Bitter truths about branded honey

This is with reference to the edit 'Oh honey, this tastes bitter!' (Dec 5). The bitter truth of some honey brands in the country that we regard to be safe and natural has been exposed by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on some popular brands like Dabur, Patanjali and Zandu that seem to be adulterated by a type of sugar syrup to the tune of 80% though the makers of these products claim that they meet the regulatory requirements laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (Fssai). People have been using several brands of honey that is sold in the country as a natural preventive against Covid-19 pandemic, along with other spices as an age-old recipe against the bacterial and viral infections. Even popular brands of cooking oils produced in the country that were tested by a German laboratory, did not pass the quality parameters for their contents. This serves as a lesson not to use the cheap cooking oils that are available in the market at the cost of health, in terms of trans fats and other harmful contents in them to be detrimental to our cardiovascular health. Do we deserve to consume these products that are not in the interest of our health anymore?

S Lakshmi, Hyderabad