Honey and Adulteration
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English - November 13, 2023 12:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 52 ratingsFood Arts Society & Culture Documentary Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Why is honey the world’s third most-adulterated food? Because adulteration delivers profits.
Honey is the world’s third most-adulterated food. Survey after survey uncovers evidence that manufacturers — not necessarily beekeepers — are adding sugar syrups to bulk up the honey they sell. That may not be a health hazard, but it is defrauding customers, and yet there is very little public outrage, except in the immediate wake of yet another revelation of wrong-doing. Honey adulteration is nothing new, as I heard from historian Matt Phillpott, who has been studying the practice ancient and modern.
Notes
Matt Phillpott writes Honeybee Histories on substack.
Here’s the transcript.
Banner photo by Jennifer C on flickr. Cover photo, robot bee designed by Cat7. Single bee by Brad Smith on flickr.