Class Action Lawsuits Say Stores Sell Fake Honey

Is the honey you’re buying actually honey? A series of class action lawsuits in Florida claim four major grocery chains are selling store-brand honey that shouldn’t be labeled as “honey” because it does not contain pollen.

The honey class action lawsuits are targeting the following food retailers and their store-brands: Publix Super Markets’ “Orange Blossom Honey” and “Pure Clover Honey,” Target’s “Market Pantry” and “Archer Farms,” Walgreen’s “Nice” and store-brand honey, and Aldi’s “Berryhill Clover Honey.”

The Plaintiffs claim in the honey class action lawsuits that the food retailers remove all traces of naturally occurring pollen from their honey products through a special ultra-filtration process, violating Florida’s “honey standard of identity.” Florida is one of a handful of states that has such a standard, which dictates anything labeled as “honey” must contain pollen. The honey standard requires that pollen cannot be removed “except where unavoidable in the removal of foreign matter,” such as bee parts, wax and debris.

The honey class action lawsuits allege the retailers are violating this standard by filtering their store-branded honey so extensively that all of the pollen is removed unnecessarily. Without pollen, the product’s source (e.g.; “orange blossom,” “clover,” etc.) cannot be verified, nor can its geographic origin. The honey class actions cite recent news reports of the large-scale smuggling of Chinese honey into the U.S. market, which is often ultra-filtrated to disguise the honey’s true origin. In some instances, the honey was contaminated with chemicals such as metals and antibiotics.

The Plaintiffs are asking that pollen-less honey be treated like any other fake food and be clearly labeled that it is not the real deal.

“Honey that has pollen should be called ‘honey,’ and honey that’s been filtered so that all the pollen has been removed should be called something else,” said one of the attorneys involved in the honey class action lawsuits. For example, “When you see fake cheese slices at the store, they’re called ‘cheese food,’” he says. This helps consumers make informed decisions about what they’re buying.

The goal of the honey class action lawsuits, the attorney adds, is to spark similar litigation in states that have honey standards, and legislation that will set honey standards in states that don’t.

“What needs to happen is consumer education. That’s really the thrust of our lawsuit – that there be truth in labeling and consumers understand what they’re buying.”

He estimates there may be thousands to tens of thousands of consumers who purchased pollen-free honey from Publix, Target, Walgreens, Aldi and other retailers in the past four years.