A couple of days ago I stumbled across this.
£83 for a jar of honey. Bloody hell.
One of the many unexpected consequences of doing Farmer's Markets is that I have been forced into looking at aspects of bees and bee keeping that aren't really relevant to me. Bees have a 'back story' and at markets I am regularly asked about all sorts of things to do with bees.
There are 4 things I dread being asked about, one of which is Manuka honey. Initially I was vaguely aware of it but decided I needed to find out more and spent hours Googling.
To summarise a very long blog:-
- it doesn't taste very nice, doesn't look very nice and its very jelly like and until it was discovered to be a 'super food', New Zealand bee keepers couldn't give it away, Most of it was put into cattle feed as a substitute for molasses.
- a lot of Manuka honey isn't - its been blended and labelled as Manuka for the gullible - world wide consumption was five times the actual output of New Zealand.
- its capable of extraordinary things. Allegedly.
There is plenty of evidence that highly medically refined and processed Manuka is effective in sterilising wounds and is used in hospital operations. A friend of mine had a hole in his shin through which you could see his shin bone. It wouldn't heal until they used the processed strips of Manuka honey on it.
However there were endless claims of what else it could do and there's seemingly nothing Manuka can't cure. Numerous sites like Bodykind, blogs written by what I would call 'health hippies', health and beauty sections of newspapers and magazines breathlessly extol the healing properties of Manuka, 'its a miracle food', 'has magical properties' etc etc.
Yet I couldn't find any actual scientific evidence for these claims. Not a thing. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
In fact quite the contrary:-
Evidence is limited on whether or not Manuka honey has any effect on conditions like high cholesterol;, diabetes, cancer,inflammation, eye, ear and sinus infections and gastrointestinal problems. [Boots the Chemist]
I also found what is probably the only recorded example of an NHS joke:-
Its best not to treat wounds with honey from the jar in your cupboard - not only due to the uncertain evidence we have, but also to avoid the risk of getting toast crumbs in your wound.
Yet despite this the urban myth of Manuka continues. Claims of cancer cures appear and there are endless references to the fact that Novak Djokovic and Gwyneth Paltrow are devotees of it.
I'm not sure why somebody who is quite good at hitting a ball with a bat is necessarily an expert on this and I have yet to see any scientific investigations carried out by the Djokovic Institute of Medical Research.
I also look forward to reading Gwyneth's definitive scientific paper 'Manuka: Why its good for my skin and makes me feel special' when it completes its final review by the BMA, Science Journal, and the research department of Hello magazine.
I think this shows the power of a placebo reaction.
All honey has antibacterial properties. ALL HONEY. This has been known for centuries and Roman soldiers put it on wounds [this was just before the NHS started]. This is mainly due to the presence of hydrogen peroxide in honey. Manuka has the unique ability to maintain this property in situations where the action of the hydrogen peroxide is blocked making it ideal for medical conditions, provided its heavily processed and purified.
In order to try and quantify this ability the NZ government introduced the UMF or Unique Manuka Factor, a complicated grading system to go on jars.
Nobody understood it.
The UMF mark had to be awarded by the NZ government and for Companies who don't have a UMF licence they were allowed to grade their honey on a self assessed grading known as the NPA, or Non Peroxide Activity.
Nobody understood it or knew the difference between the two systems.
Research has now identified methylgloxal as being the active ingredient in Manuka and so we now have a third grading system MGO or MG.
I expect nobody understands it but know the bigger the number the better.
Another widely used measurement of how effective it can be is the cost. I am of the opinion if somebody discovered a 'wonder food' with 'amazing medicinal benefits' and 'magical properties' and sold it for 10p a pint nobody would buy it. Sell it at £83 a jar and you'll be a millionaire.
I am contemplating putting some potting compost in my honey to give the dark earthy texture of Manuka, a teaspoon of creosote to give the oily taste of Manuka, a bit of gelatine to make it jelly like and selling it as ConYouHa!
I'll be a rich man as the stories roll in of how it cured baldness, in growing toenails, the inability to know which one is Ant and which one is Dec and the tendency to lose one's car keys.
And the myth isn't just being perpetrated at the Waitrose end of the market, Rowse are cashing in by selling 'Supahoney' which proves Manuka doesn't appear to improve the ability to spell.
The advert talks about +5MG but the picture has +10 on the label and what on earth is a 'winter warmer'?
The New Zealand government still struggles to control the Manuka bandwagon and are are suing two of the countries biggest providers for medicinal claims for the honey and the labelling they use, and words like 'Doctor' implying some health benefits.
'a food could be described as "good", but not "good for you" if that was not scientifically proven.'I have just completed the registration in the UK and EU of a cosmetic based on bee products. Part of the process is that I must maintain a document that, amongst other things, contains details of the scientific basis for any claims of health benefits on the tin or packaging.
I think I better stop this blog, I'm beginning to hyperventilate.
Perhaps I better have some Manuka, apparently its very good for hyperventilation. AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!
Alternatively buy the £1.49 squeezy bottle crap and add a spoonful of Germoline to it yourself! Same taste, twice (or maybe ten times) the medicinal benefit!
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