Enforcement is always the question. Even when it is blatantly obvious like the mentioned boom in production by China's neighbors. That's because the US banned Chinese honey years ago, so China just launders it through a neighbor.
As for the labeling, I noticed this a while back on some. I was eating lunch at a fast food joint and put some "honey sauce" on my biscuit. I noticed the taste was off so I looked at the label. Sure enough, cut with corn syrup. So the only labeling was "sauce" instead of just being labeled honey. Most consumers won't notice things like this.
Another example is chicken eggs. Labeled as "cage free" the average consumer associates "free range" and is willing to pay more. Brown eggs by most are automatically associated as more natural than white eggs and automatically demand a premium, even though they may still be produced by caged birds. But I digress.
I agree, people must buy local! Obviously as a beekeeper I would say this. But I always advise my clients of the same risks in buying "cheap" honey. The best ever is the label that says "how do you know it's honey if you don't know the beekeeper?" Another favorite is "real food doesn't have ingredients, it IS ingredients." It's a shame that our food chain has become so complicated with "fake" food. I'm lucky to have a well educated clientele that's willing to pay a little extra, knowing they're getting the real product.
