Earlier this year the Food Standards Association issued a warning against
consuming honey derived from Pattersons Curse because of toxins that cause
liver damage. The warning applies "to people who eat more than two table-
spoonsful of honey per day" according to a newspaper article. This
prolifically-flowering roadside weed is recognizable by its purple flowers,
and while known to pasturalists as Pattersons Curse is at the same time
known to beekeepers as Salvation Jane because at certain times of the year
it is often the only source of local nectar available to keep bees alive.

The warning about Australian honey coincided with a warning to consumers by
Channel 7 that lab testing of samples of Capilano honey has revealed traces
of a banned nitrofuran antibiotic. Apparently the shortage of local honey
has forced big producers to import honey, mostly from Argentina, and they
are finding that honey from Argentina is contaminated by this toxin, carrying
associated carcinogenic and mutagenic concerns. I note that the Woolworths
Home Brand of honey is packed in Denmark from "imported ingredients".

BTW, anyone know of a source of bulk honey in Sydney? While I did find one,
it's pricing worked out to be more expensive than buying honey by the 1kg
bottle from Woolworths.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)