Advanced bill calls for honey standard

The state Department of Agriculture would adopt a standard for honey under a bill debated on general file Feb. 11 and 14.

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 who suffer damages resulting from the improper labeling of products as honey to sue violators for actual damages or $1,000.

Dubas said LB114 was introduced at the request of the Nebraska Beekeepers Association. With no state definition of honey, she said, honey producers have no civil recourse against producers of adulterated honey, as evidenced by an unsuccessful Michigan case.

“With no standard definition of honey, pure honey is competing with lower-quality, cheaper products that contain corn syrup, cane sugar, artificial sweeteners and even antibiotics,” she said. “Court challenges to date have not gone anywhere because we do not have an adopted standard.”

LB114 would not require that the department become involved in testing honey or enforcing the honey standard, Dubas said, but it would give honey producers standing in court and add to the national effort to encourage the federal Food and Drug Administration to adopt a honey standard.

An Agriculture Committee amendment, adopted 38-0, removed a provision of the bill that would have permitted producers to bring a cause of action for damages resulting from the improper labeling of honey. The amendment instead would make improper labeling a violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Holdrege Sen. Tom Carlson said the purpose of the committee amendment is to avoid multiple lawsuits in which actual damages would be difficult to ascertain. He said the amendment would offer injunctive relief instead of compensatory relief, which may not provide a sufficient deterrent.

The Legislature advanced LB114 from general file on a 36-0 vote.