Honey isn't Honey?

I am one of those people that loves to have honey in the house.  Be it to cook with in recipes or be it to sit in front of the television zoning out while sucking on spoonful after spoonful of just honey straight from the jar.

Recently, I was alerted to a crime against my consumption of honey if I purchase it at my local big box grocery store or corner mega drug store chain.  Food Safety News did an independent laboratory test of sixty samples from 10 states across the US in 2011and found that 76% of the honey tested from grocery stores like TOP Food, Safeway, Giant Eagle, QFC, Kroger, Metro Market, Harris Teeter, A&P, Stop & Shop and King Soopers contained no pollen whatsoever.  How could that be?  It's called ultra filtration which destroys the honey during the heating and filtration process and basically turns it into just sugar.  Pollen is the main ingredient in honey and the source of all of its medicinal properties.  If you talk to any local honey provider they will tell you that there is no reason to ultra filter the honey other than to hide where it came from.

The same study found that 100% of the honey samples from stores like Walgreens, Rite-Aid and CVS Pharmacy had no pollen at all.  The same results were true for individual serving packets from Smuckers, McDonald's and KFC.

Why do they Ultra Filter the honey you might ask?  When you take out the pollen you take out the traceability of where the honey came from in the world.  Several articles report that 60% or more of the honey in the United States is from China which has been found to contain heavy metals and added chemicals.

Ultra Filtration makes the honey into junk.  All of the natural anti bacterial properties have been removed.  Medicinal treatments to alleviate different ailments by non conventional means using junk honey will not work and may cause side effects not expected.  Feel free to Google search honey and cinnamon treatments for everyday ailments such including the common cold.

Cause for action?  Do yourself a favor and buy your honey from local honey producers or at the farmers market.  If you happen to find honey in one of the big box stores then look for the brands certified to be organic.  It may cost a little bit more but you are getting 100% REAL HONEY every single time.

And one quick fact about honey, disregard the expiration date on any bottle of REAL HONEY.  It's a marketing scam to get you to buy more product.  REAL HONEY is a miracle food that does not go bad when stored properly due to the high acidic level and low PH.  I can't report the source but one article stated that honey found from the time of the ancient Egyptians 2000 years ago or more was still edible.

Papamoka 

Check out Sunsystemdesigns.com for help with home heating assistance.