This year, FDA has published two Import Alerts to regulate unapproved veterinary drug use in imported honey. On May 23, Import Alert 36-04 published a Red List of manufacturers of honey and blended syrup whose products will be detained due to fluoroquinolones. On June 20, Import Alert 36-04 published a similar list for honey manufacturers, due to chloramphenicol. Manufacturers of these two import alerts are mostly located in East Asia, including China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Not coincidentally, the biggest food fraud case in recent history was a honey-laundering scheme in the American market. Susan Berfield, in a recent BusinessWeek article, elaborates that one German company imported millions of pounds of honey from China by falsely declaring the country of origin as Indonesia, Malaysia, and India, etc. The underlying motive dates back ten years. In 2001, the U.S. government imposed heavy import duties on honey from China because China’s exceptionally low-price honey was too strong a challenge to domestic honey producers. After that, records state that Chinese honey was seldom imported.
However, is Chinese honey really seldom imported? First, the answer is no. Second, FDA knows the answer is no. Third, FDA cares the answer is no. It is established business conduct that companies import Chinese honey under the disguise of other countries’ names. As shown in Import Alert 36-04, FDA explicitly mentioned that the trace of the prohibited antibiotics was started in a Chinese firm. The geography of the companies on the import alerts shows that FDA is pointing its enforcement gun towards the whole of East Asia now.
FDA’s goal is to protect public health and food safety through quality screening and monitoring imported products. Through FDA’s enforcement action, FDA aims to achieve global compliance with legal requirements. By importing Chinese honey under other countries’ names, companies earn FDA’s distrust. In the past, FDA has performed extra screening on Chinese honey. Now, FDA adopts a stricter look at honey from countries close to China.
Looking forward, the unraveling honey fraud of the German company gives FDA the incentive to heightening scrutiny on honey from whole Asia. Honey importers from Asia, be aware that your safety net is gone!
