POISONING OF HONEY

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30192, 25 July 1963, Page 12

POISONING OF HONEY

Some Supplies Withdrawn (N.Z Press Association) ROTORUA. July 24. The Health Department has withdrawn supplies of some honey from sale in the Auckland province, including Rotorua, because of possible tutu poisoning to consumers. Confirming this today, *a food and drugs officer said all retailers* and wholesalers’ stocks of toe honey had been withdrawn.

He said toe department did not consider it necessary to warn the public because toe possible danger of poisoning was "incalculable.”

It was extremely difficult to calculate the possible danger to consumers, but tests on guinea pigs in Wellington had shown some of the honey contained poison from the plant tutu. The brand of honey concerned was distributed mainly in the northern half of the North Island. A similar outbreak had occurred in North Auckland about two years ago. Bees bad conveyed poison from toe plant to honey. The officer said the whole of North Auckland and the Bay of Plenty were “out” because of tutu. He said a man in the Hamilton area who ate a lot of honey had become seriously ill from tutu poisoning. It appeared the poison was confined in the honey.