80% of Honey Sold in China Suspected Fake
By wchung | 22 Apr, 2026

Most of the honey sold in China is nothing more than cane sugar syrup, according to an expert quoted by Beijing Business Today.

China produces only 180,000 tons of honey a year, of which 82,000 tons were exported and none was imported, said Wang Guanqun, general manager of a Henan-based food producer. That leaves only about 100,000 tons of honey for the China market. Yet 500,000 tons are sold each year in China as honey, leading to the conclusion that 400,000 tons or 80% is made with cane sugar and alunite.

Little attention was paid to fake honey because the substitution didn’t create any immediate health consequences and is consumed mainly by women, children and the elderly who don’t have sufficient knowledge about honey production to distinguish real from fake, Wang added.

An executive at a famous Beijing honey producer agreed with Wang’s exception but said fake honey was rare in Beijing because local health officials had conducted crackdowns.

In April news media had reported that a well-known brand of honey sold in China supermarkets for 10 yuan ($1.56) a bottle but contained no honey. The actual cost of the sugar water was 2 yuan ($0.31), reports alleged.