# More "Honey" Fraud



## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

Kim Flottum of Bee Culture magazine e-mailed me about
yet another new product with "Honey" in large print
on the label, but no honey in the actual product.

This one is more interesting than many, as they call it 
"Cane Honey", and claim that the term "Cane Honey", or 
"honey from the reed" is a "Chinese name from antiquity".

The swill being sold is nothing but liquid cane sugar
concentrate.
http://www.sukkaronline.com/home.html

We've shoved the product up against the 
Wall O' Shame, of course:
http://bee-quick.com/wall/sukkar.html

And it clearly qualifies as one of the 
"worst of the worst":
http://bee-quick.com/wall/worst.html


In regard to the language claim, are there any eastern 
language scholars on the list who can confirm/deny the claim? 

I found a reference to a modern English translation of the 
(Greek) "Periplus Maris Erythraei" (a trade and shipping 
guide from the 1st century A.D.) that credits the phrase to
India as a description of "Sacchari" (cane sugar) from India, 
but the Chinese character for sugar:
http://www.formosa-translation.com/chinese/ss/s257.gif

Looks nothing much like the characters for "flower"
or "honey" ("flower" on left, "honey" on right, and
as shown, the combination is read as "nectar").
http://www.formosa-translation.com/chinese/nn/nzz104.gif

The reason why I am so interested in such a trivial detail
is that any sort of inherent confusion in the Chinese language
between "honey" and "sugar" might explain the distressing 
regularity with which honey from China is found to be adulterated.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Man that is really bad!! And certainly deserves the wall of shame.

I am going to shoot them a note via the sites contact link to voice my displeasure with their products label.

Thanks Jim


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## carbide (Nov 21, 2004)

We should all do as Sundance says and let them know of our displeasure in this marketing ploy. As long as nobody complains, the good name of honey will continue to be misused by shysters to further their goals. Even though I don't expect to receive an answer from them, or expect them to change the name of their sugar water, I e-mailed them and expressed my opinion of their false advertising.


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## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

Mine has been sent.


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## carbide (Nov 21, 2004)

Surprisingly, after I sent an e-mail complaining to these people about their use of the word honey in a non-honey product they sent me the following reply:

Dear Tom:

Don't worry. We had no idea and a year and a half ago we changed the name to
Sugar Cane Juice Concentrate, the moment we realized this in the USA and Canada,
we changed it immediately.

It has been called cane honey for thousands of years in China and in Latin America
since Columbus introduced it.

We never want to confuse anyone and want everyone to know it is in fact the only
sugar cane juice concentrate available. We proudly put on all our packaging Cane Juice
Concentrate.

Kind regards,
Mariana


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

> year and a half ago we changed the name to
> Sugar Cane Juice Concentrate


A lie. Their own web page contradicts their
claimed "change":
http://www.sukkaronline.com/home.html

This retailer calls it "Sukkar Pure Cane Syrup",
"Miel de Piloncillo", "Miel de Jugo de Caña",
("miel" means "honey") and "Sukkar Pure Cane
Honey".
http://www.mexgrocer.com/10052.html

So do at least 885 other web pages. Just google
for "sukkar +honey".

While there apparently is an alternative label
http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2004/10/10/166698/Cane-Juice_PET14.5.jpg
it appears only in conjunction with a press release
http://www.ambosmedios.com/releases/2004/10/prweb166698.htm
and has yet to have been seen on any actual bottles.

So they stay shoved up against the Wall O' Shame 
until further notice.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

a reply to carbide's letter sezs:
'It has been called cane honey for thousands of years in China and in Latin America
since Columbus introduced it.

We never want to confuse anyone and want everyone to know it is in fact the only
sugar cane juice concentrate available. We proudly put on all our packaging Cane Juice
Concentrate.'

tecumseh replies:
According to Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Steel) sugercane is a crop that originated in New Genea which then spread thru SE Asia and then into China. I would truely like to see their reference of Columbus introducing the sugercane plant to Latin American since I do not recall Columbus ever touching land anywhere outside of the caribbean island .

to Jim Fischer:
I will try to forward the chinese characters to a relative of mine who should be able to provide some assistance in the form of a direct translation. may take a day or so...


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## Jim Fischer (Jan 5, 2001)

> I will try to forward the chinese characters

Zach Huang of MSU (the guy who takes the really
great bee on flower close-up photos) already
confirmed that there is NO SUCH PHRASE in common
use in China today, or in Chinese history. He
grew up in mainland China, so he is fluent in
several dialects.

He pointed out that there are very specific
characters for "honey", "nectar", and "sugar",
and none of them can be mistaken for the others.

So, they are mistaken about the historical stuff,
and their product is absolutely hysterical.


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## BerkeyDavid (Jan 29, 2004)

Hi all.

I emailed my son the link to this string and asked him to look at it. He is fluent in Chinese and is actually in Shanghai right now. Here is his response:

Dad-

Funny. Zach is right; I would add only that when someone (particularly a western company) says "this is the Chinese name" or "this comes from Ancient China", your next best move is to run.

Ben


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