The honey that you buy, believing it is pure, natural and healthy, is very likely to be contaminated with high levels of antibiotics, which is fed to bees, and is bad for health. This is the finding of a new study by the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

The study, findings of which were released on Wednesday, was conducted on leading brands of honey like Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, Khadi and Himalaya, and some foreign brands as well. It shows that all had two-four antibiotics in their products, much above the stipulated standards.

The two foreign brands tested, from Australia and Switzerland, also had high levels of antibiotics and would certainly be illegal in their own countries, says CSE in its report. CSE director Sunita Narain said, "It is clear that foreign companies are taking advantage of the lack of regulations in India. After all, if our government does not care about the health of its people, why should these companies care?”

She added that the government do have standards for antibiotic contamination in the honey that is exported. But these standards are not taken care of for honey sold in domestic markets.

The study also shows that a continued long-term exposure to these medicines can lead to serious health effects.