Some honey is cut with sugar syrup, especially imported honey
Do this instead
- Buy Canadian honey, ideally from a local beekeeperDomestic honey failed far less often in CFIA's tests.
- Be wary of honey that's unusually cheapSyrup is much cheaper to produce than real honey.
- Never give honey to babies under 1This is a separate safety rule: honey can carry botulism spores.
The short version
Honey is one of the most commonly faked foods. Canadian and European inspectors keep finding honey stretched with cheap sugar syrups made from rice, wheat or sugar beet. Imported honey fails much more often than domestic honey.
The evidence
In 2020–21, CFIA found 15 of 58 targeted honey samples (25.9%) unsatisfactory, 13 of them wholly or partly imported. In a broader retail survey, 6 of 124 samples (4.8%) failed.[1]
The European Commission tested 320 honey shipments from 20 countries between November 2021 and February 2022. 147 of them (46%) were suspected of being adulterated, mostly with sugar syrups.[2]
Spot an error or have newer test results? Email corrections@doctorsoni.ca and we'll review it. How we decide verdicts