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Fake & Imported Honey Issues

Understanding honey adulteration, imported honey, country-of-origin fraud, and the impact on American beekeepers

Updated August 2026

Honey is one of nature's simplest foods, but the international honey market has become increasingly complicated. American consumers may encounter honey produced domestically, legitimately imported honey, blended honey from several countries, and—in documented cases—products adulterated with cheaper sweeteners or shipped under false country-of-origin declarations.

For purposes of this report, “fake honey” refers primarily to products sold as honey that contain undeclared sweeteners or other substances intended to reduce production costs or increase apparent value. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls this practice economically motivated adulteration, a form of food fraud. The FDA specifically identifies undeclared sweeteners derived from sugarcane, corn, rice, or sugar beets as possible honey adulterants.

It is important to distinguish adulterated honey from legitimate imported honey. Not all imported honey is fake, and not all honey fraud involves imports. FDA testing in fiscal year 2025 found economically motivated adulteration in approximately 4% of both the domestic and imported honey samples it tested—2 of 54 domestic samples and 2 of 48 imported samples. The FDA nevertheless concluded that honey remains a commodity susceptible to economically motivated adulteration and that continued vigilance is warranted.

America's Growing Dependence on Imported Honey

The United States now depends heavily on foreign honey to meet consumer demand. USDA Economic Research Service data released in 2026 show that the United States imported approximately 540 million pounds of honey in 2025, accounting for about 82% of total U.S. honey use.

At the same time, American demand for honey has grown considerably. USDA reports that U.S. per-capita honey consumption reached approximately 1.9 pounds in 2025, compared with only a little more than one pound per person in 1990.

Imports themselves are not inherently a problem. Legitimate foreign honey plays a large role in supplying American consumers. The concern arises when imported honey is sold below fair value, adulterated with lower-cost sweeteners, falsely labeled as to its origin, or routed through third countries to avoid U.S. trade duties.

These practices can distort the marketplace because genuine honey produced by beekeepers must reflect the real costs of maintaining colonies, providing forage, controlling pests and diseases, extracting and storing honey, labor, equipment, transportation, and increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.

Chinese Honey and U.S. Antidumping Duties

Concerns regarding honey imported from China are not based solely on industry allegations. They have been the subject of formal U.S. trade investigations and federal enforcement actions.

The United States first imposed an antidumping duty order on honey from China in 2001. Under U.S. trade law, antidumping duties can be imposed when imported merchandise is sold in the United States at less than fair value and causes or threatens material injury to a domestic industry.

In 2023, the U.S. International Trade Commission again reviewed the order. The Commission determined that revoking the antidumping duty order on Chinese honey would be likely to result in the continuation or recurrence of material injury to the U.S. industry within a reasonably foreseeable time.

Following that determination, the U.S. Department of Commerce formally continued the antidumping duty order, effective September 27, 2023. U.S. Customs and Border Protection therefore continues to collect applicable antidumping cash deposits on merchandise covered by the order.

Honey Laundering and False Country of Origin

One of the most troubling issues documented by U.S. authorities has been the practice sometimes called “honey laundering.” This generally refers to concealing the true origin or identity of honey so that it can enter a market without applicable tariffs, duties, or other restrictions.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice announced charges involving companies and individuals accused of illegally importing Chinese-origin honey into the United States. Federal authorities reported schemes designed to avoid approximately $180 million in antidumping duties. More than 3,000 drums of illegally entered honey were seized and forfeited during the broader investigation.

Individual criminal cases documented how the schemes worked. A Texas honey broker pleaded guilty to facilitating imports of Chinese-origin honey that were falsely declared as originating in countries other than China, avoiding approximately $37.9 million in antidumping duties.

In another case, a California broker was sentenced after illegally transporting hundreds of container loads of Chinese-origin honey. Federal prosecutors said some shipments had been falsely described as sugars, syrups, or other products, helping avoid approximately $39.2 million in tariffs.

These cases are important because they demonstrate that country-of-origin fraud involving honey is not merely theoretical. Large-scale schemes involving Chinese-origin honey have been investigated, prosecuted, and documented by U.S. federal authorities.

Adulteration With Sugar Syrups

Another issue is the deliberate addition of inexpensive sugar syrups to honey.

Modern adulteration can be difficult to detect. Older testing methods were often designed to identify corn- or cane-based sweeteners. More sophisticated adulterants may be made from rice, wheat, sugar beet, or other sources, requiring laboratories to employ multiple analytical methods.

A major European Commission investigation published in 2023 examined 320 consignments of honey entering the European Union. 147 of the 320 consignments—46%—were considered suspicious for containing extraneous sugar sources.

Chinese-origin samples attracted particular attention. Of 89 consignments declared as originating in China, 66—or 74%—were considered suspicious in the European investigation.

That figure should be interpreted carefully. It does not mean that 74% of all honey produced in China or sold in the United States is fake. It means that 66 of the 89 Chinese-origin consignments examined in that particular European enforcement project produced results considered suspicious and requiring further investigation.

The distinction is important because responsible discussion of honey fraud should rely on documented evidence rather than assumptions about an entire country or all imported products.

Why Fake Honey Matters to American Beekeepers

Honey fraud can have effects far beyond the grocery-store shelf.

A beekeeper producing genuine honey has substantial costs. Colonies must be maintained year-round even though marketable honey may be harvested only during limited periods. Beekeepers face expenses associated with queens, feed, equipment, fuel, labor, mite and disease management, winter losses, land access, extraction equipment, containers, insurance, and transportation.

An adulterated product containing inexpensive sugar syrup can potentially be produced or sold for much less than genuine honey. Likewise, honey that enters the country while avoiding applicable antidumping duties can gain an artificial price advantage over honey that follows U.S. trade rules.

When unusually inexpensive products compete directly with genuine honey, legitimate producers can face significant pricing pressure. This matters increasingly because imports now provide the great majority of honey used in the United States. USDA data indicate that imports accounted for approximately 82% of U.S. honey use in 2025.

Protecting honey authenticity is therefore both a consumer issue and an agricultural issue.

Consumers deserve to receive genuine honey when the label says “honey.” Beekeepers deserve a marketplace in which genuine honey is not forced to compete against adulterated products or products brought into the country through fraudulent trade practices.

What Consumers Can Do

Consumers who want to support honey authenticity can learn where their honey comes from, read labels carefully, buy from trusted producers, and purchase directly from local beekeepers when practical.

A very low price by itself does not prove that honey is adulterated. Likewise, crystallization is not evidence that honey is fake; genuine honey commonly crystallizes naturally.

Knowing the beekeeper or trusted supplier creates a shorter and more transparent connection between the hive and the consumer.

Conclusion

The issue of fake and improperly traded honey is real and well documented, but it deserves accurate description.

Federal authorities have documented major schemes involving Chinese-origin honey entering the United States under false declarations to avoid antidumping duties. U.S. trade authorities continue to maintain an antidumping order on Chinese honey. FDA surveillance continues to identify economically motivated adulteration in the honey market, while European investigators have found substantial numbers of imported honey samples suspicious for undeclared sugar sources.

At the same time, legitimate imported honey should not automatically be labeled fake, and isolated test results should not be generalized to every producer or every country.

The goal should be simple: when a product is labeled and sold as honey, consumers should receive genuine honey, its origin should be truthfully represented, and everyone participating in the market should compete under the same rules.

References

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. Meeting Honey Demand in the United States. Updated June 17, 2026. USDA reports that imports accounted for approximately 82% of U.S. honey use in 2025.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. U.S. Consumers Are Growing Sweeter on Honey. June 23, 2026. Provides current U.S. honey-consumption trends.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FY25 Sample Collection and Analysis of Domestically Produced and Imported Honey for Economically Motivated Adulteration. April 13, 2026.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Economically Motivated Adulteration (Food Fraud). Updated April 2026. Defines economically motivated adulteration and food fraud.
U.S. International Trade Commission. Honey from China — Fourth Five-Year Review. September 2023. The Commission determined that revocation of the antidumping order would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury.
U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration. Honey From the People's Republic of China: Continuation of Antidumping Duty Order. October 3, 2023.
U.S. Department of Justice. Two Companies and Five Individuals Charged With Roles in Illegal Honey Imports; Avoided $180 Million in Anti-Dumping Duties. February 20, 2013.
U.S. Department of Justice. Texas Honey Broker Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Avoiding $37.9 Million in Tariffs on Chinese-Origin Honey. November 14, 2013.
U.S. Department of Justice. California Honey Broker Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Avoiding $39.2 Million in Tariffs on Chinese-Origin Honey. September 2013.
European Commission Joint Research Centre. Ždiniaková, T., et al. EU Coordinated Action to Deter Certain Fraudulent Practices in the Honey Sector. 2023. The investigation examined imported honey for evidence of extraneous sugar sources.
European Commission. EU Coordinated Action “From the Hives” — Honey 2021–2022. Reports the results of the European investigation into imported honey authenticity.

A Note About This Report

This information is provided for educational purposes and is based primarily on published materials from the USDA, FDA, U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Justice, and European Commission. References to documented cases of fraud should not be interpreted as allegations against all imported honey, all honey from a particular country, or any individual producer or seller not identified by the responsible government agency.