Molan: Honey Can Combat MRSA 'Superbug'

Stuck On Manuka Honey: Biochemist Sees Medicinal Possibilities
Marco Ursi, CanWest News Service (Canada), 6/1/2006

VICTORIA - Honey has long been used as a herbal remedy, but biochemist Peter Molan, of the University of Waikato in New Zealand, has discovered a kind of honey he says could sweeten the taste of medicine around the world.

Molan says he has discovered that honey made from the manuka bush in New Zealand contains higher levels of anti-bacterial activity than honey sold at grocery stores. It's so high that clinical trials conducted by Molan and his team have suggested that direct application can effectively heal cuts, burns, sores and even combat the superbug methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, also known as MRSA.

"Manuka honey has worked in very desperate cases where nothing else has worked," Molan told CNN in 2000.

Antibiotic resistance is "rapidly getting worse," Molan says, and the manuka honey provides an effective alternative in dealing with bacterial wound infections. Independent studies conducted at the University of Cardiff in Wales and at University of Sydney in Australia showed good results, while preliminary tests by the Waikato team suggest that ingesting the honey might be useful for treating stomach ulcers, sore throats and acne.

Despite these results, Dr. Pamela Kibsey, the Vancouver Island Health Authority's head of microbiology and infection, warns that health-food products are not regulated by Health Canada, and consumers can't be sure that what they're getting has value…

Sebastien and Catherine Martin, the Chemainus, B.C.-based couple behind Wedderspoon Organic, are trying to get funding to bring manuka honey to clinical trials in Canada…