The Perfect Formula 83cost. No matter, Chinese production continued to increase, and honey
imports from a host of other countries, particularly countries with little
previous honey exports, more than doubled in a twelve-year period.
Pollen in honey provides a geographic footprint as to its origin. But
pollen can be removed and water or cheap sweeteners such as sugar or
corn syrup can be added. When honey is adulterated and “laundered”
by relabeling the country of origin, that sticky substance may still taste
sweet—but it is not honey.
In 0 0 , the largest case of food fraud to date was brought against
a German food conglomerate trying to evade eighty million dollars in
honey import duties. Three years later, charges were brought against
two domestic honey processors for likewise trying to evade $ 80 million
in duties. In 0 5 , another illegal shipment of Chinese honey was seized
in Houston.
These investigations were triggered because customs agents were
looking for importers trying to skip out on fees. When US Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) keyed in on “blue” steel drums, typical of
honey shipped from China, honey showed up in drums painted other
colors. When officials questioned why so much honey was coming from
countries with little history of exports, more honey started arriving
through other countries.
Ultimately, FDA was drawn in and discovered that some honey con-
tained chloramphenicol, an antibiotic given to bees but not approved in
the United States because it can cause cancer and damage to DNA in
children. When chloramphenicol became a marker for illegal Chinese
honey, other residues of prohibited drugs, including fluoroquinolone and
nitrofurans, showed up instead. FDA has now issued six import alerts,
the latest in 0 8 covering fourteen countries and forty-two importing
companies, meaning that shipments can be detained without physical
examination.
This is a start, but except for high-profile cases, sleuthing out criminal
commerce is a thankless job. Stopping fraudulent food becomes another
underfunded mandate for an already overburdened agency. As is, FDA
relies on published rules with the threat of legal action as its primary
deterrent—a strategy akin to posting speed limits on highways and
threatening enforcement, leaving street-smart motorists to figure out
that few cops are on the beat.