Glyconutrients - Beeotic

El colega John Smith de Tamwoth, Australia escribe sobre la nueva movida de Capilano en la selecta lista Honey_australia de Yahoogroups.

Congratulations to Capilano Honey for the development and release of their BEEOTIC prebiotic honey.

This could easily be the greatest thing they have done since introducing the upside down squeeze bottle.

I like the way they approach honey's magic from the nutrition side, rather than from the germ and disease fighting side.   This bypasses a host of considerations and arguments over 'cures' and 'licences' and 'medical entanglements.'

While they have not listed the elements they are testing for and the processes they are patenting, it is obvious that they are naturally occurring elements of many varietal honeys.  Certainly the pollens inherent in unfiltered honey contain many exotic proteins, and no doubt myriad other substances have been identified over the years in a variety of honey types by a variety of researchers.

But it is the long chain sugars that fascinate me the most, as these are not readily found in just ever apple we buy, but in fact as sugars, are most probably very heat stable, and in part may well explain why honey was so valued in centuries gone by, despite the fact the big kero tin of it sat on the back of the wood or coal cooking range so it would pour during the long winter months.

Its medicinal value was never challenged then, as it was an assumed fact that honey was honey and it was good for us.   It was not until more modern sweeteners arrived that we began to study the composition of honey in earnest.  

"Raw" honey has become the pet requirement of many honey users these days and no amount of information about how few months of the year it is practical to present honey that has not granulated will suffice to quell the fears of the prospective user.  Some even cringe if the honey is exposed to sunlight, and want it in dark glass.   Such paranoia!

If in fact the long chain sugars are a significant contribution to the composition of the BEEOTIC honey it follows that the honey will perform regardless of normal processing heat and even the less invasive types of filtration.

Unfortunately, there is a doctrine amongst our food scientists and regulators that all sweeteners are the same.  They seem entirely content to let honey be the name on most any sugar they can concoct, especially as they only want to discuss the glucose and fructose content.  The elusive and myriad long chain sugars (oligosaccharides) are not that easily duplicated and produced economically in the laboratory and factory, so the experts in the food industry prefer not to address them.

Foto del ChinoHerrera tomada en Coihayque 29102016

But they certainly are coming to the fore in modern research as health promoters, energy producers and disease fighters.  It makes such good sense that these sugars have forever been present in honey and may well account for honey's healing and health promoting reputation (amongst many other factors).

If you care to remember (or refresh) I gave a prediction in my opening message of this group forum (message number two), back in 2005 about how honey would shine one day when these nutrients became more generally recognised.

Of particular interest in this message group, is the price of the BEEOTIC.   Indeed, Capilano are effectively saying to the buying public, "OK, we can give you the quality honey you are demanding, but it will not be cheap like you think it should be!"   And it is certainly not too late for that message to hit the news, as everyone is in tears over the loss of the bee, and don't really know what to do about it.

BEEOTIC is more or less the same good honey Allowrie Brand once was, plus the advantages of some expensive testing to shake off the dilution fog that now surrounds most of the world's big brands.   Yet my personal customers do not need this testing, as they can look me square in the eye and enquire of my processing methods.  They can determine for themselves whether to trust me and my honey or not.

The BEEOTIC I bought last week was priced at $A27.00 per kilo, or thereabouts.  I looked at the shelf talker, but didn't click on save with the cents.   The pack size has been lost as it must have been on the tear-away wrapper.  Capilano have skipped the nutritional label as well, and the bits of spin involved is quite forgivable in this world of competitive marketing.  There is no expiry date present either, unless it was on the wrapper.  I don't believe we need to apologise for real honey!

ESPECIALLY am I pleased,  when I consider that my own honey, being entirely natural, is worth that too.  Sure, the general public will be willing to pay extra for the testing etc., and I won't need to, but I can still cite the value of BEEOTIC to my customers and let them decide if my honey is worth my asking price or not.

Capilano 'have done us proud,' to quote Slim Dusty.  This product is nicely balanced between the demands of the purist intellectual and the realities of the marketplace.  If the general public have the audacity to reject it on price alone, then we might as well roll up the carpet and quit beekeeping altogether.  They don't deserve good honey if they expect it for prices similar to those in the Great Depression.