined sugar or high fructose
corn syrup — we’re not only missing out on all of these therapeutic
benefits, but we’re actually consuming a highly inflammatory food,
essentially causing the opposite effect on our health. Also, if
adulterated honey is treated with heat or filtered, many of the
compounds that make honey so healthful can be lost.”
Beware of Fake Manuka Honey

When it comes to Manuka honey, prized for its superior health benefits,
both topically and internally, only one in seven products tested during
a 2014 investigation turned out to be the real thing, that is less than
15 percent!8The nectar from manuka flowers contains dihydroxyacetone, a
precursor to methylglyoxal (MGO), an antimicrobial compound not found in
most other honey. The presence of MGO is credited for much of manuka
honey’s medicinal prowess, which includes the ability to combat complex
antibiotic-resistant infections.

If you’re buying fake Manuka, you’re not only losing out on health
benefits but could worsen your problem as highly processed sugar from
high fructose corn syrup feeds bacteria that authentic Manuka would
suppress. You’re also burning a big hole in your pocketbook, as Manuka
honey is among the most expensive honeys in the world.
The Fraud Runs Deep

Class action lawsuits filed over the last five years reveal the “honey
laundering” scheme runs deep—all the way to True Source Honey,9 one of
the largest honey certification groups that is supposed to confirm the
source and guarantee the quality of honey.

As noted by the Resnick Center for Food Law & Policy,11 the drawback
that allowed for this is that True Source was founded by the very
businesses it certifies.

According to a class action complaint filed in 2021, these honey
businesses are “using True Source to fraudulently control the market,
sell fake honey at substantially lower prices than honest beekeepers,
and divert sales, revenue and profits to themselves.”

“… True Source is not the watchdog of the honey industry it claims to
be, but the mechanism that makes the conspiracy tick," the Resnick
Center for Food Law & Policy writes.

“The complaint alleges that True Source purposely fails to monitor its
members for compliance with its own certification program, and that the
True Source Certified Standard is designed to allow True Source members
to proliferate cheap and adulterated honey throughout the United States.

“Until a recent surface-level revamp in this standard, True Source
Certified companies only used outdated and ineffective testing methods
that are incapable of detecting all methods of honey adulteration and fraud.

“True Source intentionally uses these outdated and ineffective testing
methods to bypass fraud detection. When syrup is detected, True Source
turns a blind eye.

“The complaint further alleges that although it purports to be a
watchdog of the honey industry, True Source is fully aware that its
Certification and Participation program is being used by importers and
packers to misrepresent the authenticity of their honey products.”

How Honey Is Faked

Honey can be faked and adulterated in a variety of different ways.
Here’s a summary breakdown of some of the most common methods


More often than not, the honey is simply diluted with different sugars
and/or syrup made from rice, beet, or high fructose corn syrup, thereby
forfeiting any health benefits. In rare cases, these additives can also
cause the honey to ferment, creating alcohol levels that could be
dangerous for children.


Honey is sometimes heated to high temperatures to avoid crystallization
and make it easier to manipulate, yet is still sold as “raw.” Heating
above 100 F destroys the beneficial enzymes, effectively eradicating
expected health benefits.


Some honey producers will extract the honey early, when it’s a nectar
product and not yet finished honey, and then machine dry it. As a
result, it won’t have the health benefits.


Unscrupulous honey producers will feed high fructose corn syrup to the
bees rather than allowing them to forage for pollen.


Honey is oftentimes labeled as “local” when, in fact, it comes from
overseas. So, if you’re using it to address seasonal allergy symptoms,
it may not work.


Honey can be filtered through aliphatic resin, a rinsing technology that
removes contaminants. This method obscures the origin of the honey and
removes antibiotics, pesticides, and undesirable flavors present in the
raw product.


This method is typically used on low-grade unpalatable honey like Indian
Gum honey, which cannot be sold due to its disgusting taste and smell.
Once dissolved in water and run through this process, you end up with an
unscented light-colored amber honey that can be sold. However, the
technology also eliminates the enzymes and chemicals responsible for
honey’s health benefits.

Inexpensive, lower-grade honey can be filtered and then dusted with
high-grade pollen from another location to obscure its origin. The end
product also may not have the health benefits assumed

Sweetwater Science Specializes in Honey Testing

With fraud so rampant, how can you be sure you’re getting real,
unadulterated, unfiltered honey? The only way to be absolutely certain
that honey hasn’t been adulterated would be to test its chemical
composition, which is something Sweetwater Science Labs14 specializes
in. As reported by Vice:15
“As an independent and ISO accredited lab, Sweetwater Science is up for
hire by anyone who wants to test honey—beekeepers, consumers, packers,
and lawyers … Even people off the street who want their honey tested can
bring them their samples, which happens more than you might think.

“[Jim] Gawenis is a scientist—he doesn't sell honey or import it. He
doesn't even certify the honey he tests as good or bad, either; he
analyzes it with Bruker's NMR [nuclear magnetic resonance] food
screener, and provides the data to his clients. From there, they can do
what they like with the information.”

Unfortunately, Sweetwater Science doesn’t publish results on their
website, but the Vice article includes the results of several honeys
brought for testing by the author, Shayla Love. Some of the results are
surprising indeed.

A bear-shaped bottle of Great Value Clover Honey from Walmart tested
pure, with no sign of adulteration of any kind, whereas a jar of
Tennessee “raw, local sourwood honey” turned out to be sourced from
Vietnam and contained added non-honey sugars and a bottle of Whole Foods
365 Organic honey had been adulterated through heating.

How to Ensure You’re Getting Real Honey

Most people probably aren’t willing to go quite as far as lab testing
their honey. In this case, the commonsense strategy is to buy honey from
a local beekeeper. You’ll typically find them at farmers' markets.

Also, use your senses when selecting honey. Many adulterated honeys will
lack the floral notes found in pure honey. Adulterated honey may also
have a lingering aftertaste, or will simply taste too sugary.

Real honey also isn’t very sticky. Rather, it tends to have a balm—or
cream—like consistency when rubbed between your fingers. If it’s
excessively sticky, chances are refined sugars or syrups have been added.

Real, raw, unfiltered honey also tends to have a cloudy appearance and
may have remnant honeycomb particles or flecks of pollen in it. Over
time, it may also begin to crystallize. If it never crystallizes, it
might not be pure. If you’re buying Manuka honey, you’ll want to verify
the MGO, NPA, and UMF content.16


MGO (methylglyoxal) is a measurement of the main ingredient, which has a
direct correlation to its antibacterial properties. The higher the MGO,
the higher the potency in terms of healing ability. All genuine Manuka
honey produced in New Zealand is tested for MGO.


NPA (non-peroxide activity) refers to its antibacterial activity and is
equivalent to the UMF rating. For example, an MGO of 550 equates to an
NPA of 15, and many companies will list both on the label.


UMF (unique Manuka factor) is a trademark registered and controlled by
the UMF Honey Association, which provides some assurance of both quality
and genuineness. The UMF correlates to the MGO but also includes other
quality and authenticity checks.


Originally published Dec. 6, 2023, on Mercola.com

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