Obstacles to Certifying Honey Organic

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Obstacles to Certifying Honey Organic

Producers feeling the sting from inability to obtain right to

use 'organic' label

Kelly Stone, Grand Forks Herald (USA), 2/13/2006

 

See: www.apitherapynews.com

 

When you think of honey, you probably think of words

like " healthy, " " pure " or " natural. " But you might be surprised to

hear that, currently, it's impossible for U.S. honey producers to

get their product certified as organic.

 

Dr. Marla Spivak, a University of Minnesota entomologist, says while

Europe and Canada have standards in place for certifying organic

honey, there are no such standards yet in the United States. Spivak

says under existing USDA guidelines, it may be difficult, if not

impossible, to create honey certification standards.

 

Right now, USDA classifies bees as livestock. To certify livestock

as organic, producers must prove that the animals have not come into

contact with certain chemicals or genetically modified material.

While cattle ranchers can confine their herd with fences, bees fly

freely up to 10 miles from their hive in search of pollen and

nectar. Spivak says it's unrealistic to expect beekeepers to control

so much surrounding farmland. . .