Thread: China's taking over our honey industry too

Originally Posted by SoySoldier

In reference to HFCS? Or the local honey listed previously?

HFCS

Originally Posted by SoySoldier

Not so true. Because of corn farming subsidies we overproduce corn here, and thus have a glut of corn. Also, there are quotas on cane sugar consumption. Because of these facts we use a lot of corn by-products and even feed it to animals in lieu of other more expensive products. Most other countries use cane sugar and other sources as sweetener. That is why there is a craze for Mexican coca-cola and European chocolates; they are made with "real" sugar.

On that note though, corn syrup is just as real a sugar, it is only the HF variety that abnormally affects certain biological systems.



But I seriously doubt China is using HFCS to feed bees like we were until a couple of years ago. It is prohibitively expensive for such a level of consumption.

Also, HFCS is pretty universally known as HFCS or HFGS (Glucose Syrup is almost excusively American though)

Im not disagreeing with you. I was just pointing out it wasnt exclusively american. I completely agree we are the number 1 of it.

Originally Posted by SoySoldier

Understood. We are hugely number 1!

On a political note unrelated to bees: I am totally okay with Corn Syrup (it is just glucose and sucrose after all) but the unnatural linkage of extra fructose to the disaccharide makes HFCS a suspect product much like trans-fats.

Completely agree.

Originally Posted by SoySoldier

On this note? Anyone know much about Colony Collapse?

I am no expert but I am truly aware that there is problem. Many people do not appreciate an/or underAtand how important the honey bee is to mankind. HFCs is evil!!

Here's a documentary that explains colony collapse:
Vanishing of the Bees (2009 Documentary
Vanishing of the Bees (2009) - IMDb

As for china "honey" completely old news.they import so much crap that's it's not regulated.

Originally Posted by SoySoldier

But I seriously doubt China is using HFCS to feed bees like we were until a couple of years ago. It is prohibitively expensive for such a level of consumption.

I don't know much more about colony collapse than anyone could find with a few minutes and a search engine, but I do know a little about foreign honey.

I sometimes bought honey when I was in India. It was almost universally blah. Not bad tasting, just not particularly honey-ish. I found out that much of it was produced by feeding sugar to bees. Cane sugar is dirt-cheap in India (which is a whole other problem), and if you define "honey" to be "what bees make", then it's a very inexpensive way to make honey. But it doesn't have any of the interesting biological (or useful, or healthful, etc.) aspects that come with what we all think of as "honey", and it certainly doesn't have any of the taste that makes good honey a joy.

It reminds me of swill milk.

Cheers,


AetheLove