Subject: Adulteration Big Time

From: [email-masked] (Andy Nachbaur)
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 21:38:00 GMT

INDICTMENT OF THE "Largest Industrial (Honey Packer) in the U.S."
                         <so they say>

   A multiple US Grand Jury Indictment may be years away from any
conviction, and with our system of justice it is interesting, but
does not mean more then if you are indicted you better get a lawyer
and get your house in order, because the government is going to
put you away if you don't, or if you can't afford a defence. In this
case for 65 years and fines of $4 million.

   The Groeb's, Earnest Jr., and son's Ernie Lee and Troy, along
with two employees have been charged and indicted by the U.S.
Department of Justice for adulterating Honey, and selling it as
"Pure Honey", to industrial users. They deny all 19 charges.

   The Groeb's own Groeb Farms Inc., and have honey packing plants
in Onsted, Mich., and Belleview, Fla. The government says the Groeb's
made more then $1 million between 1988 and 1992 by selling "HONEY"
to food product manufactures that had corn syrup added and was
represented to be USDA Grade A Honey. The government contends the
Groeb's purchased millions of pounds of corn syrup and only sold
small amounts to other beekeepers for feeding bees or used it themselves
to feed their own bees.

   The trial is 6 months to 1 year away, as the Groeb's defence attorney
has been handed "one million pages of documents" to read under
court "discovery" proceedings.

   This case is interesting and I have no idea of how the Groeb's
conducted their business and as far as I know have never met any
of them. A point I would make is that many individual beekeepers in
the U.S. purchased million's of pounds of "corn syrup" for feeding bee's
and I doubt that many of them could prove to a court that they did not
mix it with their honey during the extraction process, especially if
some disgruntled ex-employee said they did.

In the Groeb's case, so far NO government evidence is reported that any
product shipped from their plants was analysed by anyone to see if it
contained anything but "Pure Honey". This disturbs me, as I know for a
fact small amounts of corn syrup can be detected in Honey, (at least
in my own), and much honey is checked for corn syrups and other sugars.
And that honey if found with added sugar syrups is rejected from sale as
Honey if it is foreign honey. More often then not it is sold at a loss
to the producer and purchased by Honey Packers to be used in industrial
blends that call for Honey blended with sugars. I also know of other
Honey Packers who routinely bid and provide add mixtures of Honey and
sugar as provided for in their industrial contracts and are large users
of sugar syrups. Some pack fruits and other products that use sugar and
small amounts of honey.

  It stretch's creditability that the government would bring charges of
"Adulteration of Honey" without analytical lab data that the Honey in
question was indeed adulterated, unless the samples they took could
not be used to prove adulteration. In this case the government seems to
be relying on a paper trail, and that frightens me as I know how some
beekeepers big and small handle paper...don't ask me how I used the
twenty tankers of sugar syrup I purchased in 1988.

                           ttul Andy-

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Opinion's are not necessarily facts.