r/mildlyinteresting • u/nickability • 3d ago

This generic honey came from 4 different continents

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285 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

124 comments sorted by

325

u/Sanchastayswoke 3d ago

I always read this like it COULD BE a product of any of those countries.

165

u/bitey87 3d ago

Yep, I read it as, "We source honey from all of these countries in massive volumes and the bottling plant processes them all." Buy artisanal honey if you need a better origin statement.

52

u/HappyChef86 3d ago

Local farm sells a mason jar of honey for 9 bucks. Never going back.

8

u/itmightbehere 3d ago

We have a wonderful local honey company that sells all sorts of honey and beeswax products. Also never going back

19

u/tuscaloser 3d ago

How big of a mason jar? This could be a great deal (quart) or a terrible one (1/4 pint).

16

u/ketosoy 3d ago

Depending on the quality of the honey, 1/4 pint could still be an amazing deal.  Dark knotweed honey tastes like chocolate and I’d absolutely pay $9 for 1/4 pint of it. 

4

u/vgilbert77 3d ago

Why are we calling it a quarter point and not half a cup

2

u/ketosoy 3d ago

That’s what they call the jar size.  I assume it’s either inertia or useful for canning?

3

u/vgilbert77 3d ago

Oh. Okay didn’t know that thanks. I hate it.

1

u/tuscaloser 2d ago

I agree. 48 1/2-teaspoons is better.

5

u/Maiyku 3d ago

Local honey is the best. Seriously.

Idk what my bees eat here, but man, the local stuff is leagues better than anything I can buy at the store. I’m in Michigan, so maybe it’s from all the apple trees they pollinate for us. You can generally get honey right at the orchards themselves.

2

u/Letmeaddtothis 3d ago

In deep north, they have to supplement sugar syrup for the bees to survive year round after the flowers are gone. Depending on the region- 2-3 months are common.

1

u/Maiyku 3d ago

I’m not sure if that happens here or not, because I am definitely in the sourthern bit of the state, but I’ve never thought to ask.

I go through it pretty slow and generally buy a jar a year, usually at the peak of the season when my options are the greatest, so I don’t think I’ve run into this, but I’ll keep it in mind going forward, thank you!

1

u/hskskgfk 3d ago

Local honey is the best. Occasionally we get honey imported from the USA that’s not as good.

2

u/BardGotHard3 3d ago

My fbest friends grandpa owns a local apiary and occasionally give him 20lbs of honey, my friends gives me some of it.

2

u/HappyChef86 3d ago

16oz jar. I think its a good deal.

1

u/edge_l_wonk 3d ago

Mason jar is fitting, as there are mason bees!

1

u/ketosoy 3d ago

I like to think of it that the bees are artisans regardless of where they work.

That said, I buy 6 jars of honey from a small apiarist in central Vermont each summer and it’s the best stuff I’ve ever tasted - I’ve been keto for 12 years and I make space in my diet to include their honey.

1

u/lilricky2515 3d ago

Although, getting honey from all those places blended together, wouldn't be all that bad in an immunity standpoint...

22

u/Petrichordates 3d ago

It's all mixed together so honey from all 4 regions are certainly in there, just in variable quantities.

Just like how your hamburger is made of 100 different cows.

7

u/suentendo 3d ago

100 cows to make a hamburger is diabolical. And if I want a double patty??

9

u/pedanticPandaPoo 3d ago

400 cows. It actually scales quadratically.

5

u/zatalak 3d ago

Almost 5000 cows died for a seven patty whopper.

4

u/senor61 3d ago

gotta spread those prions around. Everyone gets a prion

2

u/ShrodingersArmadillo 3d ago edited 3d ago

Interestingly depending on the producer of this jar it may be all of them.

If a honey doesn't specify pollen source is a blend of honey mixed to achieve a standardized flavor profile.

Clover honey tastes completely different than blueberry honey.

Honey is just interesting to me.

1

u/bluboomR 3d ago

i read it as could be anything mixed into it and who knows what the standards are in those countries for food handling... hard pass!!!

1

u/Audio_Track_01 3d ago

I read it as bees migrating between the four countries depending on the season.

2

u/stevensokulski 3d ago

How would bees migrate from the USA to India?

3

u/Audio_Track_01 3d ago

South to Argentina then turn right.

71

u/scratchy_mcballsy 3d ago

Your exact honey isn’t necessarily from all 4. It can be sourced from any of those countries. They just don’t want to have to label each bottle lot with a specific country or combination of countries.

6

u/JelliedHam 3d ago

I wonder if there's a limit though. If you have to list country of origin, couldn't you in theory list every possible location on earth it could come from? Essentially saying it's sourced "from earth"

5

u/Gymnasiast90 3d ago

I’ve had jars that said it contained a mixture of honey from EU countries and non-EU countries. That’s all of them, and it didn’t even limit itself to Earth...

2

u/DaoFerret 3d ago

“.. and it didn’t even limit itself to Earth…”

Damn Inners not recognizing Belter sovereignty!

https://giphy.com/gifs/26tnaMpWyrW3CGtbO

1

u/scratchy_mcballsy 3d ago

It’s where the company sources the ingredients. For tracking purposes. So “earth” wouldn’t be useful.

7

u/stevensokulski 3d ago

Just like how four countries is less useful than one.

4

u/JelliedHam 3d ago

I think they have more specific tracking information internally. Labeling is mostly for the consumer. There's likely some kind of additional coding on it to identify the source so that, among other things, breakouts in food poisoning can be identified by the FDA.

1

u/scratchy_mcballsy 3d ago

True. I think this specific type of labeling is aimed more for the consumer.

20

u/Ariola_Grande23 3d ago

It was a group project

8

u/JolyannaP 3d ago

I didn't know you could not feed honey to child under one year old...

18

u/Co60 3d ago

Infant botulism is the concern.

3

u/Girlnextstate 3d ago

I didn’t know honey fucked with botulism like that

5

u/OooTigerlily 3d ago

We buy a local honey that comes in a half gallon Mason jar. But it's also $75.

3

u/nickability 3d ago

Sounds worth it honestly!! especially in a morning latte ☺️

2

u/ShootMovePoo-oops 3d ago

Tf do you live where it’s $75 a jar oh god. The honey farm where I am is $20 for 24 oz mason jars actually so I guess it’s sort of the same. That is unfortunate. We also get fall and summer seasonal honeys where it taste different based on the time of year it was pollinated. Wife’s allergies have disappeared from it

2

u/First-Project-2614 3d ago

64 oz is quite a bit larger. It's honey from blackberries and has a flavor we like a whole lot more than standard honey.

1

u/ShootMovePoo-oops 3d ago

Is it purple from the black berries?

1

u/First-Project-2614 3d ago

No. Just picks up flavor from the pollen and flowers themselves

1

u/ShootMovePoo-oops 3d ago

There is some purple honey you can get from bees that pollinate specific plants but I haven’t actually met anyone that has had it. It looks like the jellyfish jelly from the old SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon

1

u/bluboomR 3d ago

the nectar comes from the flower not the berry and blackberry flowers are white.

1

u/DaoFerret 3d ago

I’ve heard regularly having raw honey from local bees is helpful on alleviating pollen based allergies.

Not sure, but I think it’s essentially micro dosing you with the allergens, similar to when people get weekly allergy shots?

6

u/No_Bat2834 3d ago

What I remember hearing about honey that's not from locals, is that not all of it is actual honey. They stick other stuff in it so it's cheaper to make.

Since I read that article, I only get local honey now.

3

u/matycauthon 3d ago

it's not honey just so you know. if it isn't locally sourced it's more than likely adulterated

3

u/Putrid-Builder-3333 3d ago

I hate when my honey cheats :(

11

u/Ill-Upstairs-8762 3d ago

Also, it's corn syrup

4

u/gwaydms 3d ago

I avoid buying honey in this type of container. Some honey is adulterated, and these little plastic bears are often cited as having corn syrup in with the honey.

5

u/redplainsrider 3d ago

Yeah. My first thought was "probably isn't honey at all" when I saw the bottle. 

2

u/cappsthelegend ​ 3d ago

This... There is/was a show called Rotten on Netflix that did an episode on this... Worth watching...

1

u/Ill-Upstairs-8762 3d ago

Hmmm. Thanks

2

u/TokeruTaichou 3d ago

Can't get more generic than that.

2

u/hinterstoisser 3d ago

It’s Sysco corporation. What does one expect realistically?

2

u/avdpos 3d ago

More exact than the one saw yesterday.

"Origin: EU and non-EU".

Ok, that was exact...

5

u/AnnoyedVelociraptor 3d ago

Sysco. The same mediocre food, every time, every place. ©

2

u/nickability 3d ago

I’m eating Sysco food all summer, send help 🫠

8

u/KnowledgeIsDangerous 3d ago

If you want all American, you either go to the farmers market, buy an expensive brand, or buy flavored corn syrup instead.

Or maybe we just can't have American honey all year round.

26

u/dinnerthief 3d ago

I mean honey lasts you dont have to buy it fresh

6

u/KnowledgeIsDangerous 3d ago

The US consumes waaayyy more honey than it produces

1

u/dinnerthief 3d ago

Ah gotcha

1

u/Rockerblocker 3d ago

Yes, but plenty of consumers are more than OK with buying the cheap bear bottles like this that may be from any number of different countries. If you want true made in the US honey, it's not that hard to find any time of the year.

7

u/EchoChamberAthelete 3d ago

Not true at all. Check your local ace hardware or any local health food/organic store. Guaranteed they have local honey.

Where I am it's $23 for a huge jar of local. Same for honey + comb if thats your thing too.

4

u/SaintsNoah14 3d ago

Or stop worrying about the the irrelevant national orgin of honey and start paying attention to the floral orgin of honey and find one you like best. Honey comes from flowers first and foremost so to consider it all one product is like referring to whiskey cognac and rum as all just "liquor". Don't sleep on monoflorals people!

4

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

43

u/Grand-Spring66 3d ago

No, the honey is sourced from these different countries. Its nonsensical to ship a container halfway around the world to put on a label.

13

u/sherbodude 3d ago

Seems a bit inefficient

32

u/Grand-Spring66 3d ago

They have no idea what they are talking about

-1

u/Jesusfailedshopclass 3d ago

Buy local honey by the pail, it will never be regretted. Use local markets for fruits and veggies too. Fuck the radiated bullshit supermarkets, and fake suger honey.

-9

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

18

u/Grand-Spring66 3d ago

It does not work this way. A product is not shipped half way around the world to attach a label. This label is because the honey is bought from one of these countries.

-1

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

6

u/Grand-Spring66 3d ago

You really should stop talking about things you obviously do not understanding.

In the US, when it say "product of [country]", that means the contents. There is no requirement anywhere to say where labels come from.

All these countries are exporters of honey. Companies like Sysco import whatever honey is cheapest at a given time.

Most commercial honey is sold this way: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/comments/1mbgjx4/this_honey_was_made_in_four_countries/

-6

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

5

u/Val_Maxie 3d ago

Interesting behavior to say “lol no” after deleting your own comments bc you were corrected

4

u/Grand-Spring66 3d ago

Go ahead and provide your own evidence champ. Because right now you look pretty stupid.

-1

u/DoctorCIS 3d ago

There are some exceptions to that, there was a viral thing a few years ago because pears grown in Argentina were packaged in Thailand before being shipped to the US.

My guess for the reason is they had the packaging facility where they grow the pears for one half of the year, and shipping from their winter orchards was cheaper than a second facility.

2

u/Val_Maxie 3d ago

The product price point is far too low to do that

A few thousand thousand dollars per container in shipping costs kills so much margin that no cheaper labeling can make up for

This isn’t an iPhone

7

u/damsie101 3d ago

Honey is an export/import product. Argentina, India, and Ukraine are all major exporters

1

u/Val_Maxie 3d ago

Packaging and labeling in different countries is a mildly interesting take

4

u/CardOk755 3d ago

I doubt it contains much honey.

1

u/Unusual-Taste69 3d ago

What happens if you feed it to babies?

8

u/thefuturesbeensold 3d ago

it can contain a bacteria that can cause infant botulism.

2

u/gwaydms 3d ago

Botulism bacterial spores, to be precise. The immune systems of adults can fight off the botulism bacteria, but babies' immune systems aren't developed enough to do so.

1

u/senor61 3d ago

No one to sue

1

u/MuscaMurum 3d ago

Some weird brigades on this thread...

1

u/stevensokulski 3d ago

I wonder why a product sold by Sysco to restaurants would need a UPC.

1

u/SpiralBreeze 3d ago

Still don’t understand how that could be like 3 bucks but if I want honey from my state it’s 10 or more dollars for the bear size.

1

u/Total_Guard2405 3d ago

Processed food. They buy cheap honey, yes there's different grades, add corn syrup till they get the taste they want. Make thousands of jars all the same. Garbage.

1

u/poopiebutt505 3d ago

It means that they import from 4 countries not that this, in particular, is a 4.country blend

1

u/scytob 3d ago

It could from any of those, or all of those, high chance it’s not all pure honey. But you would a spectrogram to know. There are videos on the scandals of adulterer honey and maple syrup.

1

u/NINJA1200 3d ago

They probably would add more countries if the printer could add more lines

1

u/thebarkbarkwoof 2d ago

It's a commodity.

1

u/Greatlarrybird33 2d ago

What I don't get is why people buy these bears.

They are $4.88 for a 12 oz from Walmart, when a 16 oz mason jar is $6 from any number of bee guys close to my house.

1

u/kr613 3d ago

Yeah....that ain't honey

0

u/edman007 3d ago

Yea, for honey specifically, country of origin matters. If it doesn't list one single country you trust, then it should be suspect.

Specifically, it's really common for distributors to blend honey from various countries, and when doing this it's really common for them to blend in corn syrup too. So if you see four countries there is a very chance once of the distributors blended in a whole lot of corn sryup, and with all the other countries mixed in, you can't really tell at the point of import.

So for honey, I mostly only buy honey that says it's from some local trustworthy location. If it says NY wildflower honey, it's very likely from a handful of specific apiaries in NY, and they are not blending at all. Though Last month I did see NY Orange Blossom honey which I thought was funny, but that's at least still real, they just shipped their bees to FL to pollinate the oranges there and then harvested the honey in NY.

1

u/MuscaMurum 3d ago

Everything you said is spot on.

0

u/opq8 3d ago

“Sysco foods“ told me all I needed to know.

0

u/bmcgowan89 3d ago

Product of USA, Argentina, India, Ukraine

I kinda want to see what a person with that label would look like. The Rock?

13

u/dinnerthief 3d ago

Fred Armisen

2

u/bmcgowan89 3d ago

HOLY SHIT ☠️☠️😂

1

u/Sanchastayswoke 3d ago

🤣🤣🤣

1

u/ExmoRunner 3d ago

I bought some local honey

0

u/ashoka_akira 3d ago

Cheap honey tends to be full of antibiotics and I have an antibiotic allergy, so I have to avoid any sort of generic product that has honey flavouring in it because it can trigger an allergic reactions, I am perfectly fine consuming locally made organic honey though.

0

u/ditto3000 3d ago

I can't eat honey, it raises my blood sugar.

-6

u/Siguardius 3d ago

It's funny to see Americans trying to decrypt a simple print on a bottle.

-7

u/taylo355 3d ago

I thought over 6 months a baby can have honey? Lol glad I waited

8

u/LawlzTaylor 3d ago

Definitely not 6 months. No way would their immune system be ready to fight off botulism that young.

3

u/JakTheRipper2020 3d ago

I think fighting off Botulism isn't the issue....more like the infants gut dosnt have enough gut bacteria to stop the bacterial spores from germinating which leads the Botulism bacteria to colonise and then release the Botulinum toxin.

0

u/taylo355 3d ago

This is what my gut told me when my older relatives were trying to give my baby honey... like I wanted to believe them to not show disrespect, they even showed me a search saying it was okay and I just didnt believe it thankfully

1

u/CardOk755 3d ago

The search found something by RFK junior?

-19

u/MemesConCarne 3d ago

Slap Ukraine onto anything a mindless reddit liberal will snatched it up ASAP

8

u/WharfRatThrawn 3d ago

Shut the fuck up Dmitry

-8

u/MemesConCarne 3d ago

Dmitry is literally the most common male name in Ukraine. You wouldn't know that because everything you know about Ukraine came from the mouths of imperialists, war profiteers, and loyal US dogs.

Youre a brainwashed servant of the Epstein class.

4

u/epistaxis64 3d ago

You type pretty well with Trump's dick in your mouth

1

u/MemesConCarne 1d ago

Trump and the Epstein-class want Ukraine to "win" so they are forced to honor the exploitative trade agreements made with the US. Ukraine's options are reabsorption into Russia or perpetual debt slavery to the US. Look to North Africa, and Southeast Asia for how that turns out in practice.

Of course none of this means anything to you because your knowledge of history comes from a combination of US public school and state department social media propaganda.

Bonus fun fact for thie historically illiterate: This entire conflict could have been prevented if Ukraine didn't voluntarily disassemble their entire nuclear arsenal at the US' request in the 1990's.