Honey in Florida now guaranteed pure

The sunshine state will soon guarantee that the honey sold here is some of the purest in the world. The Florida Department of Agriculture has instituted the first regulation in the nation – and perhaps the world – prohibiting any additives, chemicals or adulterants in honey produced, processed or sold in Florida. The regulation takes effect today. Under terms of the new regulation, honey containing anything other than the “natural food product resulting from the harvest of nectar by honeybees” is considered an adulterated or mislabeled product. Manufacturers, processors or merchants found selling honey with additives would be served with an order prohibiting the product’s sale. Repeat offenders would face fines of up to $500 per violation. Florida is the fourth leading honey producing state in the country with cash receipts to beekeepers of more than $15 million in 2008 and an industry that has an economic impact estimated at $40 million a year. It employs more than 500 Floridians. Florida took the step after a flood of adulterated honey from overseas came into Florida in 2006.