Consumer protection warns of honey strain

Authority warns of poisonous rhododendron honey: Consumption could lead to serious poisoning.

(16.09.2010) The Hessian Ministry of Consumer Protection is currently warning against the consumption of a Turkish honey. The honey comes from the Turkish Black Sea coast and was obviously increasingly imported to Germany, especially to Hesse. The honey can lead to severe poisoning, as warns the consumer ministry.

In a sample of honey, a very high content of the toxic plant substance grayanotoxin was found in laboratory tests. As the Ministry of the Environment confirmed, five grams of the toxic substance were already sufficient to cause nausea and vomiting, dizziness, gastrointestinal spasms and diarrhea. In severe poisoning cases with the substance it can also lead to a drop in blood pressure, a slowing of the heartbeat to heart failure or respiratory arrest. The honey should therefore be discarded and not eaten until more details become known. (Sb)