|
Honey farmer wants sweet justice
STINGING REBUKE:
A farmer said that a faulty evaluation of his honey by the Consumers' Foundation is wrecking his business, and he'll sue unless they admit wrongdoing
By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Aug 11, 2005, Page 2
A bee farmer yesterday threatened to sue the Consumers' Foundation (®ø°ò·|) for conducting and publicizing what he called inappropriate tests of his honey, which he says are causing him daily losses of about NT$200,000 (US$6,256).
"We'd like to see the Consumers' Foundation admit to having used the wrong method for testing the purity of honey and invite nationally certified analyzers to do the test again, or we will sue them for compensation for our losses," said Lai Chao-sien (¿à´Â½å), owner of the Hung Gee Ecology Bee Farm in Puli (®H¨½) Township, Nantou County.
Accompanied by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (½²·×·ã), who represents Nantou County, Lai said that while he estimates his daily losses at between NT$100,000 and NT$200,000, his overall losses in terms of lost orders will be beyond calculation.
"Hundreds of telephone calls poured in to our office to complain about our honey from 12pm to 7pm," he said. "I'm afraid export orders will soon be cancelled."
The Consumers' Foundation on Tuesday alleged that most honey consumed in Taiwan is not pure, with only two of 37 honey brands passing a recent purity test.
Among the 37 samples chosen randomly from supermarkets, traditional markets, shopping malls and organic product shops, the organization found that only two samples could be considered to be first or second-grade. One of the two that passed the test was from France.
The foundation said that some bee farmers add fructose to disguise their inferior mixtures as pure honey in order to reap bigger profits.
The honey produced by Lai's farm was found by the foundation to contain more than 5 percent cane sugar.
Claiming that the test methodology used by the foundation's analyzers was wrong, Lai said that it is fairly easy to tell real honey from the artificial stuff.
"If you add water to real honey and shake it, the liquid is turbid and the bubbles are fine. There are also many bubbles which last for a long time," Lai said, while demonstrating his water test in front of TV cameras.
Fake honey, though, is exactly the opposite, he said, adding that it is incorrect to test the purity of honey by using a toothpick, as the foundation did.
It is also easy to make phony honey, Lai said, by mixing fructose with pigment and essence.
While the retail price of genuine first-grade honey ranges between NT$200 and NT$400 per kilogram, imitation honey is priced from NT$50 to as much as NT$500 for unsuspecting buyers. The cost of fake honey, however, is only about NT$13 or NT$15 per kilogram, he said.
This story has been viewed 3276 times.
|
Print
Mail
wiki links