Canadian honey producers are worried a flood of cheap Chinese honey is putting their industry in a sticky situation.
In the past three years, imports have jumped from none to 12 million pounds, and beekeepers want to know where it’s all going.
Canadian honey is slathered on toast by honey-lovers around the world who pay extra for its consistent high quality.
But the president of the Canadian Honey Council says that reputation could easily be damaged if unscrupulous packers blend honey and pass it off as Canadian.
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“It is the biggest concern facing beekeeping in Canada today,” said Wink Howland, of Yorkton, Sask.
The council wants the government to require importers to pay for adequate inspection of the honey, and a detailed audit of how imports are used.
A market development officer with Agriculture Canada said as far as the government knows, Chinese honey is used only in Canadian industrial markets as an ingredient in baking, cereals and sauces.
Labels on jars on grocery store shelves must state if the honey is blended with product from other countries, said Gary Hergert.
In fact, Canadian consumers would be hard-pressed to find blended honey.
“I don’t know that anybody’s ever seen a blended product and the packers are telling us that they do not sell Chinese honey in consumer packs,” he said.
“The packers are telling us that they’re not doing it, we’ve never been able to find that they’re doing it, and they also have their reputations to protect.”
A good name is important to the largest packer in Canada, BeeMaid Honey Ltd., a farmer-owned co-operative that handles only members’ honey.
“As an exporter of fine, Canadian quality product … we are nervous that the Canadian image could be tarnished by people bringing in Chinese honey, which we consider to be lower quality than Canadian, and packing it and selling it in the United States as a Canadian product,” said vice-president Rick Rees.
And now that Canadian consumers are paying more than $4 for 500 grams of honey, Rees is also worried they’ll spread jam on their toast if they’re turned off by poor quality honey.
Rees said it often has a bad aftertaste, and the creamed honey is an unappealing grey. Chinese packers also often adulterate the honey with corn syrup.
BeeMaid tested competitors’ brands that were showing up on shelves with cheaper price stickers. But Rees said it’s hard to detect where honey comes from because the filtering process removes plant pollen.
Nevertheless, the company found two cases in British Columbia. One brand’s label properly documented the blending, the other didn’t. Rees said the company reported its suspicions to Agriculture Canada.
