Honey Laundering

In late May, U.S. Immigration and Customs agents arrested 2 Chicago-based employees of Alfred L. Wolff, Inc. for suspected "honey laundering" - for conspiring to illegally import honey from China.

In 2001, the U.S. government decided that China was "dumping" its honey in the U.S. at unfairly low prices, so they imposed a duty on all Chinese honey imports.

Companies began to "honey launder" by sending Chinese honey to Russia or Eastern Europe, where it was repackaged to look like it was coming from there.

Now, authorities cracked down on Wolff, Inc. because some of their honey tested positive for a banned antibiotic called chloramphenicol, which has been found previously in Chinese honey.

This antibiotic is banned in the West because it can cause aseptic anemia, a rare but potentially fatal blood disorder.