Holland and Barrett Manuka Honey

lovesholidays_2

I have bought a couple of rather expensive jars of manuka honey from Holland and Barret, as their shop staff assured me that they were certified tested for their strength. These were not cheap, I spent over £50 on the 2 jars.

But now I find out that they are actually do not contain the special properties that manuka is meant to have, and are basically no different to normal types of honey that you can get for a few quid. It was Pure Gold and Manuka Pharm brands that I had bought, as they were on a deal.

The problem is I did not keep my receipt - never thought would need to for this type of product - and so have nothing to take back to the shop to ask for a refund.

Not sure if there is any other place I can make a complaint to - trading standards? - for myself, but wanting to warn others to double check about the products if buying from Holland and Barrett, and keep your receipts from them.

Poor form for a health shop to be selling understrength products.

Pollycat

lovesholidays wrote: »

But now I find out that they are actually do not contain the special properties that manuka is meant to have, and are basically no different to normal types of honey that you can get for a few quid. It was Pure Gold and Manuka Pharm brands that I had bought, as they were on a deal.

How did you find out they didn't contain the special properties that Manuka is meant to have?

nomoneytoday

Was this research available before you bought the product?
What does the label actually state?

iammumtoone

I would take them back to the store to explain and also write to the head office (enclosing evidence of your findings), to be fair holland and barrett might not be aware there is a problem.

Completely irrelevant to the thread title, but I am curious why spend that amount of money on honey?

Pollycat

Shockingly pricey stuff! :eek:

Looked at the H&B website briefly, there's lots of this expensive Manuka honey and some are labelled 5+, 6+, 10+, 12+ all the way up to 25+.

No idea what all that means, what makes it so special, why someone would pay £25 for a 250gm jar or how the OP knows or found out that what he bought was no different to ordinary honey.

peachyprice

You wouldn't want the children to spread it on their toast at that price. :eek:

Pollycat

peachyprice wrote: »

You wouldn't want the children to spread it on their toast at that price. :eek:

Maybe not, but perhaps the adults could have some fun with it:

Pure Gold Manuka Honey can also be used externally by applying direct to the skin.

Maybe a more palatable (but pricier) alternative to Anne Summers' Juicy Lube Candy Floss:


Yum Yum
Slurp Slurp

artbaron

I wouldn't worry about it. There's no evidence Manuka honey has any medicinal properties at all, and those that are claimed for it involve applying it to burns to prevent infection which is probably not the purpose you had in mind.

artbaron

4771_Miles_To_Caracas wrote: »

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2011/04April/Pages/manuka-honey-mrsa-superbug-bacteria.aspx

As I said, I doubt the OP bought the honey with the intent of slathering it on open wounds. Also, it cautions against non-medical grade honey being used even for this. Basically Manuka honey is a big con, there's no benefit whatsoever to eating it over any other honey.

pimento

This is a topical subject for me. My husband has been having chemotherapy for lung cancer and a side effect of his treatment was an ulcer on his lower leg. I treated it with +25 manuka honey (Comvita brand) as recommended by a friend in New Zealand.

The ulcer cleared up within a week.

He has been eating manuka +15 on his toast and to sweeten his coffee for six months now and it may not be helping but it certainly isn't harming him.

His district nurse was telling me about one of her patients who had a wound that wouldn't heal until manuka honey was used on it.

I'll reserve judgement but I won't stop buying it.

artbaron

pimento wrote: »

This is a topical subject for me. My husband has been having chemotherapy for lung cancer and a side effect of his treatment was an ulcer on his lower leg. I treated it with +25 manuka honey (Comvita brand) as recommended by a friend in New Zealand.

The ulcer cleared up within a week.

He has been eating manuka +15 on his toast and to sweeten his coffee for six months now and it may not be helping but it certainly isn't harming him.

His district nurse was telling me about one of her patients who had a wound that wouldn't heal until manuka honey was used on it.

I'll reserve judgement but I won't stop buying it.

It's not going to harm you but there is no evidence that supermarket grade Manuka has any effect on external skin problems (and no generally accepted evidence that medical grade does) and not even a suggestion that it could ever have a benefit when ingested orally. As this is a money saving site it's reasonable to point out these lack of benefits when considering spending £25 on a jar of honey that has no proven medical benefits over one costing £1.99.