Fraud Continued from Page 3
really Chinese. This led to a number of in- dictments and prosecutions.” Beekeeper Chris Hiatt of Madera, who serves as vice president of the American Honey Producers Association, said, “We know that China has trans-shipped their honey through other countries such as India andVietnam.” Hesaidaneconomicstudyof theissueby GeorgetownUniversity revealed that some of the smaller countries increased honey production by 500-600%, when the rest of theworldwaswatchingbeesdie, he said. “China is blending syrups with honey, andthat isourproblem,”hesaid. “Themar- ket needs to be cleaned up. We don’t want tohurt the imageofhoney.Wewant tohave legitimatehoneysoldontheshelvessobee- keepers cancompeteandstay inbusiness.” To address the issue, Hiatt said, the as- sociationhasspokento lawmakersandad- vocated for changing labeling laws, which honey packers oppose. He said there are voluntary honey certification programs, andtheuseofnuclearmagnetic resonance testing has proven useful as a quality con- trol tool in the analysis of honey. “Wedon’t yet haveastandardof identity (for honey). We tried, and USDA directed us touse the commercial itemdescription that was put in place last year, after years and years of work; it’s thenext-best thing,” Hiatt said, adding that shoppers should look for “USAhoney” on the label. Food fraud has also been a problem for
California olive oil producers. DanFlynn,directorof theUCDavisOlive Center, said theoliveoil sector facesquality fraud—inwhichoil soldasextra-virginmay notbe,sinceitcouldberancid—oradultera- tion,whichisaddinganother typeof refined oil to theoliveoil or extra-virginoliveoil. Flynn said there is no national standard foroliveoil intheU.S.,andthereisnofederal enforcementofstandards,althoughanother means of enforcement has been through privateparties and thecourt system. “There has been an effort for several years to engage the state government, as well as the industry, inpolicing the quality of California-produced olive oil,” he said. “Thisdoesn’t cover the importedoil,which
is most of what we are consuming in the U.S.,but it’sdoneaverygoodjobinevaluat- ing thequalityandprovidingconsumeras- surances forCalifornia-producedoliveoil.” Ehmke suggested that the U.S. gov- ernment should dedicate a single agen- cy to addressing food fraud issues, not- ing that currently the issue is regulated by a combination of the Food and Drug Administration,DepartmentofAgriculture and Justice Department. In addition, she recommended that food associations de- velop better testing to easily identify if a product or food has been adulterated. (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)
illegal drugs, identity theft or even the in- ternational small-arms illegal trade. This has been trending upwards over the last 10 years,” she said. Food fraudtakesdifferent forms, includ- ingadulteration,which is takingaproduct and changing it. In the case of honey, beekeepers are aware that some importedhoneyhasbeen watereddownwithsugar syrup, has colors addedorhasbeenotherwisealteredand is being sold as honey alongside California- grown products. “The honey market is increasingly im- portant to look at in terms of food fraud,” Ehmke said, noting that more than two- thirds of the honey consumed in the U.S. is imported. “Illegal importation of honey is coming from places like China, where there’sheavypollution, heavy levelsof lead andmercury; if you continue to eat honey sourced from those areas and those bees, you could start to see those sorts of con- taminants in your own body.” From 2000-07, the U. S. actively im- ported honey fromChina, and then it was brought to theattentionof lawmakers that there was a high level of toxins in Chinese honey. After a trade agreement with the country was negotiated, Ehmke said, “we noticedthatwehada lotmorehoneycom- ing in from India and Vietnamover time. In 2011, we found that some of the honey thatwasmarkedascomingfromKoreawas
Shaun Crook joins regional BLM resource advisory council
California Farm Bureau Second Vice President Shaun Crook has been ap- pointed to a three-year term on the Central California Resource Advisory Council, which advises on public lands administered by the federal Bureau of LandManagement. Crook, a licensed timber operator from TuolumneCounty,will representcommer- cial timber interestson theadvisorypanel. A former Tuolumne County FarmBureau
president, he was elected California Farm Bureau second vice president in 2017 and re-elected in 2019. The council advises the BLM Central California District Office onmatters con- cerning management of public lands and natural resources. The district office oversees public lands in themiddle of the state, fromtheSierraNevada to thePacific Ocean, from field offices in Bakersfield, Bishop,ElDoradoHills,MarinaandUkiah.
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AgAlert_Ad_Jan2021_FINAL_TOL.indd 1 g Alert January 27, 2021
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