I was permanently banned from the Reddit sub without recourse for posting this despite not breaking any rules. I’m slowly making the migration over thanks to such encouragement.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Only in America.
    OK maybe not, but at least here it’s illegal to label it honey if it isn’t 100% pure honey. that goes for all of EU, where it’s illegal to add sugar, according to the EU honey directive.
    The result is that you buy either Honey or Syrup, you know what you get, and you get what you pay for.

    Edit:

    Apparently it’s illegal in USA too, whether adding the word “blend” makes it legal IDK. It is sort of a warning sign but still misleading.

      • shyguyblue@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Ugh, Kraft singles (individually wrapped pieces of “cheese”) are labeled something like “dairy product” because they use vegetable oil.

        And make sure you’re buying “ice cream” and not “frozen dairy product”. Ice Cream has a minimum cream/milk requirement that some brands fall below. Might as well call it “ice milk, etc.”.

      • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        That just reminded me that there’s something in the store here in the US sold as Chicken Wyngz, because they don’t contain any chicken wing meat.

      • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        It doesn’t have to be in the name, just in the ingredients list. In this case it is, so it’s perfectly above-board for the US.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        You have to label the honey with the ingredients it is blended with as well in the US.

        Nonono, that’s a huge difference, in EU it’s ILLEGAL to call it honey at all, you cannot call it honey blend either. And it’s not enough to label that there is sugar added. If you add any amount of sugar it’s not honey but sirup.

        • snugglesthefalse@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          This reminds me of the dumbness of the Germans I know calling bread “toast” even though toast has to be toasted and white toastie bread has enough sugar to be a cake per eu regulations but it’s not toast because it’s not been toasted.

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
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      9 months ago

      Yup we have the fun loopholes of adding something like “blend” means it can be 1% honey and it’s legal. Same things with why things at our stores say “cheesy” or “chocolatey”. Neither one of those need to have cheese or chocolate. It’s a marketing game for them. Come up with a name that sounds like it’s fun for the consumer but really is a massive loophole they can jump through.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yes I’ve often seen that clearly misleading advertising is perfectly legal in USA.

    • sushibowl@feddit.nl
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      9 months ago

      The result is that you buy either Honey or Syrup, you know what you get, and you get what you pay for.

      You would think so, but the EU did an investigation back in 2022 and found that almost half of all honey imported into the EU is (illegally) blended with sugar syrup. If you’re buying honey labeled as a blend of EU and non-EU honey (which is almost all honey available on supermarket shelves) there’s a large chance you’re buying a sugar blend.

      Current officially sanctioned honey tests are not capable of detecting fake honey. New testing methodology has been agreed upon as a result, but it will take a few years until those are internationally recognised.

      If you want to be certain that what you’re buying is real honey, the only real option is to buy directly from a local producer.

      • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Where I am in all supermarkets I know of, honey at least used to be labeled by country of origin, usually Poland or Hungary, maybe it’s not the case anymore, it’s been a while since I checked.
        Still there’s a difference between the legality in USA of selling Honey and Sirup labeled as Honey blend, which is clearly illegal in EU. If there is any amount of sugar added, it is sirup. It can only LEGALLY be called honey if it’s actually pure honey.