Toxic Honey Causes Illness in New Zealand

Holidaymakers Stricken By Toxic Honey
Sunday Star Times (New Zealand), 3/23/2003

A 70-year-old Hamilton woman has become the fourth person to become ill after eating honeycomb purchased while holidaying in Whangamata.

The victim to be admitted to Waikato Hospital

Health authorities have issued a warning about comb honey sold in the Coromandel in recent days after two holidaymakers became violently ill and a child nearly died.

The toxic honey was sold at a roadside stall and it is understood it was made by a Whangamata hobbyist…

The poison honey is produced by bees feeding on a native bush known as tutu. When they gather honeydew produced by the sap-sucking vine hopper insect feeding on the plants, they can introduce the poison tutin into honey.

National Beekeepers Association CEO Jim Edwards said suspect honey should not be thrown out, as that would return the poison to the food chain…