On January 5, 2018, a 6-episode docuseries was released on Netflix by the name of Rotten. This Netflix-original docuseries looks deeper into the food industry as it faces new challenges throughout the years.

“Rotten Poster” is licensed under CC BY 4.0

The first episode of the series is titled, “Lawyers, Guns & Honey.” The episode follows beekeepers, honey transporters, and other people in the honey industry as it delves into the current issue with honey: fraud. Researchers discovered that as the population of bees decreases, with it honey production decreases, a statistic that makes sense. What does not make sense, however, is the discovery that honey consumption is increasing exponentially. Companies will transport honey that has been diluted with syrup to third countries, which then transport it into the United States to sell without revealing that they are not real honey. One particular offender that was shown in the episode was the Alfred L. Wolff Inc. in Chicago.

Alfred L. Wolff is actually based in Hamburg, Germany and is a grocery distributer. In 2008, they were importing large quantities of honey into the United States to sell locally, most of which was testing positive for being Chinese honey. This case became the largest food fraud case in the history of the United States. There were 27 individuals and companies charged as a result of this fraud.

While there is not much that Alfred L Wolff Inc could do – although they are still open and operating – to respond to this fraud, “Honeygate” likely had a large negative impact on many small, local beekeepers across the United States. After this terrible situation occurred, beekeepers would have to fight to prove themselves in the honey industry. It would now be important to clarify to customers that your honey is local and fresh. Customers would likely be concerned that the honey they were buying was not real honey. They could no longer trust the honey they were purchasing. It would not be easy to come back from this. Quality testing was a response many smaller retailers had to prove themselves to their consumers. Another step that was represented in the docuseries was having a hive in the store that people and children could view and interact with. Clint Walker, the owner of Walker Honey Farms, not only has a hive in his store to teach children about bees and beekeeping, but he also has samples of all his honey for his customers to try them out. These domestic beekeepers have to fight to stay alive, not only because of the environmental impacts on bees, but also because of these issues of fraud.

 

For more information about the Alfred L Wolff Inc. fraud, check out this article in OPEN Magazine, published December 8, 2012, and for more information on the fraud and the issues regarding bees in general, check out Rotten Episode 1 on Netflix.