Honey that isn't honey

I read an article yesterday that talked about honey that had the pollen removed. Seems that in order to be called honey in the U.S. it has to have pollen. They got some from different places, and tested it, and quite a few came up without. The process they use to extract the pollen was started in China, where they also add antibiotics to the honey that isn't allowed here. The food safety divisions of the  World Health Organization, the European Commission and dozens of others also have ruled that without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.The only reason to remove the pollen is to hide it's origin, so it is safe to say that the pollen free stuff came from China, and should be avoided."The FDA -- either because of lack of interest or resources -- devoted little effort to inspecting imported honey. Nevertheless, the agency had occasionally either been told of, or had stumbled upon, Chinese honey contaminated with chloramphenicol and other illegal animal antibiotics which are dangerous, even fatal, to a very small percentage of the population." Not to mention that it is subsidized by the Chinese government, and therefore is cheaper here than "homegrown" honey. It is subject to tariffs, but unscrupulous suppliers get around that by doing what is called transshipping which means it goes to a country without tariffs, and is then sold to our suppliers. Here is a list of the brands that failed http://www.foodsafetynews.com/honey-without-pollen-food-safety-news1.pdf so you can make a semi-educated buying choice. One thing to look for also is if the honey is really clear it probably isn't honey, and if it doesn't crystallize it sure isn't.

More info can be found here http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/11/tests-show-most-store-honey-isnt-honey/