0:02 Millions of jars labeled honey are
0:04 anything but. And if you've been
0:06 spreading it on your toast, stirring it
0:09 into your tea, it could be silently
0:11 affecting your gut, your liver, and your
0:14 immune system. In today's video, we're
0:17 exposing 12 of the worst honey brands
0:19 sold in British supermarkets. Products
0:22 that look pure on the label, but failed
0:24 the tests in the laboratory. And at the
0:27 end, we'll reveal five of the cleanest,
0:30 most trustworthy honey brands you can
0:32 actually feel good about using. Plus,
0:35 I'll show you how to spot fake honey in
0:38 seconds just by reading the label. This
0:40 is the honey truth they don't want you
0:42 to hear. Let's start with number one.
0:45 Rouse blended honey. If there's one
0:47 honey brand every British household
0:50 recognizes, it's Rouse. The iconic
0:53 squeezy bottle, the friendly bee logo.
0:56 Britain's number one honey brand found
0:58 in virtually every supermarket in the
1:01 country. But turn that bottle around and
1:04 read what it actually says. Blend of
1:08 noneu honeys. That single phrase should
1:11 set off alarm bells. It means the honey
1:13 inside could come from anywhere on
1:17 Earth. China, Vietnam, Turkey, and you'd
1:20 never know. No country named, no region
1:24 identified, no beekeeper you can trace.
1:26 Rouse claims their honey is triple
1:29 tested and 100% pure. But here's what
1:32 they don't tell you. Reports suggest
1:34 Rouse may have stopped purchasing honey
1:37 from British beekeepers entirely. The
1:39 very company that built its reputation
1:42 on British honey now sources globally
1:45 from, in their own words, all major
1:47 honey producing continents, including
1:51 Asia. And when 77% of UK honey imports
1:55 come from China and 74% of Chinese honey
1:59 is suspected fraudulent, that blend of
2:02 non-EU honeys label starts to look very
2:04 different. The price tells its own
2:07 story. Ralph's British Oxfordshire
2:10 Wildflower costs two pounds per 100
2:14 grams. Their blended honey just 58 p per
2:17 100 grams. That's more than three times
2:20 cheaper. Ask yourself, how can one honey
2:23 cost a third of another from the same
2:26 company? The answer isn't efficiency.
2:29 It's what's actually in the jar. And if
2:31 Britain's biggest honey brand can't
2:33 guarantee what's inside their
2:35 bestselling products, what about the
2:38 supermarket owned brands millions of
2:41 families trust every week? The next one
2:44 might already be in your kitchen. Two,
2:47 Tesco clear honey. And their clear honey
2:50 sits on shelves in thousands of stores
2:52 bought by families who assume the Tesco
2:56 name means quality. But when researchers
2:58 tested supermarket own brand honeys
3:03 using over 240 tests per sample, Tesco
3:05 clear honey was specifically named among
3:08 those that failed. The tests detected
3:11 psychos, a sugar that does not exist
3:14 naturally in real honey. Its presence is
3:18 a direct marker of syrup adulteration.
3:21 They also found enzyme signatures. When
3:23 confronted with the evidence, Tesco
3:25 acknowledged that a more transparent
3:29 honey testing regime was required. Read
3:31 that again. Britain's biggest
3:33 supermarket admitted their testing
3:36 wasn't good enough. Yet, the same honey
3:39 remains on shelves today, still labeled
3:42 pure, still bought by millions who have
3:45 no idea what independent laboratories
3:48 found inside. The label says pure. The
3:51 science says otherwise. And if Tesco's
3:54 honey raised red flags, what about their
3:56 biggest rival just down the high street?
3:59 Three. Sainsbury's clear honey.
4:02 Sainsbury's positions itself as the
4:04 quality alternative, the supermarket for
4:07 shoppers who care about what they eat.
4:10 Their honey carries the same reassuring
4:13 pure label you'd expect. But in the same
4:15 investigation that flagged Tesco,
4:18 Sainsbury's Clear Honey was also named
4:20 among products showing markers of
4:23 adulteration. The tests revealed enzyme
4:25 signatures consistent with syrup
4:28 extension, not the natural enzymes you'd
4:31 find in genuine honey, but patterns that
4:34 suggest processing and dilution designed
4:37 to stretch real honey further while
4:40 keeping costs down. Sainsbury's taste
4:42 the difference range commands premium
4:46 prices, but their standard clear honey
4:50 follows the same blend of EU and non-EU
4:52 honeys formula that allows untraceable
4:56 origins and unverifiable quality.
4:58 Premium branding doesn't guarantee
5:02 premium honey. Sometimes it just means
5:04 premium profit margins on the same
5:07 questionable product. And speaking of
5:10 value propositions, Asda's promise to
5:13 British families is simple. Save money
5:16 every day. But what exactly are you
5:19 saving when you buy their honey? Four.
5:22 Asda set pure honey. Asda built its
5:25 brand on being the affordable choice for
5:27 hardworking families watching every
5:31 penny. Their set pure honey costs less
5:34 than many competitors. The label proudly
5:37 says pure, but that word means nothing
5:40 without testing to back it up.
5:42 Independent analysis specifically named
5:46 Asda set pure honey among supermarket
5:48 products containing psychos, that
5:51 telltale marker of sugar syrup
5:53 adulteration. The same tests found
5:56 enzyme irregularities, suggesting the
5:59 product had been extended with cheap
6:01 sweeteners. Here's what makes this
6:04 particularly troubling. Asda shoppers
6:06 are often families on tight budgets.
6:08 People who can least afford to waste
6:11 money on products that aren't what they
6:13 claim to be. They're paying for honey
6:16 and receiving something else entirely.
6:19 The savings on the receipt are an
6:22 illusion. When the jar contains diluted
6:24 product, you're not getting value.
6:27 You're getting less honey for your money
6:29 stretched with syrups that cost a
6:32 fraction of the real thing. And Asda
6:34 isn't alone among budget friendly
6:37 options. The Co-op has built decades of
6:40 trust as the ethical choice, but their
6:44 honey tells a different story. Five.
6:47 Co-op clear honey. The cooperative has
6:49 positioned itself as the supermarket
6:52 with principles. fair trade, ethical
6:56 sourcing, community values. But Co-op
6:57 Clear Honey appeared in the same
7:00 investigation that exposed the other
7:03 major supermarkets. Testing revealed the
7:06 same markers, psychos contamination,
7:08 enzyme irregularities, signatures of
7:10 syrup adulteration.
7:15 Nine out of 13 supermarket owns tested
7:18 contained psychos. 10 out of 13 showed
7:21 enzyme markers indicating adulteration
7:24 with inverted syrup. The co-op was among
7:27 them. Ethical branding and actual
7:30 product quality are two very different
7:33 things. You can have values printed on
7:35 your website and still sell honey that
7:38 fails laboratory analysis. The question
7:41 isn't whether supermarkets mean well.
7:43 It's whether their supply chains can
7:46 actually deliver genuine honey when the
7:48 global market is flooded with
7:50 sophisticated fakes and the profit
7:54 incentive to cut corners is enormous.
7:56 If the ethical supermarket can't
7:59 guarantee authentic honey, what about
8:02 the discount chains where price is
8:06 everything? Six. Aldi Bramwell's honey.
8:10 Aldi's promise is simple. Same quality,
8:12 lower prices. Their Bramwell's honey
8:15 range sits alongside branded competitors
8:18 at a fraction of the cost. It sounds
8:20 like a smart choice for budgetconscious
8:23 shoppers, but there's a price point
8:25 where the mathematics simply cannot
8:29 work. When you see honey selling for 75
8:32 a jar, you're not looking at a bargain,
8:35 you're looking at a warning sign. Real
8:38 honey costs approximately £350 per
8:42 kilogram at wholesale minimum. That's
8:45 the flaw for genuine product. Rice
8:47 syrup, the adulterant of choice because
8:50 it evades standard testing, costs just
8:55 40 to 60 per kilogram. Do the maths. At
8:59 75 p retail after packaging, transport
9:01 and retailer margins, what could
9:05 possibly be left for actual honey? As
9:08 master beekeeper Lynn Ingram bluntly
9:10 states, "If you see honey for as little
9:15 as 75p a jar, it's too good to be true."
9:17 Aldi's Bramwell's honey carries the
9:21 familiar blend of EU and non-EU honeys
9:24 label. No countries named, no
9:27 traceability, no way to verify what's
9:31 actually inside. The discount isn't a
9:34 miracle of efficiency. It's a reflection
9:36 of what you're actually buying. And
9:40 Aldi's German rival follows exactly the
9:42 same playbook.
9:46 Seven, Little Blossom Honey. Little and
9:48 Aldi compete head-to-head on price, and
9:51 their honey strategies are virtually
9:54 identical. Little's Blossom Honey sits
9:57 at similar rock bottom prices with the
10:00 same blend of non-EU honeys labeling
10:03 that hides the true origin of what's
10:06 inside. The discount supermarket model
10:09 depends on ruthless cost cutting. And
10:13 when 77% of UK honey imports come from
10:15 China at just18
10:19 per kilogram versus 19 pounds per
10:21 kilogram for quality manuka. The
10:24 sourcing decisions write themselves.
10:27 These aren't bad businesses. They're
10:29 rational businesses operating in a
10:32 market where adulterated honey is
10:35 cheaper, harder to detect, and faces
10:37 virtually no enforcement.
10:40 The problem isn't the supermarkets. It's
10:43 the system that allows fraudulent honey
10:45 to flood British shelves while
10:48 regulators look the other way. Eight.
10:51 Morrison's own brand honey. Their honey
10:53 range includes everything from budget
10:57 basics to premium options. But flip
11:00 those jars around and you'll find the
11:04 same story. Blend of EU and non-EU
11:07 honeys. No countries specified. No
11:10 percentages given, no traceability to
11:14 any specific source. The EU passed new
11:18 regulations in 2024 requiring exact
11:20 country of origin labeling with
11:23 percentages in descending order. France,
11:26 Germany, and Spain must now tell
11:29 consumers precisely where their honey
11:32 originates. Britain left before those
11:35 protections took effect. Our labels can
11:38 still hide everything behind that vague
11:41 blend wording. Morrisons could
11:44 voluntarily adopt transparent labeling.
11:46 They could name their source countries
11:50 and percentages. They choose not to.
11:52 When a company can tell you exactly
11:55 where their beef comes from, which farm
11:58 raised their chickens, but won't
12:00 identify the countries in their honey,
12:04 you have to ask why. The answer usually
12:06 involves supply chains that wouldn't
12:10 survive scrutiny. Now, let's talk about
12:13 a category that might surprise you.
12:16 Nine. Holland and Barrett Manuka Honey.
12:19 Holland and Barrett is Britain's trusted
12:21 health food retailer. When you walk into
12:24 their stores, you expect products that
12:26 actually deliver on their wellness
12:30 promises. Their Manuka honey sits in
12:33 prominent displays commanding premium
12:39 prices of £20 to £60 per jar. But Manuka
12:42 honey has a mathematics problem that
12:45 should concern every buyer. New Zealand
12:48 produces just 1,700
12:52 tons of genuine Manuka honey each year.
12:56 Yet approximately 10,000 tons are sold
13:00 globally. As Australian beekeepers note,
13:03 10 times more Manuka honey is sold in
13:05 the world than is produced. When
13:08 researchers tested Manuka products sold
13:13 in the UK, only 1 in 7 was authentic.
13:17 That's a mere 14% genuiness rate for a
13:20 product selling at premium prices. The
13:24 UMF and MGO ratings that supposedly
13:28 guarantee quality can be manipulated.
13:31 Synthetic methyl gioxel can be added to
13:35 boost MGO readings artificially. Without
13:38 rigorous third-party verification, that
13:41 expensive jar of Manuka might contain
13:45 ordinary honey with added chemicals.
13:48 You're paying £40 or more for what you
13:52 believe is medicinal honey with unique
13:56 antibacterial properties. But if only
13:59 14% of tested products were genuine,
14:02 you're probably paying premium prices
14:06 for standard honey with a premium label.
14:08 The trust you place in health food
14:11 retailers isn't matched by the supply
14:14 chain reality. And speaking of trusted
14:17 health retailers, pharmacies might seem
14:20 like safe havens for genuine products.
14:24 10. Boots own brand honey. The pharmacy
14:26 setting creates a powerful assumption of
14:29 quality that the product itself may not
14:31 deserve. You wouldn't expect a pharmacy
14:34 to sell fake vitamins, so you don't
14:36 question whether their honey is real.
14:38 But the honey section isn't regulated
14:41 like the pharmacy counter. There's no
14:43 pharmacist checking authenticity.
14:46 There's no controlled supply chain.
14:49 There's just the same blend of EU and
14:52 non-EU honeys appearing on pharmacy
14:55 shelves as supermarket shelves. The
14:57 white coat and the clean aisles create
15:00 an illusion of medicalrade quality. But
15:03 the jar contains whatever the global
15:05 honey market supplied, subject to the
15:09 same 100% failure rate in EU testing as
15:12 every other British honey sample. Trust
15:15 should be earned, not assumed from the
15:19 retail environment. 11. Gales honey.
15:21 Gales has been a household name in
15:24 British honey for generations. The brand
15:27 recognition runs deep. Your parents
15:29 probably bought Gales. Your grandparents
15:32 certainly did. But heritage branding and
15:35 current product quality are two very
15:38 different things. Today's Gales Honey
15:40 follows the same patterns as every other
15:44 mass market brand. Blended origins,
15:46 untraceable supply chains. Prices that
15:50 suggest adulteration is the only way the
15:52 economics can work. The squeeze bottles
15:55 and familiar packaging create nostalgia,
15:58 but the product inside has evolved along
16:01 with the global honey fraud epidemic.
16:04 What was genuine honey decades ago may
16:06 now be the same adulterated blend
16:09 flooding every other British brand.
16:12 Legacy means nothing when supply chains
16:14 change. The gales your grandmother
16:18 trusted isn't necessarily the gales on
16:22 shelves today. 12. Iceland Clear Honey.
16:24 Iceland built its reputation as the
16:27 freezer specialist serving British
16:30 families on budgets. Their honey isn't a
16:32 flagship product. It's just another
16:36 grocery item priced to move, sourced to
16:38 maximize margins. At Iceland's price
16:40 points, the same mathematical
16:44 impossibility applies. Genuine honey
16:46 cannot reach retail shelves at these
16:49 prices after all costs are covered.
16:52 Something has to give, and that
16:54 something is authenticity. The
16:57 investigation that found 96% of
16:59 supermarket honey suspicious didn't
17:02 distinguish between premium retailers
17:05 and budget chains. The contamination is
17:08 marketwide. Iceland operates in that
17:10 same contaminated market with the same
17:13 contaminated supply chains. Budget
17:15 retailers aren't villains. They're
17:18 responding to consumer demand for lower
17:21 prices, but lower prices funded by
17:24 adulteration aren't savings. They're
17:26 fraud transferred from the supply chain
17:29 to your kitchen cupboard. But you don't
17:31 have to wait for regulators. Here are
17:34 the five trustworthy honey brands. For
17:36 guaranteed British honey, the London
17:39 Honey Company sets the standard. Every
17:43 jar contains 100% British honey sourced
17:47 from over 500 apiaries across the United
17:50 Kingdom. Their honey is unpasteurized
17:52 and cold filtered, preserving the
17:56 natural enzymes, pollen, and beneficial
17:58 compounds that fake honey destroys
18:00 through ultrarocessing.
18:03 They never blend with imported product.
18:08 At 8 to10 per 250 grams, the price
18:11 reflects what genuine British honey
18:14 actually costs to produce. Remember, UK
18:18 beekeepers can't compete with 18 per
18:21 kilogram Chinese imports on price. They
18:24 can only compete on authenticity.
18:27 You'll find London Honey Company at John
18:30 Lewis, Abel and Cole, Fortn Mason, and
18:33 their own website. When the jar costs
18:36 what real honey should cost, you know
18:39 you're buying the real thing. Three.
18:42 Chainbridge Honey Farm. Operating since
18:45 1948 near the Scottish border in North
18:48 Sumberland, Chainbridge Honey Farm
18:51 represents British beekeeping heritage
18:54 done right. They produce honey from 1,500
18:55 1,500
19:00 to 1,800 of their own hives. Not sourced
19:03 globally, not blended anonymously. Their
19:06 own bees, their own apiaries, complete
19:09 traceability guaranteed. This is what
19:12 honey looked like before global supply
19:16 chains made fraud profitable. A family
19:19 operation, decades of expertise, and
19:22 absolute certainty about what's in every
19:25 jar. You can visit the farm, see the
19:28 bees, and meet the beekeepers. Try doing
19:32 that with a blend of non-EU honeys.
19:36 Four, black bee honey. Black bee honey
19:38 has earned BC Corp certification while
19:41 focusing exclusively on single origin
19:45 British honey. No blending, no anonymous
19:49 imports. Every jar traces to a specific
19:52 British location. They direct 2% of
19:55 their turnover to creating wildflower
19:57 meadows for bees. They're not just
19:59 selling honey. They're actively
20:02 supporting the British bee population
20:06 that makes genuine honey possible. Five
20:09 local BBKA beekeepers. The British
20:12 Beekeepers Association represents over
20:15 30,000 members across the country. Many
20:18 sell honey locally at farmers markets,
20:20 farm shops, and directly from their
20:24 apiaries. Visit bbbka.org.uk
20:28 UK and use their beekeeper finder to
20:31 locate producers near you. When you buy
20:33 directly from a local beekeeper, you get
20:36 absolute certainty about authenticity.
20:39 You can meet the producer. You can see
20:42 the hives. You can ask questions no
20:45 supermarket could ever answer. Local
20:47 honey also offers potential benefits for
20:50 hay fever sufferers as it contains
20:52 pollen from plants in your specific
20:55 area. That's impossible with imported
20:58 blends that remove all pollen to hide
21:02 their origin. The BBKA's chair put it
21:04 simply. We will continue to champion the
21:07 benefits of local honey in an era of
21:10 increasing debate over the composition
21:12 of imported honey. When the debate is
21:15 this heated, the safest choice is the
21:18 producer you can actually meet. Now, let
21:20 me show you exactly how to protect
21:22 yourself. Read the label like a
21:25 detective. The single most important
21:29 thing you can do takes three seconds.
21:31 Flip the jar and find the origin
21:36 statement. If it says blend of EU and
21:40 noneu honeys, put it back. That phrase
21:43 legally hides any country on Earth,
21:48 including the 77% of UK imports that
21:51 come from China. If it says blend of
21:56 noneu honeys, that's even worse. It
21:58 might as well say origin unknown,
22:01 possibly fraudulent. What you want to
22:05 see, a specific country. Better yet, a
22:09 specific region. Best of all, a specific
22:12 beekeeper or apiary you can actually
22:16 verify. Product of UK means British bees
22:19 and British production. That's
22:23 trustworthy. Packed in UK means
22:26 absolutely nothing. Only the packaging
22:29 happened here. The honey could come from
22:32 anywhere. The price test. Real honey has
22:35 a floor price that genuine products
22:38 cannot go below. Wholesale honey costs
22:43 approximately £350 per kilogram minimum.
22:46 After packaging, transport, retailer
22:49 margins, and profit. Genuine honey
22:52 cannot reach retail shelves below about
22:56 £5 per kilogram. When you see 340 g jars
23:01 for 75, the mathematics doesn't work.
23:03 Something other than honey is filling
23:07 that jar. Use this rule of thumb.
23:11 Genuine British honey costs £8 or more
23:14 per standard jar. Quality single origin
23:18 imports cost5 to8.
23:20 Anything under2
23:24 almost certainly indicates adulteration.
23:27 The discount isn't a bargain. It's a
23:30 warning. The clarity test. Look at the
23:33 honey through the jar. Real honey isn't
23:36 perfectly clear. It often has slight
23:39 cloudiness from natural pollen and tiny
23:42 particles of beeswax.
23:45 The color can vary from pale gold to
23:48 deep amber depending on what flowers the
23:51 bees visited. Fake or ultra filtered
23:56 honey is crystal clear, uniform color,
24:00 almost glassy appearance. That unnatural
24:03 clarity means it's been processed. When
24:06 honey looks too perfect, it probably
24:09 isn't real. The crystallization test.
24:12 Put your honey jar in the refrigerator
24:15 for several days. Watch what happens.
24:18 Real honey crystallizes naturally. It
24:22 forms fine uniform crystals almost like
24:25 soft granulated sugar. This is normal
24:28 and actually indicates authentic
24:31 product. Fake honey, especially honey
24:34 extended with corn or rice syrup, often
24:37 won't crystallize at all. Or it
24:40 separates into a watery layer on top and
24:43 a sugary layer below. Or it forms
24:46 coarse, clumpy crystals, very different
24:49 from natural crystallization. If your
24:52 honey stays perfectly liquid and runny
24:54 in the fridge for weeks, that's
24:57 suspicious. Real honey thickens and
25:01 crystallizes over time. The water test.
25:04 Drop a spoonful of honey into a glass of
25:08 room temperature water. Don't stir. Real
25:10 honey sinks straight to the bottom and
25:13 stays together in a mass. It won't
25:16 dissolve immediately. If you gently
25:19 swirl the water, genuine honey still
25:22 dissolves very slowly. Fake or syrup
25:25 extended honey dissolves quickly. It
25:28 spreads through the water creating
25:31 sugary streaks. It behaves like the
25:34 sugar syrup it actually is. The spoon
25:37 test. Dip a spoon into the honey and
25:41 lift it up slowly. Watch how it falls.
25:44 Real honey is thick and viscous. It
25:47 forms a continuous thread or ribbon that
25:51 may curl at the end before breaking. It
25:54 flows slowly and holds together. Fake
25:57 honey is thinner and runnier. It breaks
26:00 into droplets immediately and falls
26:03 straight down like commercial syrup. The
26:06 paper test. Put a drop of honey on a
26:10 paper towel or plain white napkin. Wait
26:14 1 minute. Pure honey is thick and will
26:17 hold its shape. It barely soaks through,
26:20 if at all. Diluted honey with high water
26:23 content spreads rapidly. It seeps into
26:26 the paper, leaving a noticeable wet
26:29 ring. If the honey soaks straight
26:32 through and spreads like water, it's not
26:35 pure. Every time you pick up a jar
26:40 labeled blend of EU and noneu honeys,
26:43 you're gambling and the odds say you're
26:46 losing. But now you know what to look
26:49 for. You know which brands have failed
26:52 the tests. You know which producers you
26:55 can actually trust. You know the price
26:58 points where genuine honey is possible
27:01 and where it isn't. The regulators
27:04 aren't protecting you. The supermarkets
27:06 aren't protecting you. The global supply
27:09 chain certainly isn't protecting you,
27:13 but you can protect yourself. Buy from
27:17 producers you can verify. Pay what real
27:20 honey actually costs. Read the labels
27:24 that hide the truth. Real honey is worth
27:27 finding. It contains enzymes,
27:30 antioxidants, and beneficial compounds
27:33 that fake honey destroys.
27:36 It supports British beekeepers instead
27:39 of fraudulent import operations. Which
27:42 one surprised you the most? Drop your
27:44 experience in the comments. And if you
27:46 want to watch a video like this one,
27:48 click the video on the screen. Thanks
