5 ms·

That’s because honey is sugar syrup with a liberal sprinkling of marketing. The sugar syrup they are blending it with doesn’t have the right marketing and is th

by _3u10 2y ago

That’s because honey is sugar syrup with a liberal sprinkling of marketing. The sugar syrup they are blending it with doesn’t have the right marketing and is therefore not honey.

jart 2y ago
No, it's not. Honey is defined by the USDA as being flower nectar that's been processed by bees[1]. Artificial honey can not be called honey[2]. If they're mixing it with high fructose corn syrup, then there should be a way to scientifically determine that. [1] https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted_Honey_Inspection_Instructions%5B1%5D.pdf https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted... [2] https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted_Honey_Standard%5B1%5D.pdf https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted...
- ryandrake 2y ago
  Oh, the USDA publishes a rule! Surely everyone will follow that and the problem is solved. Unfortunately we get the behavior that we let people get away with. Regulators are asleep, courts let companies weasel their way around everything, and reality doesn't care about published rules and standards.
  - warkdarrior 2y ago
    Regulations like these are onerous. Have you ever watched a bee filling out a Dept of Ag or FDA form? Dept of Govt Efficiency will fix it.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- colechristensen 2y ago
  A 90s percent of honey is fructose, glucose, and water. A very high 90s percent of corn syrup is fructose, glucose, and water. Getting the ratios the same is trivial. There is nothing magical about fructose or glucose from different sources, they’re exactly the same simple molecule. If you had very clean corn syrup, you could undetectably dilute honey and it would be quite the same. Lab tests being what they are these days, someone could probably make a part per billion analysis that would be very hard to evade, but the difference is emotional not practical. People have wrong ideas that honey is so much healthier than corn syrup when it is indeed very similar. Not that i support selling corn syrup as honey, but it wouldn’t make any actual difference other than diluted flavor.
  - jfengel 2y ago
    The remaining 10 percent is very significant to flavor. You can definitely detect it with your tongue and nose. But as you say it is utterly irrelevant to nutrition or health. Even the antibacterial elements are real but negligible.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - maltyr 2y ago
    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10346535/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10346535/ Numerous studies have concluded that honey does have a better effect on health than the same amount of simple syrup, at least. > It has been demonstrated that honey consumption can influence plasma lipid, glucose, and insulin levels through different biochemical mechanisms. The decrease in blood glucose may be due to the fact that honey has a stimulatory effect on insulin secretion and improves insulin sensitivity
    - carbocation 2y ago
      An uncited statement in a review article! If I'm rich in time and money enough to routinely take the time to wander down to my friendly beekeeper and buy their small-batch artisanal honey, for so many reasons I will live longer than someone who isn't. Someone should randomize people to honey vs fake-honey-sugar-mix and settle the issue.
      - nativeit 2y ago
        You mean, something like this? > Forty-eight articles published in 42 different journals were analyzed, with a total of 3655 subjects with 29.51 ± 21.51 years of age, of whom 1990 consumed or were treated with honey. Of the 3655 subjects, at least 1803 were women (two studies did not specify). The studies included different population groups (healthy subjects, overweight or obese subjects, diabetic subjects, subjects with cancer, children, etc.) and included more than 30 different types of honey. Although it is not a systematic review, the results of the PEDro scale regarding the quality of the articles were in the range of 6–10, with articles scoring 6 or higher being considered of good methodological quality.
result2vino 2y ago
This particularly americanised brand of nihilism is so bloody tiring.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

by _3u10 2y ago

That’s because honey is sugar syrup with a liberal sprinkling of marketing. The sugar syrup they are blending it with doesn’t have the right marketing and is therefore not honey.

jart 2y ago

No, it's not. Honey is defined by the USDA as being flower nectar that's been processed by bees[1]. Artificial honey can not be called honey[2]. If they're mixing it with high fructose corn syrup, then there should be a way to scientifically determine that. [1] https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted_Honey_Inspection_Instructions%5B1%5D.pdf https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted... [2] https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted_Honey_Standard%5B1%5D.pdf https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Extracted...

ryandrake 2y ago
Oh, the USDA publishes a rule! Surely everyone will follow that and the problem is solved. Unfortunately we get the behavior that we let people get away with. Regulators are asleep, courts let companies weasel their way around everything, and reality doesn't care about published rules and standards.
- warkdarrior 2y ago
  Regulations like these are onerous. Have you ever watched a bee filling out a Dept of Ag or FDA form? Dept of Govt Efficiency will fix it.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
colechristensen 2y ago
A 90s percent of honey is fructose, glucose, and water. A very high 90s percent of corn syrup is fructose, glucose, and water. Getting the ratios the same is trivial. There is nothing magical about fructose or glucose from different sources, they’re exactly the same simple molecule. If you had very clean corn syrup, you could undetectably dilute honey and it would be quite the same. Lab tests being what they are these days, someone could probably make a part per billion analysis that would be very hard to evade, but the difference is emotional not practical. People have wrong ideas that honey is so much healthier than corn syrup when it is indeed very similar. Not that i support selling corn syrup as honey, but it wouldn’t make any actual difference other than diluted flavor.
- jfengel 2y ago
  The remaining 10 percent is very significant to flavor. You can definitely detect it with your tongue and nose. But as you say it is utterly irrelevant to nutrition or health. Even the antibacterial elements are real but negligible.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- maltyr 2y ago
  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10346535/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10346535/ Numerous studies have concluded that honey does have a better effect on health than the same amount of simple syrup, at least. > It has been demonstrated that honey consumption can influence plasma lipid, glucose, and insulin levels through different biochemical mechanisms. The decrease in blood glucose may be due to the fact that honey has a stimulatory effect on insulin secretion and improves insulin sensitivity
  - carbocation 2y ago
    An uncited statement in a review article! If I'm rich in time and money enough to routinely take the time to wander down to my friendly beekeeper and buy their small-batch artisanal honey, for so many reasons I will live longer than someone who isn't. Someone should randomize people to honey vs fake-honey-sugar-mix and settle the issue.
    - nativeit 2y ago
      You mean, something like this? > Forty-eight articles published in 42 different journals were analyzed, with a total of 3655 subjects with 29.51 ± 21.51 years of age, of whom 1990 consumed or were treated with honey. Of the 3655 subjects, at least 1803 were women (two studies did not specify). The studies included different population groups (healthy subjects, overweight or obese subjects, diabetic subjects, subjects with cancer, children, etc.) and included more than 30 different types of honey. Although it is not a systematic review, the results of the PEDro scale regarding the quality of the articles were in the range of 6–10, with articles scoring 6 or higher being considered of good methodological quality.

result2vino 2y ago

This particularly americanised brand of nihilism is so bloody tiring.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]