Recent laboratory tests have found lead residues in some honey products. Exposure to lead is known to have adverse effects on human health, especially on the nervous system. Children are particularly vulnerable.

The primary source of lead contamination in honey is lead-bearing equipment. Honey is an acidic product and can react with surfaces containing lead, allowing lead to be absorbed by the honey. Lead-bearing equipment includes, but is not restricted to:

• galvanized equipment (such as extractors and tanks);
• soldered equipment (such as stainless steel extractors, tanks, packing units or any other equipment with lead containing soldered seams);
• some bronze and brass fittings; and
• equipment made of terneplate (a metal alloy found in some older equipment).

What You Can Do to Avoid Lead Contamination Inspect and Maintain Your Equipment:

• New and used equipment must be made with food-grade materials. These include stainless steel, food grade plastic, and fibreglass lined steel with welded or lead-free soldered seams. Repairs to any equipment must also be made with food-grade materials. Solder containing lead should not be used.
• Do not use older equipment to store, or dispense honey unless you have verified that it is lead free. Increased exposure or residency time will increase the risk of lead contamination of the honey.
• Do not leave honey in the bottom of the extractor between uses. If the extractor has a lead soldered seam, honey left in the bottom is exposed to lead and could contaminate your next lot.
• Lead test kits are available and should be used to identify possible lead sources in your equipment. Kits may be purchased from many equipment suppliers.

Tell Your Neighbours:

Share this notice with your neighbours. A contamination issue with any producer could impact your business.

Additional Information:

Information on the effects of lead on human health can be found on the Health Canada website at: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/iyh-vsv/environ/lead-plomb_e.html.

If using food grade coatings, correct surface preparation and application is very important. If coatings (such as paint) are not applied correctly, they can flake off and could contaminate the honey.

A database of accepted construction, packaging and coating materials can be found on the Canadian Food Inspection Agencies website at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/reference/refere.shtml

For more information on lead contamination in honey, please contact:

John Henderson
Risk Management Specialist
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
95 Dundas St., RR 3 Brighton, Ontario K0K 1H0
Tel: (613) 475-5175
Fax: (613) 475-3835
john.henderson@ontario.ca

The Agri-Food Trade Service of the Government of Canada has released a report on opportunities for Canadian producers of mead to market their products in other countries.

With global demand for wine rising and increasing consumer preference for unique and premium wine varieties, the potential for Canadian mead in the global marketplace may expand beyond its current status as a very small niche product.

Mead is a fermented alcoholic beverage produced from at least 51% honey, water and yeast. Fruit and berries may be added during or after fermentation, to create a wide variety of meads. Like wine, mead may be sparkling, dry, or sweet.

Commercial mead production is primarily limited to North America and Europe, at present, so Canadian products are well-positioned to compete in the international non-grape wine marketplace.

See:

• The Global Mead Market: Opportunities for Canadian Mead Exporters
  Agri-Food Trade Service
  Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
  June 2007

See also:

• International Mead Association
• Got Mead : Your Mead Resource

Physician Jennifer Eddy of University of Wisconsin Health’s Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic is currently conducting the first randomized, double-blind controlled trial of honey as a topical treatment for diabetic ulcers. Honey is already being used in New Zealand as a treatment for bed sores.

Eddy first successfully used honey therapy a few years ago with a 79-year-old patient who was facing amputation after all medical options had been exhausted.

“This is a tremendously important issue for public health,” explains Eddy, adding that the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization have identified bacterial resistance as one of the most important medical problems of our day.

Patients in the clinical trial will receive ulcer care and treatment by an expert podiatrist. Half will be randomly assigned to receive honey, while the other half will receive a wound-care gel that has been compounded with inert components to give it the flavor and color of honey. The ulcers will be measured to see how quickly they heal, to evaluate whether honey or the standard wound gel is better for healing.

If honey proves the more effective method, Eddy cautions patients against using it at home without a physician’s involvement. “Unfortunately, diabetic ulcers are very complicated, and honey would only be part of the solution,” she says.

Funding for the study is provided by the Wisconsin Partnership Fund for Health and the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation. Results of the trial are expected to be published within the next two years.

See also:

• Honey could save diabetics from amputation (Yahoo! News)
• UW Press release http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/13738 5/2/07

Thanks to CBA member Sterling Clark for bringing this story to our attention!