Beekeepers Getting Stung by Honey Laundering

Beekeepers Getting Stung by Honey Laundering

Tim Hammerich
Tim Hammerich
News Reporter
With California Ag Today, I’m Tim Hammerich.

A bill authored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin and sponsored by the California Beekeepers Association will protect consumers and beekeepers from honey laundering. Assemblymember Irwin says Ventura County in her district produces over 600,000 lbs of honey every year.

Irwin… “I was approached by our county ag commissioner, Ed Williams, who worked with the California Beekeepers Association and they educated us on honey laundering and the challenges that were facing beekeepers in Ventura county and the entire state at large.”

Iwin says the bill will make sure consumers know what’s in their honey, where it came form, and if there are any fillers or sweeteners have been added.

Irwin… “There's a significant amount of fraud going on in our honey labeling. So we want to make sure that when Ventura county is providing the honey that consumers are knowing because of the label what the county of origin is, and that it is pure honey. And we know that there's many health benefits to honey, especially if you're eating a local honey. So we think it's very important that we protect consumers and the market of the beekeepers.”

This is a serious issue for the California beekeeping industry which produces over 3.5 million pounds annually.

Irwin… “Ignorance stings, and consumers deserve to know where their honey is coming from.”

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