Fancy honey might not actually be honey • Hacker News Board

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#11

Post by dehrmann » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:00 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #7

So you’re telling me the “crazy hippies” who demand to buy only local honey from local farms were actually right? That it is actually better for you? Guess I’ll have to start finding local honey.

> That it is actually better for you?

Nutritionally, honey isn't that different from sucrose, so no. It's like the HFCS vs sucrose argument; they're basically the same, and you're still eating sugar.

I do actually buy local farm honey, though. It's incredible how you can see and taste difference in monofloral honey.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#12

Post by dehrmann » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:02 PM UTC

airstrike wrote: post #8

As an immigrant, I see most if not the entirety of the US food industry as a deadly practical joke. We're all stuffing our face with sugar, dairy, fatty red meat and processed food and nobody really seems to care. Most of the so-called healthy alternatives aren't healthy at all. Just look at what are called "protein bars" at your local market and check how much sugar those have, to name one example.

> a deadly practical joke

In a macro sense, Americans have bad diets, don't exercise enough, and are easy to market to, but in a micro sense, food bought here is extremely safe.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#13

Post by vezycash » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:29 PM UTC

dehrmann wrote: post #12

airstrike wrote: post #8

As an immigrant, I see most if not the entirety of the US food industry as a deadly practical joke. We're all stuffing our face with sugar, dairy, fatty red meat and processed food and nobody really seems to care. Most of the so-called healthy alternatives aren't healthy at all. Just look at what are called "protein bars" at your local market and check how much sugar those have, to name one example.

> a deadly practical joke In a macro sense, Americans have bad diets, don't exercise enough, and are easy to market to, but in a micro sense, food bought here is extremely safe.

>Extremely safe

I.e. Won't kill you directly

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#14

Post by NicoJuicy » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:35 PM UTC

There's a company nearby that we joke has 6 billion workers for them.

They do a lot of testing if it's actual honey and most of the fake honey comes from China.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#15

Post by sam_lowry_ » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 6:50 PM UTC

vezycash wrote: post #13

dehrmann wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a deadly practical joke In a macro sense, Americans have bad diets, don't exercise enough, and are easy to market to, but in a micro sense, food bought here is extremely safe.

>Extremely safe I.e. Won't kill you directly

Won't kill you immediately.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#16

Post by PaulHoule » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 7:00 PM UTC

I know the honey I eat is real because it comes from the bees that live downstream of my driveway. My beekeeper tells me they have the best flavor of any of his hives, probably because it is in the middle of a complex beaver habitat.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#17

Post by ivanhoe » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 7:02 PM UTC

I only buy honey that has crystallized a bit. AFAIK only natural honey does this. It's insane that people don't like this, so sellers are heating the honey to stop the crystallization.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#18

Post by uranium » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 7:03 PM UTC

While the adulteration problems appear to be real, this reporter goes out of their way to exaggerate the problem. They diss Whole Foods honey for not being raw, when it's...not labeled as raw. Whole Foods certainly does sell some honey labeled as raw, but you pay more for it.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#19

Post by i_am_nomad » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 7:03 PM UTC

yborg wrote: post #9

Another downside of globalization, it has become cheap and easy to move food items across the world, so Vietnamese sugar syrup can be sold here as "honey" and it becomes a race to the bottom - actual honey producers either go out of business or have to do the same thing. Then a free trade advocate will point to how much the consumer price of "honey" has declined to show how well it works. This should be straight up r…

That the Wal-Mart sample wasn’t adulterated isn’t surprising at all. Wal-Mart is notoriously bossy and intrusive to its suppliers; it’s sometimes said that if you sell to Wal-Mart, they end up knowing your business better than you do.

Re: Fancy honey might not actually be honey

#20

Post by bjelkeman-again » Sun, Mar 08, 2020, 7:11 PM UTC

PaulHoule wrote: post #16

I know the honey I eat is real because it comes from the bees that live downstream of my driveway. My beekeeper tells me they have the best flavor of any of his hives, probably because it is in the middle of a complex beaver habitat.

Our bees get their nectar from from the many nearby gardens. It is really very interesting how much it influences the taste to have nectar from cherries, apples, pears, spring flowers etc. Most of our neighbours say we have the best tasting honey.