Friday, March 28, 2008

Fake Medicinal 'Green' Honey Sold in the Philippines

Palawan Mayor Says No Such Thing as Green Honey
The Philippine STAR, 3/28/2008

Puerto Princesa city mayor Edward Hagedorn warned the public against the proliferation of the so-called “green honey” supposively taken from the deep jungles of Palawan.

According to Hagedorn, the so-called “Palawan Green Honey” is being promoted and sold to cure certain types of illnesses in Metro Manila and other cities in the country.

“There is no such thing as green honey,” Hagedorn told reporters during the Usapang Daungan sa Danarra hotel in Quezon City.

Hagedorn said the green honey is actually a synthetic sugar mix with food coloring and has no medicinal or nutritional value…

See: Philippine ‘Green Honey’ Adulterated

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

If green honey is a fake it is truly an intelligent deception. The flavour is unique unlike anything I have ever tasted. It cannot be contained in a sealed glass container as the container will break. Green honey also only appears as a seasonal product and is unavailiable during most months of the year. Residents of Palawan prize it and regard it autenthic.

If anyone has further information I would like to examine the facts. During my next trip to Palawan I will attempt to gather film footage of the collection of green honey. I've spoken to sellers that told me they collect it using smoke to disperse the bees that live underground. I was also told that the bees are quite dangerous and their stings can cause paralasis of the limbs.

Anonymous said...

if you want to know something ....mail me.....this about the controversial green honey... always_be_uno@yahoo.com thank you.....

Anonymous said...

i've got samples..there's always a difference between two products..i've been a green honey avid since 2002.. the one sold in bulacan and laguna are fake, if you put it in a freezer it will get hard as a rock.. Probably,they've tested the fake one..

Anonymous said...

Probably they have tested the fake one. Genuine green honey don't attract ants. (If it's mixed with other sugars it should attract ants and allow microbes to fluorish). Don't they know that even the plain old yellow honey is also being faked?

Anonymous said...

for those who have qualms of believing that the green honey is a fake, i'd suggest you go to the experts.

Bee Program of UPLB, our very own National Center of Excellence for Bee Research and Development in the Philippines, will be very glad to help you out.

Anonymous said...

I bought one bottle of green honey in Market Market, global city Taguig. It taste weird (Tanduay Liquor). Is it Fake? DOH officials should check that booth.

Anonymous said...

i also bought the same green honey in tanduay botle.. i rom iloilo
the vendor told me that the honey was taken from caves in palawan.
i want doh to do something about this fake honeys.

Anonymous said...

The statement of Hagedorn was actually based on the report given to him by the UPLB Bee Program which has tested a number of the so-called "green" honey samples. The tests done were both physical and chemical.

Genuine honey, green or not, will definitely attract ants. Honey comes only from the nectary of flowers and nowhere else. It is made up mainly of sugars, whatever type it is (mono-, di-, poly-, oligosachharides). Different species of ants have different feeding habits and preferences on different types of sugars.

What the previous comment mean would probably be on the laymanly termed sugar which is sucrose (a disaccharide). If sucrose is mixed with real honey then we cannot call that HONEY. It is an adulteration.

Some honey, e.g. sunflower honey, do granulate after some time (faster if placed in the refrigerator) due to high amount of fructose. This is what we term as CREAM HONEY. Granulation normally starts at the bottom to top and the consistency is almost similar to soft butter.

There are still a lot of misconceptions about honey that people has to know.


We have had several expeditions to Palawan for years now. Even locals from private and public agencies have tried to help us to find the so-called source of the green honey to document it to substantiate sellers' claims that the green honey is real. Still to no avail. Until now all are claims and the tests done on a number of "green" honey stating that "there is no such thing as green honey" is much more stronger that these.

time said...

I got some BLUE honey from that stall at Market!Market! They also had the green, red etc. Packaged in Tanduay bottles... I should have known it was a scam. The salespeople had no information or documentation and now that I reflect on the transaction, it seems to me that they were plainly lying.
I paid 400 pesos for a small bottle. DUMMY!

and by the way, MR ALWAYS BE UNO:
nothing you have written is relevant.
Bee stings cause paralysis? NO SHIT SHERLOCK!
Why should we mail to you when you haven't presented any facts?

Anonymous said...

whatever... im looking for a buyer. i have wild bee honey from mindoro. im selling for 150 per bottle. its pure. i prefer bulk order. if youre interested contact me at 09084044515 and look for irene. its seasonal. as per gal. its negotiable. email me at ialcantara82@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Please allow me to inform you that I myself had seen in my two eyes a green nectar. When it was still inside the honeycombs its really green, the color is just the same as the "Efficascent oil" we usually have it in our house hold use. But then the color subsides as it matures by the time. This thing happens in my own apiary which is here in Cebu. you may contact me in my cell # 0917-6029208 and look for Eddie. Thanks and more power to all Beekeepers

Anonymous said...

I also have a sample of green honey which was i bought last week. It taste good and authentic.. I believe in green honey..i really love honey whether yellow, green or dark yellow..

Anonymous said...

I have seen green honey, i live in the Dominican Republic and i have seen while its taken out of the bee hive. The only thing is that i dont know if it cures anything but it does taste diferent. Another thing not all bees make green honey.

Anonymous said...

yes, i do believe in green honey, have tested and tried it. In fact, the taste is just the same with the ordinary honey. The difference as they say, is that the venom of green honey is more stronger than the ordinary honey.

There are two way to test whether the honey is real or fake, first, try to check if the honey you are buying has pressure "inside the bottle" ? If it does, it means your buying the original honey either green or ordinary, as both have pressure. Second, try to test it with matches, deep one match to small amount of honey, if it sparked and fire, that honey is original, if you deep a match and it did not sparked, that honey is adulterated !

If you mixed food coloring to ordinary honey to make it green, you will not succeed because the food color will just separate from real honey and pressure will evaporate and you cannot lit one match if you tested with food coloring.

YES, there is GREEN HONEY ! Hope you will succeed in buying the ORIGINAL Honey and not the adulterated one to enjoy the benefit of taking honey!

Anonymous said...

i bought green honey and the vendor said its from the caves of mindanao. i tested its authenticity and it passed all tests, blot test, match test, pressure test. i believe that there is really green honey. no arguments!