Bill would require ag department to develop honey standard

The state Department of Agriculture would adopt a standard for honey under a bill heard by the Agriculture Committee Jan. 25.

LB114, introduced by Fullerton Sen. Annette Dubas, would direct the department to develop rules and regulations for a honey standard consistent with one put forth by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. Products failing to meet such a standard could not be labeled as honey.

The bill also would enable those suffering damages from the improper labeling of products as honey to sue violators for actual damages or $1,000.

With no standard definition of honey, Dubas said, pure honey producers are competing with those selling lower quality products containing corn syrup, cane sugar, artificial sweeteners and antibiotics, but that are marketed as honey.

“Some products titled as honey do not even contain real honey,” she said.

There is a push for the federal Food and Drug Administration to adopt a honey standard, Dubas said, but the agency has been reluctant to do so, thereby necessitating state action. She said Florida, California and Wisconsin already have adopted honey standards.

In Michigan, Dubas said, one of the largest honey packers in the state prevailed in a case brought by honey producers affected by its adulterated honey. The courts rules that there was no definition for honey, she said.

Dr. Michael O’Hara, law professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, spoke in support of the bill. There are unfair competition laws under which honey producers could take action against adulterated honey packers, he said, but it is difficult to prove someone is selling something other than honey.

Spenser Haszard, a Lincoln beekeeper, spoke in opposition to LB114. A state standard would hurt local producers by requiring testing of their honey to verify its purity, he said, while honey imports would go unchecked.

“This bill will only hurt the local economy and small-time honey producers who love their bees, forcing them to either pay exorbitant fees in testing of honey or cease selling honey altogether,” Haszard said.

Furthermore, Haszard said, the Nebraska Pure Food Act already provides a remedy for improper labeling. He said the law gives the state Department of Agriculture the authority to test any product and remove those that do not meet label specifications.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.