Written by PETA
Although consumers don’t necessarily see “Made in China” on honey labels, a new exposé published in the UK’s Globe and Mail tells of the almost spy-thriller-like process in which honey produced in China travels through southeast Asia and onto millions of tables—and into millions of stomachs—around the world.
In China, where the overwhelming majority of the honey ingested globally originates, beekeepers attempt to keep bees alive by feeding them antibiotics that are banned in North America because the drugs can seep into and contaminate the honey. The honey is often intentionally mislabeled as originating elsewhere, and is also diluted with sugar and corn syrup.
In a companion article, the National Academy of Sciences reports that the U.S. bee population has seen a dramatic decline in recent years due to inbreeding and habitat loss, and that changes must be made to end the bees’ spiral toward extinction. Agave nectar, anyone?
@ jadewarlock
from the not-so-sweet world of honey :
"In China, where the overwhelming majority of the honey ingested globally originates, beekeepers attempt to keep bees alive by feeding them antibiotics that are banned in North America because the drugs can seep into and contaminate the honey."
wrong. read it again if totally nescafe. and please pay attention.. your thick, diffuse remarks are tedious and meaningless.
@ Kat
do some reasearch please, everthing you have managed to state here is either not factual, is a silly piece of disinformtion/watered down propaganda or hides essential elements, as it refers to beekeeping practices. it is not natural to enslave bees, neither is taking their honey.
have a nice day.
Oh, Ocean, PETA doesn't say that most honey is produced in China. It actually says that it can and does travel around the world. At least read the article correctly please.
I personally buy local honey myself - it tastes better and helps me keep my allergies under control. Haven't had an asthma attack (genetic asthma BTW), in years because of it.
@ocean17 Have you gone and done some of the research by yourself or did you just get all your information off the PETA blog? And im sorry but enslaved? I thought that bees are free to just go out and leave.
Ocean, I'm younger than you and I know for a fact they can't be treated "cruelly." Tell me how a flying bee with a stinger can be enslaved? They'd sting you first.
And how can they be cruelly treated? Smoke - I watched how beekeepers got honey in school - does nothing more than keep them calm. And if they're not calm, they'll sting you.
What alternatives are there for sweeteners? - Sugar is just as bad for you and most of the vegan sweeteners I've read of are just as bad for you nutritionally as you say honey is.
Um, no Ocean, it's not a strawman. There is indeed artificial honey - aka "fake" honey, out there.
Let's nitpick here shall we:
For starters, can you give me a site other than vegetus.org to verify your claims? I'd like a neutral source to support your claims - because I have actually been to and experienced REAL beekeeping.
Ocean: and your "feelgood" commentary is riddled with inaccuracies and curious exclusions of fact concerning commercial beekeeping.
Answer: Ocean - it's not feelgood, it's facts and telling the truth.
Ocean: including - replacement of queens,
Answer: You kill the queen, you will destroy the hive. You also cannot have two queens in the same place, or the workers will destroy the intruder.
Ocean: genetic modifications,
Answer: Yes, there have been genetic modifications, which lead to the creation of the Africanized (killer) bee. However, this is not inbreeding, and those bees do not produce honey.
Ocean: destruction of individual bees and the hive, enslavement,
Answer: Simply put, you can't "enslave" a flying animal, and especially one with stinging barbs that can kill you.
Ocean: Transportation, unnatural food sources, loss of habitat, etc.
Answer: Again, you can transport bees, but not easily. They still must have a place to build a hive and POLLEN to feed off of.
You also cannot fill their hive with artificial stuff -they won't eat it and will leave the hive.
And - they can live in just about anything that can be used to create a hive - tree, can, interior of a house.
Ocean: go to the vegetus.org site for a more ocmprehensive overview. honey is not vegan, plain and simple.
Answer: Honey as the material is - it's pollen turned into bee spit. You are against how it is created, which is your right to believe. THAT alone is how it's "Non-vegan."
Please, I encourage you to go to a beekeeper's society and get educated.
i don't understand this "fake" honey strawman you are munkeying around with here, since according to the PETA blog : [an] overwhelming majority of the honey..originates [from China]."
and your "feelgood" commentary is riddled with inaccuracies and curious exclusions of fact concerning commercial beekeeping. including - replacement of queens, genetic modifications, destruction of individual bees and the hive, enslavement, transportation, unnatural food sources, loss of habitat, etc. go to the vegetus.org site for a more ocmprehensive overview. honey is not vegan, plain and simple.
@ Kat you are ignoring the cruel mistreatment of bees during the production of honey for human consumption. yes bees make honey from pollen and nectar, but that is not the entire story. they are enslaved and cruelly treated. this is wrong, especially when there are so many alternatives available, for nutritious sweetners.
PETA, pollen is how bees make honey. Bees also know how to go out and make more when we take it out.
I'm an junior high kid and I know that much.
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