Agriculture

There Is So Much FAKE HONEY in the Philippines (and Why That Needs to Change)



Honey is known for its health benefits and its sweet taste. It is used by many in their day-to-day lives, and yet it remains one of the most-faked foods in the world*. The Philippines is home to several known bee species that produce honey, but the prevalence of adulterated honey in the country remains high due to the lack of knowledge and geographical indication schemes (GI).

Join us as we delve deep into the future of Philippine honey in the heart of Palawan and learn more about how you can help local Filipino beekeepers and honey suppliers.

*Source: Business Insider, 2020

Acknowledgements:
Chef Likha Camacho, Chef Bettina Tanedo, and Team Toyo
Ka Tony Reyes, the expert IP honey gatherers of Bagac, Bataan and their families
Dr. Angel Bautista VII, Remjohn Magtaas and the DOST-PNRI team
DOST – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute Official FB page:
DOST-PNRI Research FB Page:
Dr. Cleo Cervancia, Jessica Baroga-Barbecho and the UPLB Bee Project
Residents of Barangay Loyal, Victoria, Mindoro
Alexis Dela Cuesta and family, Honea
Chelvin Collado, Michael Sagaran, Soh Rosario, Marcie Carandang, Kimmy Gran-Labanyoy, and the Raffles at Fairmont, Makati team
Kannan Subramanian, Manuka Health New Zealand Team
Haydee Kua, Manuka Health Marketing
Jasper Iturriaga
Expert IP honey gatherers of Sabsaban, Brookeโ€™s Point, Palawan
Asian Terminals Inc.

References:
Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, โ€œPure and Raw: Protecting Local Honey and Its Indigenous Harvesters,โ€ May 20, 2020
Alison Benjamin (The Guardian), โ€œUS beekeepers sue over imports of Asian fake honey,โ€ May 1, 2021
Jessica Hernandez, โ€œA Glance into Philippine Wild Forest Honey,โ€ Read Meryenda, August 15, 2023
Philippine Star, โ€œFake Honey is everywhere. Hereโ€™s how to tell if itโ€™s real or not,โ€ December 14, 2020
Vina Medenilla, โ€œBEEware of fake honey: Honey fraud in the Philippines, Manila Bulletin,May 24, 2022
Philippine Forest Honey Network (PFHN FB page)
Manuka Health PH Official Website

Jump to:
(0:00) Intro
(1:06) Harvesting Honey
(19:00) Honey as an Ingredient
(23:20) Fake Honey, Exposed
(31:40) What is Real Honey?
(42:52) Dr. Cleo Cervancia
(52:43) Health Benefits of Honey
(56:00) The Future of Philippine Honey
——————————-
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28 Comments

  1. i stop buying honey too since it's really confusing to where to get the original version since there is a lot of fake honey in the market. i really enjoy this since i saw some bees before in our house and there is a narra near my place and we have mango tree too so i hope this bees polinate our mango too.

  2. There should be regulation in a way na kapag adulterated na ang honey, hindi nila pwedeng gamitin sa label ang term na โ€˜honeyโ€™. Ang pwede lang nilang gamitin is โ€˜syrupโ€™.

  3. Holy…. "honey testing" is conducted in a Nuclear Research Institute, should it be made by FDA? Otherwise they are just going to do honey testing rather than doing research on Nuclear.

  4. The first thing that needs to change is paying a decent price for real quality things. People want high quality but don't want to pay for it. So in order to sell cheap people create fake honey or use sugar water outside the honey bee farms. Wild natural honey is expensive. And please don't harvest the whole honey comb. Leave some behind for the bees and their larvae. You can always go back and keep collecting.

  5. In other countries, adulterated honey (that still contains partial real honey) is labeled as "HONEY BLEND". the FDA/BFAD/DTI or whoever should just implement this. It's going to be very hard to pull out all "honey" products… but with label changes, at least consumers will be more aware.

    Canada also does this for Maple Syrup. Any syrup that has sugar mixed in is "maple flavor" and not "maple syrup"

  6. why cheat? selling artificial honey can be as lucrative as selling real honey. if the product taste good, then sell it as artificial honey and brand it. many filipinos are not wired for imagination in making money. to make money in philippines they copy each other and open a sari-sari store and most dont even make it because they allow people to credit the items and most cant pay it back.

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