Sweet obsession: China’s manuka madness(bbc.com)
bbc.com
Sweet obsession: China’s manuka madness
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20150828-the-golden-elixir-worth-more-than-gold
5 comments
Counterfeit goods sold in China- what a surprise.
It's like the counterfeit Champagne they have that is too pressurized, and occasionally kills a billionaire when the cork flies into his temple.
It's like the counterfeit Champagne they have that is too pressurized, and occasionally kills a billionaire when the cork flies into his temple.
So no one has figured out what the chemical is in the Manuka that has antibacterial properties and then tried to synthesize it? I have no idea if this sort of thing is always doable or economical but sounds like it would be a good business opportunity.
It wouldn't be Manuka honey then. You forgot the marketing angle, which is sells more of the stuff than any actual antibacterial prowess. And the Chinese consume all sorts of whacky stuff - rhino horns, tiger balls, ground-up cockroaches, etc. With the right marketing you could get the Chinese to consume anything.
I used to eat a lot of Manuka honey when I grew up in New Zealand. It is strong-tasting. The Chinese have raised the prices and now I won't buy the stuff in Australia because it is too expensive.
I used to eat a lot of Manuka honey when I grew up in New Zealand. It is strong-tasting. The Chinese have raised the prices and now I won't buy the stuff in Australia because it is too expensive.
>And the Chinese consume all sorts of whacky stuff - rhino horns, tiger balls, ground-up cockroaches, etc
This is my thinking as well. This sounds like yet another Chinese health fad, which often has roots in "traditional" and "alternative" Chinese medicine, which has been shown to be almost all nonsense, with the rare exception that's due more to luck than anything else.
The linked paper describes manuka as having antibacteria properties in regards to dressing wounds. I'm not sure if eating it is giving anyone any benefits and considering what we now know about gut flora and antibiotics, well, people shouldn't just be eating antibiotics like tic-tacs.
> With the right marketing you could get the Chinese to consume anything.
Autocratic states generally don't have any sort of democratic movements for medicine, industrial, air, or food safety, so they never get the proper regulatory bodies to make this stuff safe. Case in point, my wife brought some cold medicine back from Russia. It was chock full of mercury. There were a few articles last year about some common cold medicine marketed to children in China. It was full of lead. FDA advisory here:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm416220.htm
This is my thinking as well. This sounds like yet another Chinese health fad, which often has roots in "traditional" and "alternative" Chinese medicine, which has been shown to be almost all nonsense, with the rare exception that's due more to luck than anything else.
The linked paper describes manuka as having antibacteria properties in regards to dressing wounds. I'm not sure if eating it is giving anyone any benefits and considering what we now know about gut flora and antibiotics, well, people shouldn't just be eating antibiotics like tic-tacs.
> With the right marketing you could get the Chinese to consume anything.
Autocratic states generally don't have any sort of democratic movements for medicine, industrial, air, or food safety, so they never get the proper regulatory bodies to make this stuff safe. Case in point, my wife brought some cold medicine back from Russia. It was chock full of mercury. There were a few articles last year about some common cold medicine marketed to children in China. It was full of lead. FDA advisory here:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm416220.htm
> due more to luck than anything else.
With many of these things it boils down to: simple food likely does exactly the same thing. I hear that well-nourished people generally have stronger immune systems.
> regards to dressing wounds
Even if it actually works on dressings the bigger question is: how well does it survive HCl and bile? Can it be absorbed via the intestines? Or is the only active effect killing off flora on its way to be pooped out? Sanitized poop: great.
What these people don't realize is that the body isn't something you put things into an expect the same results. Would they guzzle down bleach simply because it cleans their clothes? Why would they then guzzle down this honey, merely because it sanitizes wounds?
With many of these things it boils down to: simple food likely does exactly the same thing. I hear that well-nourished people generally have stronger immune systems.
> regards to dressing wounds
Even if it actually works on dressings the bigger question is: how well does it survive HCl and bile? Can it be absorbed via the intestines? Or is the only active effect killing off flora on its way to be pooped out? Sanitized poop: great.
What these people don't realize is that the body isn't something you put things into an expect the same results. Would they guzzle down bleach simply because it cleans their clothes? Why would they then guzzle down this honey, merely because it sanitizes wounds?
What was the name of the cold medicine from Russia? How did you know it was full of mercury?
It was listed as an ingredient. Apparently, mercury appeals to the 'naturalist' and 'folk cures' crowd which is big in Russia.
Don't recall name, this was four or five years ago.
Don't recall name, this was four or five years ago.
Not just the Chinese, it's very popular in the US as well. Whole Foods et al carry it.
Won't it get a free pass on all kinds of regulation because it's naturally occurring? I don't know a whole log about regulation but I assume if you were to make something in the lab, mix it with food and claim antibacterial benefits you would probably be a few hundred million bucks out of pocket having to prove to the FDA that it was safe as well as proving it did what you say it does.
Plus it being natural you will have off-label clones riding your expenditure once you got it through so there's no profit margin.
Plus it being natural you will have off-label clones riding your expenditure once you got it through so there's no profit margin.
> claim antibacterial benefits
At this point, it would need to be evaluated by the FDA because its making a medical claim.
>because it's naturally occurring?
Penicillium fungi is naturally occurring too. That doesn't' mean you can put it in food arbitrarily.
At this point, it would need to be evaluated by the FDA because its making a medical claim.
>because it's naturally occurring?
Penicillium fungi is naturally occurring too. That doesn't' mean you can put it in food arbitrarily.
>and help boost the immune system.
My BS detector goes off whenever I see a phrase like that.
The human immune system is just that a system and the word system seems to be glossed over as if it's a thing not a bunch of separate parts.
From the smallest molecule to larger cells it's an incredibly complex bunch of biological process and one food affecting all of it simultaneously is probably not true.
My BS detector goes off whenever I see a phrase like that.
The human immune system is just that a system and the word system seems to be glossed over as if it's a thing not a bunch of separate parts.
From the smallest molecule to larger cells it's an incredibly complex bunch of biological process and one food affecting all of it simultaneously is probably not true.
I think that phrase was just mostly meant for the average reader of the article.
If you read the study they link, it explains the immune boosting/modulating functions of the honey.
Example: Furthermore, the ability of honey to reduce ‘reactive intermediates release’[23] may well limit tissue damage by activated macrophages during wound healing. Thus, the immunomodulatory property of honey is relevant to wound repair.
I've seen this stuff work for wound repair first hand, and I've read enough first hand accounts of people successfully treating gut-related diseases with the help of this stuff.. so maybe don't dismiss it just yet, but if this gets very popular, I don't think NZ will be able to keep up.. the prices on the stuff are already a bit much for any average shopper.
If you read the study they link, it explains the immune boosting/modulating functions of the honey.
Example: Furthermore, the ability of honey to reduce ‘reactive intermediates release’[23] may well limit tissue damage by activated macrophages during wound healing. Thus, the immunomodulatory property of honey is relevant to wound repair.
I've seen this stuff work for wound repair first hand, and I've read enough first hand accounts of people successfully treating gut-related diseases with the help of this stuff.. so maybe don't dismiss it just yet, but if this gets very popular, I don't think NZ will be able to keep up.. the prices on the stuff are already a bit much for any average shopper.
Personally I dismiss any "medicine" that only has anecdotal "evidence" until there is an actual successful clinical trial.. and even then just consuming the raw honey is probably not the way to go since you can't know exactly the concentration of whatever the active chemical(s) is/are. If you have a disease, see a doctor.
The concentrations are actually known, there are rating scales, with UMF being the most popular where the honey is tested for its bacterial killing properties, and each honey is labeled accordingly.
Yes, the testing isn't perfect, but at least it's something, and for many people with diseases like ulcerative colitis, where the doctor's recommendation is to remove the entire colon, this honey has offered many an alternative way to manage their disease and keep their colon.
Now, if it were me, personally I would try the honey first, even if it's never been through clinical trials, before removing my entire colon. I mean worse case I eat a bunch of honey.
I get where you're coming from, but until the science is there, there's no reason not to try foods that we already consume regularly.
Yes, the testing isn't perfect, but at least it's something, and for many people with diseases like ulcerative colitis, where the doctor's recommendation is to remove the entire colon, this honey has offered many an alternative way to manage their disease and keep their colon.
Now, if it were me, personally I would try the honey first, even if it's never been through clinical trials, before removing my entire colon. I mean worse case I eat a bunch of honey.
I get where you're coming from, but until the science is there, there's no reason not to try foods that we already consume regularly.
And notably, "boosts the immune system" is in a particular class of medical-sounding statements that are currently unregulated by the FDA.
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comparing honey to ginseng is not accurate. ginseng is a root. honey is 40% glucose 30% fructose and the good stuff is mixed with those high ammounts of sugar. whatever good stuff there is in it believe me it won't matter compared to what sugar will do to your liver
It isn't meant to be a literal comparison. It's a comparison of the way Chinese consumers and Korean consumers view manuka honey and ginseng, respectively.
It's also compared in the same paragraph to a Louis Vuitton bag and a holiday in the Maldives. If you read these comparisons as "the properties of these products are very similar", perhaps you missed the point?
From virtually no imports of New Zealand honey just seven years ago, China has drawn level with Hong Kong as the second largest market in the world, according to government statistics, importing nearly 1,500 tonnes in 2014 — the large majority of which is manuka honey. Taken together, the China and Hong Kong markets far outpace the UK, which has been the world’s largest market for a decade but has seen imports steadily decline since 2009.
And from Wikipedia:
In the wake of the high premium paid for mānuka honey, the majority of product now labelled as such worldwide is counterfeit or adulterated. According to research by UMFHA, the main trade association of New Zealand mānuka honey producers, whereas 1,700 tons of mānuka honey are made there annually representing almost all the world's production, some 10,000 tons of produce is being sold internationally as mānuka honey, including 1,800 tons in the UK.[1]
Those number definitely don't add up. Presumably the vast majority of Manuka being consumed in China is counterfeit.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81nuka_honey