Yes PHB, you are certainly correct - the bees don’t collect honey. My humble apologies.
A careless choice of words on my part. 
Leatherwood honey is certainly an acquired taste, and there is no economical sales demand for it on the mainland, and it cannot be blended with other varietal honey because of its very strong and distinctive flavour.
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I’m enlightened. How unusual. Thanks for the education.
I found this interesting as well, with Beechworth Honey able to offer Almond Honey. Something they were equally surprised by.
It’s also worth taking onboard that as well as the European honey bee Australia has over 1700 Species of native bee.
I do like pointing this out. Australian agriculture for all it’s wholesomeness has a sordid history when it comes to native wildlife. The Thylacine, Dingo, Kangaroo etc historically represented a competitor or threat and were hunted aggressively. Often with government bounties. As a consequence the Thylacine is no more while WA and the Commonwealth famously declared war on the humble Emu.
Less obvious perhaps is the threat to Australian native bees from European honey production in Australia. It’s worth looking beyond the label of a product if you are interested. The Australian Bee Industry does have reasons for self promotion. It promotes various agricultural benefits while agitating from time to time for greater access to national parks and forest areas.
As to the purity of the honey produced by European Honey bees, should it honestly be called Australian Honey. It is not produced by Australian native bees and it is variously produced from a variety of imported and native flowering species. Our most commonly available product is hopefully as per this topic 100% product of Australia. But in true appellation can it honestly ‘bee’ described as ‘Australian Honey’ if it is produced by European bees?
Note:
Australian native bees produce far less honey than the European bees. Where there is competition between the two the European bee has an advantage. Compared with the European bee native bees are more effective pollinators of many native plants including the commercially valuable macadamia. Apologies if this appears pointed. Any opportunity to point out the risks to native bee populations which typically fly under the radar, is not to be wasted. This is an invisible line for some of us, as the Australian European Honey Bee Industry rarely acknowledges they are any threat to native bees or biodiversity.
I still enjoy the occasional spoonful of Australian inspired European honey.
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I gave up reading the multiple comments on sugar adulterated honey so I cannot be sure that the following has not been mentioned somewhere along the line.
However it appears to me that everybody is getting tied up in knots about the wrong problem.
The major concern I have is what toxins are in the honey. There are flowers out there with serious toxins in them (they produce toxins to stop things eating them!). Just 2 off the top of my head are Salvation Jane and Fireweed.
Yes I source local honey but I always ask where the hives have been located and therefore what the source of the honey has been.
Just do a thorough research on toxins in honey and you might forget about worrying about the sugar content for a while!
Where will I find information on the toxicity of honey due to fireweed or other common pasture weeds?
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Hives are moved on a regular basis. Plants flower at different times of the year. It would seem unlikely there can be any assurance as to what the bees have been to. Are they going to ignore masses of flowering weeds near ground level and seek only brush box blossom 25-35m above?
It may also be relevant that many Australian native flowering plants are also toxic and contain the same group of chemicals.
EG the following is a widespread and persistent in bushland areas.
One short list, some native, some imported weeds that have known levels of toxicity.
I recognise several as being very common all along the east coast of Australia. I’m happy to consume local honey irrespective.
The alternative if concerned.
Is honey essential to diet?
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Here is a website discussing nectar that contains toxins…
https://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2018/6/24/toxic-nectar
Possibly if honey was made solely on such nectar, there may be justification for some concern, but as bees browse a multitude of different flowers, it is likely that if the nectar is gathered, it will be diluted. Diluted to levels which aren’t toxic, don’t know, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence in Australia that our honey is ‘dangerous’ to eat.
Furthermore, the above also assumes that honey bees will collect and use nectar containing toxins. This may or may not be the case as plant toxins have evolved to protect plants from predators, and these toxins could be there to ensure insects which can’t pollinate the flowers don’t get rewarded.
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This story seems to have started with this study that concluded that oz honey contained excessive amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids ¶ especially according to European standards.
That study was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald. The SMH did a fair job and explained that PA is found in many plants including fireweed and salvation jane and that some experts in the field are concerned. They point out that various culinary and medicinal herbs have much higher concentrations of PA than honey.
As usual we have disagreement over the safe level and arguments around the maxim the dose makes the poison, with the beekeepers saying
“Industry is fully aware of the problem with Paterson’s curse honey and alkaloid content,” a spokesperson said. “This honey is not produced in commercial quantities in Australia.”
“There is not one single case documented of human health being unfavourably affected as a consequence of the consumption of honey containing very low levels of alkaloids.”
Then we have this commentary on the commentary by Ian Musgrave in The Conversation. The author who is a pharmacologist concluded you would have to eat far too much honey for it to be a risk.
As for the claim that you can avoid such problems by asking about the source of your honey this has a number of problems.
- Many of us do not have the option of choosing the source as most honey is blended.
- For many even if they could choose local honey the offending herbs are endemic to their region anyway and hard to escape.
- Asking the vendor may be a waste of time as they may not know exactly what their brood has been consuming. Asking them assumes they would tell the truth and not just automatically say ‘oh no nasty toxins in our honey, we have discriminating bees’.
Does being a natural product with little processing guarantee that it is safe? Does potential pollution of natural honey mean it is OK to substitute other sugars not from bees? Am I going to stop eating honey 'cause it is all too risky? No, no and no.
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I found the following from recent Qld Health supported testing carried out by the University if Qld.. There is no advice the honey is safe or unsafe. The presence of PA’s in honey appears to be almost universal in all product.
84% of blended supermarket honey had detectible levels of PA’s. A comparison with smaller local producers suggested they have the highest levels in their product, making the blended super market product a better choice. If one is concerned.
2.10. Honey as a Dietary Source of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids
Major supermarket honeys by comparison represent blended honeys from diverse locations, some of which attributed the specific floral source and in general contained only low levels of PAs. It has been observed previously that blended retail honeys had a lower PA content, but that PAs were present in more samples [65]. In this study, for supermarket honeys (n = 129), PAs were detected in 84% of honeys, and showed highest total PA levels of 1400 ng/g. For supermarket honeys, the mean total PA level of PA-positive samples was 120 ng/g and the median level was 61 ng/g.
Certain small producer honeys displayed the highest levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, with the PA content dependent on the location and attractiveness of PA containing plants to foraging honey bees. Paradoxically, even though analysed PA content of small producer honeys range from <LOR to an alarming 3000 ng/g, if equal amounts of each of these 205 small producer honeys were blended, the hypothetical resultant mixed honey would have a PA content of only 240 ng/g (i.e., the average PA content of all of these 465 honeys).
In a comment within the report text. The researchers are not confident they have identified all of the plants in our natural environment (native species or weeds) that can contribute to PAs being present in honey.
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Yes, there is information from Germany that
PAs were found in 66% of the raw honeys (bulk honey not yet packaged in containers for sale in retail outlets) and in 94% of honeys available in supermarkets (retail honey).
What is also interesting is that there over 6000 known plant species which produce PA. Tea and herbal infusions are two other commonly consumed products with PA.
This is a European study:
https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4908
and found:
In 2011, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) assessed the risks related to the presence of PAs in food and feed. Based on occurrence data limited to honey, the CONTAM Panel concluded that there was a possible health concern for those toddlers and children who are high consumers of honey. A new exposure assessment including new occurrence data was published by EFSA in 2016 and was used to update the risk characterisation. The CONTAM Panel established a new Reference Point of 237 μg/kg body weight per day to assess the carcinogenic risks of PAs, and concluded that there is a possible concern for human health related to the exposure to PAs, in particular for frequent and high consumers of tea and herbal infusions.
Should we be worried, possibly not unless one is a very high consumer of honey and other foods containing PAs. Like any foods, moderation is the key.
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Does this put an end to all the nonsense that honey is a superfood blessed with magical properties?
It must be near impossible to be sure.
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No that is Manuka Honey (™)
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In reality there is no such thing as a superfood…or a food with magical properties. It is marketing spin as all foods (possibly with exception of ultra processed foods) could be superfoods in some way or have magical properties (including ultra processed foods).
Any food eaten in excess or over consumed can cause problems. Honey is no different (either PAs or.adverse health effects due to its high sugar and calorie content).
At appropriate levels of consumption, there should be no issue.
Does manuka tea tree contain PAs?
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What about the antibacterial and antiicrobial properties of honey, or the 3,000 year oll honey found in the pyrimiads?
Does Manuka Honey contain only honey from that specific tree?
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Many other foods and plant products have similar properties to which honey is not unique…garlic, turmeric, wine, cranberries etc
Possibly not, unless it is the only flowering plant at the time that the hives are placed. This is the same with any specific blossom honey.
The Capilano Honey website has some interesting information on pyrrolizidine-alkaloids, that it isn’t an issue in Australian honey due to the control/weed management of Patterson’s curse in Australia. There also appears to have been a specific Patterson’s curse blossom honey in the past. The webpage also states:
Australian honey is sourced primarily from Eucalypt trees and Leptospermum trees (manuka) which do not produce pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
It appears that PA may only be an issue with imported honey or if a honey containing PAs hasn’t been blended out with low PA honeys.
These two are also interesting reads:
https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/chemicals/patersonscurse/pages/default.aspx
The FSA states:
It is recommended that anyone, including pregnant or breast feeding women, who consumes more than two tablespoons of honey a day, doesn’t eat Paterson’s Curse honey exclusively.
Pure Paterson’s Curse honey is relatively uncommon and is usually bought from specialty markets and online distributors. Most honey processors blend their Paterson’s Curse honey with other honey to reduce the pyrrolizidine alkaloids to a safe level.
This possibly is a good conclusion to PA in honey and risks.
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Misdirection from Capilano par excellence? From the recent UofQ testing I previously linked.
Are the levels detected in the real Supermarket and small producer honey sampled high enough to be of concern?
Note that these tests separately identified the biological origins of the PA’s in each sample. Capilano are correct in saying we should not be too concerned re Patterson’s Curse as a source. It’s Not the whole story with the tests indicating other plant species are the dominant sources of PA’s in Australia produced honey.
Should consumers be concerned?
The measured levels, even the outliers at more than 3.1 micrograms per gram of honey may be safe per FSANZ assuming the consumer is not honey consumption addictive, (1microgram of PA’s per kg of consumer body weight per day the assumed level for concern). IE The level of concern depends on your consumption habits and whether your source varies. Note some honeys may contain PA’s from more than one source.
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Just do a search on “toxins in honey”… one of the articles is
The toxins are found in the honey itself. To what levels I’m not sure and of course it depends on how much you eat… hence my consumption is rare.
The referenced article could be unintentionally misleading. Just to note per the article.
So what the hell are PAs, and how do they end up in our honey? The poisons are produced by around 600 types of pasture plants in Australia, including Paterson’s curse.
As previously noted Paterson’s Curse is a relatively minor a source of PA’s in Australian honey. The tone re 600 pasture plants is also suggestive every plant in Australian pastures is toxic! PA’s are also life threatening to livestock. We are not surrounded by pastures full of dying livestock. High risk pasture weeds/plants are managed for that reason. That large quantities of Australia’s honey is produced from forested areas has also not been acknowledged.
Australian honey producers have said Aussies consume an average of 1kg of honey per year. It seems a rather low number, but then many may not consume very much at all. It’s an expensive product when compared with sugar based jams. Others may be consuming more, perhaps 5-10kg pa. As an average consumer on toast 2-3 times a week and a dash in the occasional black tea 25-50gms per week. (A 500gm jar lasts 2-3 months in our household.)
Assuming in any one day I consume no more than 10gms and weigh a petite 55kg. I’m not truthful on body weight but thought it wiser to go for a worse outcome.
The safe level of PA’s based on FSANZ: 5.5 micrograms per gram of pure honey.
The safe level of PA’s based on the European recommendations: 0.0385 micrograms per gram of pure honey.
IE respectively 5,500 nanograms and 38.5 nanograms per gram of honey for anyone wanting to compare directly with the table,
Note:
The European tolerable intake is 0.007 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. The Australian intake is 1 microgram per kilogram of body weight, per day.
The recommended levels decrease for children.
Patersons Curse is a weed in Australia. It is also a weed in New Zealand. And surprise surprise, It is also common in Western and Southern Europe where it is endemic. IE occurs naturally.
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An article regarding the recovery of teh commercial honey industry in Australia following the drought and bushfires.
“The germination of Paterson’s Curse has been a godsend for beekeepers.”
“With this rain now Paterson’s Curse will yield nectar and quality pollen for the bees right through until Christmas.”
The beekeepers are obviously not worried about Paterson’s Curse.
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