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Honey could be making us sick due to contamination with liver-harming toxins, study suggests

But there's no need to panic.

Honey. We love it on our biscuits. We love it in our tea. Sometimes we just love to dip the tip of our fingers in the jar for a little taste. But a new study has found that “Australian honey contains natural toxins that exceed international safety levels.” The toxins of concern are called pyrrolizidine alkaloids or PAs. They have been shown to cause liver damage to humans and with large doses… cancer. What may be most alarming is that PAs were found in 41 of 59 Australian honeys tested. The Australian honeys tested “had on average four times more PAs than European honeys.” The PAs levels in Australian honey consumers were found to be 0.051 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight for adults and 0.204 micrograms per kilogram for children. These levels “exceed the European Food Safety Authority maximum daily limit of 0.007 micrograms per kilogram of bodyweight, but are below the Australian limit of 1 microgram per kilogram of bodyweight.” While Australian farmers say the reports “[rely] on old data and are exaggerated”, researchers insist that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers should limit their exposure to PAs.

To learn more about the concern of PAs in Australian honey, follow the link: http://bit.ly/1RrpNNB