Agadir: “Fake” honey and oils sold to holidaymakers on the beaches

A. Latif Baraka: Heba Press

Some beaches north of the city of Agadir see the movement of many very active traders during each summer season, in order to sell quantities of “adulterated” honey and oils, particularly to visitors to the city.

Thanks to the methods used by these people to deceive holidaymakers, they are found carrying “coffins” which include a number of bottles of oil, particularly “argan” and some glass bottles intended for honey.

Whenever they find a customer on the beach, they tell him about his origins. Is he an immigrant from outside the country or a resident of another Moroccan city? From here, they offer him a portion of honey with a plastic spoon. The bottle is often real honey, and once the customer is reassured, an agreement is reached on a specific price and on the quality of the original honey (thyme, dagmous, lemon, or sidr…) which are local herbs of the Souss, until the customer is reassured. the price is agreed, it is often high, reaching between 200 and 400 dirhams per liter.

Dozens of visitors to the city may fall victim to this, believing they have acquired real Susi honey or argan oil, but this is not exactly what happens, rather they discover that buying adulterated “mold honey” at a high price and without nutritional value poses a danger to the health of its consumers, since unhealthy substances, such as refined sugar and preservatives, reduce their nutritional value and increase the risk of allergies and digestive problems.