FDA has found residues of the weed killer glyphosate even in a food that is not produced with the use of glyphosate: honey.
All of the samples the FDA tested in a recent examination contained glyphosate residues, and some showed residue levels double the limit allowed in the European Union. There is no legal tolerance level for glyphosate in honey in the United States.
According to the FDA records, samples tested by an FDA chemist showed these residue levels:
| Carmichael’s Honey | Louisiana | 107 ppb |
| Leighton’s Orange Blossom Honey | Florida | 22 ppm |
| Sue Bee Honey | Lowa | 41 ppm |
Sue Bee is marketed by a cooperative of American beekeepers as “pure, all-natural” and “America’s Honey.” Customers “can be assured that Sue Bee Honey is 100% pure, 100% all-natural and 100% American,” the Sioux Honey Association states.
The obvious recommendation is to choose organic honey, but I’m not sure it has less glyphosate. What is becoming more and more evident is that glyphosate is now widespread in the general environment, and not limited to GMO foods.
The good news is that honey has a tremendous amount of nutrients and inherent healing qualities. Of all foods, honey is the food most likely to have the ability to counteract the negative affects of glyphosate.
I would still choose organic honey.
THE HUFFINGTON POST: FDA Finds Monsanto’s Weed Killer in US Honey.
Survey of Glyphosate Residues in Honey, Corn and Soy ProductsJournal of Environmental & Analytical Toxicology
Forty one out of sixty nine (59%) honey samples analyzed contained glyphosate at a concentration above the method LOQ (15 ng/g) with a range between 17-163 ng/g and a mean of 64 ng/g.
I did a quick search on the Internet and it seems that New Zealand does not allow GMO crops in their country. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
If true, that’s great news for glyphosate free honey. Also, NZ is where the renowned medicinal “Manuka” honey comes from. But they also export clover and other crop honey.
Do not, absolutely do not, want glyphosate in my honey.
That is not correct, NZ feeds all the animals farmed including dairy cows GMO stockfeeds, we are one of the biggest importers of PKE (Palm Kernel Extract) for stockfeeds.
“New Zealand does not produce GM crops, making imports the only possible inclusion of GM ingredients in stockfeed. Imports of soybean and canola meal may be included in feed rations.
In 2006, around 96% of New Zealand’s soybeans and meal imports came from GM soybean-producing countries.
“Accounting for the proportion of GM soybean plantings in these countries, it is estimated that around 68% of soybean meal imports were GM… http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2009/01/125.shtml
“…genetically engineered feed can be freely imported into New Zealand. It doesn’t even have to be segregated from other non-GM feed or declared on a label because it is not for human consumption, and our food safety agency claims there is no difference between GM-fed animals and animals that are not given GM feed.
It makes the further claim that when animals are fed GM feed, the genetically modified protein or DNA from the feed cannot be detected in milk….”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10847195
GMOs are only banned from being grown in NZ for human consumption, though they may still be consumed here in imported produce.
“Under New Zealand law only genetically modified foods
that have been evaluated by ANZFA (Australian New
Zealand Food Authority) and approved by ANZFSC
(Australian New Zealand Food Standards Council) can be
sold here.” ~Ministry for the Environment NZ
NZ is worse than any other country, the govt sprays 1080 ,glyphosate, and all sorts of poison, our water is poisoned, land is poisoned, 1080 sprayed over people and nyhey are now sick and health board will not release a report that they were poisoned by 1080.
You may also be interested to know that NZ scientists have declared glyphosate is safe. Farmers in NZ spray that stuff everywhere with wild abandon… my neighbour grazed his beef cattle on paddocks that had just been completely sprayed for pasture renewal….they are chemical cowboys!!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/83079593/Cancer-all-clear-given-to-weedkiller-glyphosate-by-New-Zealand-scientific-review
Unfortunately, because bees travel far and wide, buying organic honey is not a guarantee of purity. In 2014-15, researchers in Pennsylvania reported on 69 brands of honey… “…forty-one samples, or fifty-nine percent (59%), had glyphosate concentrations above the method LOQ (15 ppb), with a concentration range between 17 and 163 ppb and a mean of 64 ppb.
“Even more surprisingly five of the eleven organic honey samples, or forty-five percent (45%), contained glyphosate concentrations above the method LOQ, with a range of 26 to 93 ppb and a mean of 50 ppb.
“Of the fifty-eight non-organic honey samples, thirty-six samples, or sixty-two percent (62%), contained glyphosate concentrations above the method LOQ, with a range of 17 to 163 ppb and a mean of 66 ppb.”
See : http://sustainablepulse.com/2015/02/12/pennsylvania-researchers-discover-glyphosate-herbicide-honey-soy-sauce/#.V-F4INQrL4Z
We have been buying Tropical Traditions honey because it’s tested for glyphosate, though I would much rather support local farmers. See: http://tropicaltraditions.com/traditional-food/traditional-sweeteners/glyphosate-tested-raw-honey.html
I’d love to hear of other brands that test their honey!