Canadian Honey Council Launches Awareness Campaign on Honey Spreads Entering Canadian Market

By Rod Scarlett, Executive Director, CHC

The Canadian Honey Council (CHC) and its industry partners are looking for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to clarify some labelling and packaging issues as it pertains to honey. Of immediate concern is the emergence of honey related products on the grocery store shelf that confuse consumers and threatens Canadian consumer confidence when purchasing honey. The appearance of “vegan honey” and “honey spreads” in stores has meant that real honey is now in competition with products that contain little or no honey. In addition to working with CFIA to rectify this situation, the CHC has launched a national public relations initiative to inform consumers of the differences. Special thanks to BeeMaid who supplied the graphics that accompany the campaign. The concern, however, is much broader than this. The CFIA currently supports the integrity of Canadian honey industry by testing samples of imported honey for adulteration. Using the most advanced technology and traditional C-4 testing, Canada has a very good reputation for preventing the importation of adulterated honey despite the fact that honey is recognized as one of the most fraudulently produced food products. However, Canada must remain vigilant with the emergence of the new aforementioned products, with this new gap in the market now threatening the integrity of the Canadian honey industry. The

same honey that would be prevented from entering the country because of adulteration, could now enter the country and land on shelves next to certified pure honey and be labelled a honey spread. The ability to import adulterated product labelled as honey spread would put into jeopardy the whole honey import/export system. If you have any comments or ideas that you think would help us out, please do not hesitate to contact Ron Greidanus, Curtis Miedema, or myself. Rod Scarlett B E E A W A R E O F W H A T Y O U ' R E B U Y I N G

Honey spreads contain sugar syrups and artificial ingredients and only a small amount of pure honey.

Honey Spreads are not 100% Honey