07/21/06 Indentifying Honey

Identifying honey. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. At a recent industry roundtable - representatives from all segments of the honey industry met to discuss a number of issues. One hot topic - according to National Honey Board CEO Bruce Boynton - is the need for a legal standard of identity for honey. He says that`s an issue the industry`s been working on for a couple of years - and one that not just benefits producers - but consumers as well BOYNTON: This was actually something that came out of a roundtable we held in 2004 and the industry got together and recognized that they needed to move forward on this and that should help promote honesty and fair dealing for consumers. There's some confusion out there among consumers about labels. There are honey blends and other products out there that are not pure honey and consumers don't know that and so they think they're buying pure honey when they are not. Truth be told - Boynton says that confusion is likely caused by the complexity of honey itself. BOYNTON: Honey is a very complex food product with different kinds of sugars. The standard of identity will help define what honey is. It will state the essential composition and quality factors such as the sugar content, there are different percentages of fructose and glucose in different honeys. The moisture content and very importantly it will address the name of the food so that food that have other ingredients or honeys that have other ingredients added to them; this definition will make sure that those foods are distinguished from pure honey by declaring the ingredient or modification that was made to that product. But Boynton says that`s ultimately a labeling issue. And as honey imitators come into the marketplace - he says that`s something a standard of identity could address...tape BOYNTON: We're glad that those products use honey and perhaps a standard of identity will help clarify when the word "honey" can be used in a product and how much honey has to be in the product before it can capitalize on the good name of honey. According to Boynton - the industry has submitted a petition to the Food and Drug Administration to establish this important standard of identity for honey. But given recent cutbacks at the FDA - and recent history - Boynton says it could be difficult to make that happen. In recent years - he says the FDA hasn`t typically approved standards of identity. And during the June roundtable in Denver - an FDA spokesperson explained that a standard of identity isn`t a priority in these times of financial crisis. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.