Wisconsin honey to stay pure and sweet

By Jill Blocker
March 22, 2010

Wisconsin residents with a sweet tooth for honey will only get the pure, bee-made stuff, thanks to a new law raising honey standards in the state.

Diluted or fake forms of the sweet, sticky substance labeled as honey is far too common, said Tim Fulton, president of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association, in the Kenosha News. He petitioned state Rep. Peter Baraca, D-Kenosha, to create a legal definition of honey to weed out imposters.

Some honey products include additives and can include no bee-produced content at all, said Fulton, according to the News.

“Corn and rice syrups are cheap, and anyone could put in any amount of that and still call it honey and do it legally,” he said. “Honey should be a product that comes from bees.”

The fake honey also hurts real honey producers’ business. Real honey can cost double of what imitation or blended products are sold for.

Gov. Jim Doyle signed the law last week, requiring the state Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection to develop honey standards, according to the Times. The bill prohibits labeling a product as Wisconsin-certified honey or implying that a product is Wisconsin-certified honey when it contains additives or other ingredients. Honey at grocery stores and farmers’ markets are also affected by the new law.

The law provides standards consistent with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization’s Codex Alimentarius, which says honey is bee-produced and without additives.

Diluted or blended honey products could be sold with appropriate labels established by the department.

“We’re not trying to ban people from selling products,” Baraca said. “We’re trying to get truth in advertising and give a competitive edge to our honey producers.”

In July, Florida became the first state to require “all-natural” honey sold in the state to be free of additives, chemicals or adulterants (any substance that alters the purity of honey). If honey sold in Florida is found to contain additives, sellers must cease sales of the altered product within state lines. Failure to comply can result in a $500 fine per violation.

There are no federal honey standards, but Fulton said U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have said they would consider a nationwide standard if enough states pass honey-regulation laws.