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Health Connections
~Legitimate Complaints~
 What a responsibility we have to keep our family healthy! It is not an easy thing to accomplish, considering all the aspects of family life. Fast food makes other areas of life a little easier. It is less time consuming to zip by certain places I won't name. But woe unto our family!
How nice it would be to have the government looking out for us as we do our very best to enhance healthy lifestyles. However, whether it's that time has changed the way things are done or if it is just that we are more knowledgeable of what's going on, I don't like what I read.
My husband has recently started research on bees and beekeeping. (There is not much that he has not researched at some point in his life!) He has numerous books on how honey is made. Today he received the November, 2007 issue of American Bee Journal. What he read interested me because we have turned to honey as a source of sweetness rather than refined sugar and artificial sweeteners. Was I in for a surprise as he read to me!
Sylvia A. Ezenwa, J. D (an attorney and writer based in Idaho; also licensed to practice law in the State of Texas; has written HONEY BEE LAW: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE) wrote an article, How Effective is FDA Enforcement? She writes of the many recalls during the year of 2007. These recalls range from pet food, toothpaste, fresh ginger, just to name a few. Then she writes of a real problem with honey that is sold here in the USA.
Ms. Ezenwa reports that since 2002, there has been evidence that honey containing the antibiotic chloramphenicol has made its way to the shores of America. This antibiotic can cause serious side effects which could be life threatening to a small number of individuals. The scary part of this information is the part the FDA plays in this process. I am just learning that the FDA's recall policy is intended only to provide guidance to companies to voluntarily recall the dangerous products and in no way requires or obligates the company to remove contaminated products from the market. Due to the lack of strict FDA enforcement, contaminated honey will likely continue to be imported and continue to be used and sold by producers, packers, and distributors and will sooner or later reach the consumer.
It comes down to whether the companies using the tainted product will, in fact,  take the action needed to protect us, the consumer. If the company using the honey, etc., chooses not to test the product, Ms. Eznewa says, "chances are good that they will have broken no law, and will face no government sanction. So when contaminated honey does enter the market, consumers can only rely on corporate responsibility and hope that companies decide that the benefits of a recall outweigh the potential loss of inventory and profits" In other words, it is a moral issue. And for some, company greed for profits will outweigh the moral issue of consumer safety.
Unfortunately the dollar (profit) carries a lot of weight. This fact is evident in what is told of the Sara Lee Corporation in this very article. The Albion Monitor reported that Sara Lee was notified in August of 2002 that the FDA was testing imported bulk honey for possible adulteration with antibiotics. With no testing to check for themselves, they continued to use the suspect honey in fresh baked goods for 10 days after being notified of the FDA's testing. Remember, there are no laws to make them stop using contaminated products, it is voluntary!) They eventually quarantined the honey, but not before 118,780 pounds of honey testing positive for antibiotics was used in at least 500,000 loaves of bread distributed in retail outlets nationwide by The Earthgrains Co., a subsidiary of Sara Lee. Needless to say, as of today, my husband and I will not buy anything distributed by Sara Lee. Is that being unfair? They had a choice, so do I!
Who is looking out for us? I say that it is time we take action to protect our health.
I am not sure of the best way to do this. But I do know that snail mail and email addresses, and phone number of our law makers are readily available. The web is the easiest place to find this information. Individually we can't do a lot, but we each can do our part to get laws changed and try to get better guidelines with stricter enforcement for the FDA. This agency's task is phenomenal, I realize that! Let's do what we can to help make them stronger!
This is only an issue about honey. Can you imagine what other problems may be lurking in our food industry? It's time we contact those that can help make a difference in making companies responsible.
As for our use of honey, we have decided to buy our supply from local individuals who sell in open air markets or in local stores. Health matters.
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"The preparation of good food is merely another expression of art,
one of the joys of civilized living"
Dione Lucas
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