Cooking: Baked Cheese Broccoli And Hash Brown Casserole / Plate

Amazingly green broccoli
Image from Locky's English Playground

Hello! It's Cooking Friday!!!!

Question: What does this amazingly green broccoli reminds you of? For me, it's definitely the world famous movie -- Hayao Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle In The Sky (天空の城ラピュタ).

Laputa: Castle In The Sky
Image from fanpop.com

The difference is, we can actually eat the broccoli. What can we do with it? The easiest is Baked Cheese Broccoli And Hash Brown Casserole / Plate.

You'll need:

1. A Casserole / plate
2. Broccoli
3. Potatoes / Hash browns
4. White pasta sauce
5. Mozzarella Cheese

Hash Brown from IKEA
Image from Locky's English Playground

Since I am using hash brown, I will need to first fry them until they are semi-cooked / golden brown. I got some from IKEA for a try but I didn't like it afterwards. Next time I will return to those which actually looks like hash browns.

Frying Hash Brown
Image from Locky's English Playground

If you are using potatoes, simply boil them, skin them and chop them into small pieces.

Mushroom & Herb Pasta Sauce
Image from Locky's English Playground

Place the hash browns / potatoes on the plate / casserole, then get your white sauce ready. I use this Dolmio Mushroom & Herb Pasta Sauce which is not so salty.

Nicely laid out
Image from Locky's English Playground

Place the broccoli nicely, break then into smaller pieces if necessary.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Image from Locky's English Playground

Pour lots of pasta sauce onto the dish.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Looking good?

President's Mozzarella Cheese
Image from Locky's English Playground

I choose President's Mozzarella because it is the cheapest I can find.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Put the desired amount of mozzarella cheese on it for the meltiness.

Image from Locky's English Playground

For slightly better taste, I added a piece of cheddar.

In the oven
Image from Locky's English Playground

Chuck the whole thing into the oven.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Initially, I set the temperature to 250°C for about 15 minutes, but if you think the cheese hasn't melted, then add a little time accordingly.

Final product
Image from Locky's English Playground

WA LA!!! Where's your plate?

For more recipes, do visit our cooking page.


Vocabulary:
casserole -- (n)  from the French word for "saucepan", is a large, deep dish used both in the oven and as a serving vessel. The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a vessel, with the cookware itself called a casserole dish or casserole pan. In British English, this type of dish is frequently also called a bake, coinciding with the cooking technique used to cook casseroles.
meltiness -- (n) [U] from melty -- (adj) melting
chuck -- (vb)[T often + adv/prep] informal to throw something carelessly:


Resources:
Castle In The Sky @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky

Cooking @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/search/label/Cooking/?max-results=6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casserole
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/melty
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/chuck_1?q=chuck

World: Fun Facts We All Should Know -- Part 2 (Viewer Discretion Is Advised)

The Rock
Image from troll.me

We often see fake stuff on the internet. One of which I must emphasize its fakeness is this disgusting photo of a woman's breast being infested by some sort of worm-looking thing.

Fake photo on Facebook
Image from Facebook

On that particular Facebook page, it was written in Spanish, "nuevo cáncer de mama", and you can guess its "new breast cancer". There are so many obvious reasons why this is fake.

1. If this was really real, why would any women allow it to grow until it looks like this? Should have seen a doctor ages ago.
2. If this was real, why isn't the nipple red, swollen and inflamed? Those lotus seed-like stuff seem to be sitting there comfortably. Where is your immune system woman?!!
3. A quick search on the internet for Hospital Metropolitano and the hospital website shows nothing.
4. The words printed on the above image has the words "Diagnóstico Patología Larvática de Lepidóptera", even if you don't use Google Translate you can tell it has something to do with larva -- the worm-form of an insect. There are many kinds of larvae which finds the human body suitable for living, but those who actually live inside the human body, mostly do not have that purple colour. For an extremely horrible but real video, click on this link. You may also want to learn more by revisiting Medical & TV: Scabies, Monsters Inside Me & solutions -- Part 1 and TV & Medical : Monsters Inside Me x House M.D.
5. Explain to me why the girl below looks so happy after getting the same thing.

Image from the internet

Are you afraid of these photos? If you are, you might have trypophobia. What is it? I'll tell you in the last video.
Okay, next, one of my favourite dinosaurs, the triceratops, is also fake!!! "How come?" You may ask, "I thought the movie Jurassic Park had it?" Well yeah, they did, because they were tricked too.

Steven Spielberg with the triceratop model
Image from fogsmoviereviews

Okay, so the Brontosaurus is also fake.

Alright, this is real! Remember that I have talked about Maglev train two years ago? Yes, that is still the fastest land vehicle, but let's not forget the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.

The DNews video said 267 mph or 429 kph, in fact, 429.695 kph to be exact, which may prove that they may have watched TopGear.

James May mentioned a different number 431kph though, that's because 431kph = 267.811mph. The rounding was what gave the differences.

I told you I had aerophobia once back in 2010 and I also shared some videos on how to cure yourself in that post. I have listed all those phobias below in the vocabulary section. For those who would like to learn more about phobias, check out Wikipedia -- List of Phobias and learn more words.

Are you afraid of anything mentioned above?

Let me know by leaving your comments below.

Vocabulary:
infest --  (vb)[T] (of animals and insects that carry disease) to cause a problem by being present in large numbers:
swollen -- past tense of swell -- [I or T] to become larger and rounder than usual; to (cause to) increase in size or amount:
larva -- (n)[C] a form of an insect or an animal such as a frog that has left its egg but is not yet completely developed
Coulrophobia -- (n)[U] fear of clowns
Arachnophobia -- (n)[U] fear of spiders
Ophidiophobia -- (n)[U] fear of snakes
Acrophobia -- (n)[U] fear of heights
Automatonophobia -- (n)[U] fear of human lookalike
Pediophobia -- (n)[U] fear of dolls
Trypophobia -- (n)[U] fear of small holes and organic objects
Triskaidekaphobia -- (n)[U] fear of number 13


Resources:
Health and Fitness: Manuka Honey (1st Suggested Cure for Mouth Ulcers) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2010/01/health-and-fitness-manuka-honey-1st.html

World: Fun Facts We All Should Know -- Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/08/world-fun-facts-we-all-should-know-part.html

Technology: Maglev Trains (Updated on 2011-01-20) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/01/technology-maglev-trains.html

Travelling and Living: Locky's Trip to Tokyo (Part 0 -- Aerophobia)  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2010/08/travelling-and-living-lockys-trip-to.html

Pensamientos: Patología Larvática de Lepidóptera: Fotomontaje @ Blogger
http://lolograremos.blogspot.hk/2008/10/patologa-larvtica-de-lepidptera.html

Medical & TV: Scabies, Monsters Inside Me & solutions -- Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/08/medical-tv-scabies-monsters-inside-me.html

TV & Medical : Monsters Inside Me x House M.D. @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/07/tv-medical-monsters-inside-me-x-house.html

Hyperloop vs. High Speed Rail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pztF8wMUajM

Is Your Fear a Real Phobia?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcARwov3HpI

The Dinosaurs You Love Are Fake
http://youtu.be/BMpVZ_p_7Bc

Apatosaurus @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatosaurus

List of Phobias @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_phobias

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/infest?q=infest
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/swell_1

Message: Locky's English Playground Now Available On Google Play!!!!

Locky's English Playground v1.1.8
Image from Locky's English Playground

Dear all Locky's English Playground readers and fans,

This is a really special day and I am extremely happy to inform you that the app for Locky's English Playground is now available on Google Play!!!

Locky's English Playground v1.1.8
Image from Locky's English Playground

It is absolutely free and it works well with Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G LTE data plan. Of course, no app is perfect, one known problem is that the app might clash when the reception is poor, but this is really hard to tackle and I hope that one day I can learn enough to fix that.

I am still planning to add a search bar for user to search for any posts, and definitely will work on a bookmark function. Until then, keep supporting!

Thank you all in advance!


Locky's English Playground app @ Google Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lockyep.blogspot&hl=en

Usage & Academic Research: Differences In Similar Words -- The Corpus Approach Part 2

Hope you enjoy learning from the earlier post, Usage & Academic Research: Differences In Similar Words -- The Corpus Approach Part 1.

Today we'll continue with the rest of the questions.

 2. Which are the popular words that come immediately after whether and if?

Whether VS If - immediately after
Image from COCA

I have highlighted the most obvious this time, and these pop out:

• whether or
• if necessary
• if not
• if so
• if only

Will we see more if we make it 2 words after that?

 3. Which are the popular words that come within 2 words after whether and if?

Whether VS If - within 2 words after
Images from COCA

This time, we get

• whether * or (eg. whether he or ... / whether or not...)
• whether * be (eg. whether it be ... / whether sb be...)
• if * or (eg. if he or ...)
• if * be (eg. if need be... / if sb be...)
• if * ca__ (eg. if sb can't...)
• if * necessary (eg. if necessary... / if absolutely necessary...)
• if * so (eg . if so..., if needed so...)
• if * only (eg. if only..., if I only...)
• if * possible (eg. if possible ..., if legally possible...)
• if * look (eg. if sb look at...)

where * can be a word or no word at all.

 4. Which are the popular words that come within 3 words after whether and if?

 

Whether VS If - within 3 words after
Images from COCA

• whether ** or (eg. whether he or ... / whether or not they...)
• if ** or (eg. if Iron Man or .../ if he or she...)
• if ** ca__ (eg. if sb can't do ... / if Austin Powers can't...)
• if ** only (eg. if only he will ..., if he can only...)
• if ** look (eg. if the scientists look... / if I look forward...)

where * can be a word or no word at all.


From the question 2, 3 and 4, what we can conclude is, if we are looking for any patterns of whether and if, then we want all our summarised findings above from 2,3 and 4. If we want to know which are the common usage patterns of whether and if, then it is pretty obvious that the best answers are those from question 3.

If you ask me what do the answers from question 3 reflect, together with the examples given, here's how I interpret them,

• whether he or ... , if he or ... are interchangeable
• whether or not... CANNOT be changed to if or not...
• whether he be... , if he be... are interchangeable
• if need be ... CANNOT be changed to whether need be...
• if sb can't... is an EXTREMELY popular start of a clause
• The if in if * necessary (eg. if necessary... / if absolutely necessary...), if * so (eg . if so..., if needed so...), if * only (eg. if only..., if I only...), if * possible (eg. if possible ..., if legally possible...) CANNOT be changed to whether.

You may say, how come even the findings are so complicated? Well, tough luck, this is how English works. Probably there are many more languages out there which are even more difficult to learn.

Now, do you think you can find out the differences between

fast, quick, speedy and rapid;

appropriate and suitable;

finish and complete;

give in and give up;

effective and efficient;

elder and older;

further and farther;

gather and collect;

find, look for and find out;

match and game;

small, little and tiny;

like, alike and as;

like, love and prefer;

by yourself?

I am considering Part 3 of this series.


Resources:
Usage & Academic Research: Differences In Similar Words -- The Corpus Approach Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/08/usage-academic-research-differences-in.html

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)
http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/

Usage & Academic Research: Differences In Similar Words -- The Corpus Approach Part 1

Centre of Corpus Research @ The University of Birmingham
Image from birmingham.ac.uk

Received an email from student A asking me the difference between the following words,

Hi Locky, Long time no see.  I was on of your student few months ago. I've some question on using some word. What's the different of using/meaning  between the following words, could you explain them with some examples? sick and ill; whether and if; fast, quick, speedy and rapid; appropriate and suitable; finish and complete; give in and give up; effective and efficient; elder and older; further and farther; gather and collect; find, look for and find out; match and game; small, little and tiny; like, alike and as; like, love and prefer; I'm looking forward for your reply.

This is a really good question, one that looks simple but really tough to answer. Some will need to go into the history and origin of the words to explain, which I, like many of you, will have to rely on scarce internet sources.

An alternative method is to adopt a corpus linguistics approach. This time round, we will use the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). 

The first step we need to consider is in what contexts are we going to consider.

Let say we are interested in the verb within 4 words to the left of sick and ill. 

Sick and Ill comparison extracted
Image from COCA

From the left chart, we can easily see that the frequency of sick (W1) showing up with 'm, got, getting, called, am, make, being, call, get, gotten and gets is hundreds to thousands of times more often than the frequency of ill (W2) with those words.

From the right chart, ill (W2) is most often used with speak and injured. Ill is used roughly as often as sick (W1) with became, but when is, had, be, are, been, was and were show up, sick (W1) basically dominates again.

In summary, the data shows that it is very common in American English to see 

1. verb-to-be + sick
2. get + sick
3. call + sick
4. make + sb + sick (sb = somebody)
5. had + past participle of main verb + sick

whereas it is slightly more often to see

1. speak  + ill ( + of sb)
2. injured + and + ill

Take note that with ill, all 11 verbs are shown to have found examples, just that the frequency of occurrence is very small as compared to that when used with sick. 

These results from the corpus show the general behaviour of these words when the users of American English apply them.

********************************************

What about something more difficult like whether and if?

Questions like this, I will usually dig out my good old friend Practical English Usage by Michael Swan, but can the corpus approach provide us with any insights?

Let's set our conditions. I'm interested in the following:

1. which are the popular words that come immediately before whether and if?
2. which are the popular words that come immediately after whether and if?
3. which are the popular words that come within 2 words after whether and if?
4. which are the popular words that come within 3 words after whether and if?

    and everything else that unexpectedly stands out from the data.

The list can go on and on, so it really depends on the data in each search. Since the entire list is pretty long, I will use Photoshop to compile my observations in the question 1, and then I will just list them out by typing.

1. Which are the popular words that come immediately before whether and if?

Image from COCA

From the chart above, we can tell that the words which commonly go before whether (W1) are 

• debated/ing, regarding, weighing, considers, exploring, investigating, discussing

and the words which commonly go before if  (W2) are 

• what, surprised, nice, easier, die, sorry, damned, lucky, few, better, (from image above)
• especially, even, happens (from image below)

It is obvious to us the -ing form of a verb is very common just before whether.

verb + ing whether

As for if, we can see that both positive and negative adjectives are common before if.

adjective + if

while what if, especially if, even if, happens if are also prominent.

Image from COCA

Some words stand out in terms of extremely high frequency counts for when used with both whether and if.

• of, on, about, to, question.

What this tells us is that it is common to see 

• of whether, on whether, about whether, to whether, question whether
• of if, on if, about if, to if, question if

It should be noted that some of these observations do not make any sense, such as of if, on if, about if, so we must look into actual sentences themselves. 

"Of if" examples
Image from COCA

From the above extract of the examples of of if, we can quickly see that of does not actually form a pair with if. In fact, of forms pairs with the words in front of it, such as a matter of, think of, the author of, speak of, keep him out of.

if simply marks the beginning of another clause.

Up till this point, we should understand that although numbers can be extremely powerful in providing us some insights of the behaviour of words, we cannot simply look into the search results and immediately make conclusions. If there are weirdness in the search results, we must go into the actual examples to get a clearer picture. We may also need to adjust our search criteria as we go on in order to get to our final result. It may sound time-consuming, but like everything else, practice makes perfect, once you are familiar with the system, everything can be done in split seconds!

In Usage: Differences In Similar Words -- The Corpus Approach Part 2, we will continue to work with whether and if to answer the rest of the questions.

Have a happy corpus day!

Resources:

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)

http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/

Movie: Hong Kong-Made Initial D (2005) Movie in English

AE 86
Image from Initial D the movie

Can't really say I have something new, but it is new finding for me.

I've got a driving license for more than 10 years, but I haven't driven ever since. No car, no need. Until recently, my dad returned to Hong Kong and bought a second-hand Mercedes Benz, and he's been training me up 2 to 3 times a week.

I have never really liked cars. I never wanted one, I think they are just liabilities that depreciate immediately the moment you write that cheque. In Hong Kong, a city almost completely covered by public transport, you don't really need a car to survive. In fact, you might be faster getting around by the MTR than driving across the harbour tunnels.

But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy looking at them from the web or watching movies about them. Still remember the Fast and Furious series? Those are pretty good. How about the origin of "drifting"? The legendary Keiichi Tsuchiya, the 1st Drift King and the Initial D comic, manga and movie that followed?

The cut from the inside
Image from Initial D the movie

It just happens that when I was searching for something on YouTube that I ran into this Hong Kong production in surprisingly, English!!! I wonder if this movie has ever been sold overseas as an English version, but if you don't mind a little strange in the lip-syncing, it's got quite a bit of casual English and technical terms of driving in it for learning.

The actions can sometimes be quite fake and the soap is lousy, but the movie is great for those who don't often get to see these legendary cars in actions.

For those who are really crazy about AE86, you might want to subscribe to AE86 World on Facebook for some cool photo sharing.

Vocabulary:
liability -- (n) In financial accounting, a liability is defined as an obligation of an entity arising from past transactions or events, the settlement of which may result in the transfer or use of assets, provision of services or other yielding of economic benefits in the future.
depreciate -- (vb)  [I or T] to (cause something to) lose value, especially over time:
drifting -- (n)[U] a driving technique where the driver intentionally or unintentionally oversteers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels or all tires, while maintaining control from entry to exit of a corner.
legendary -- (adj) very famous and admired or spoken about:

Resources:
Movie: Fast and Furious 5 VS Initial D @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/05/movie-fast-and-furious-5.html

Science & Environment: The Fujiwhara Effect VS Li's Force Field @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/science-environment-fujiwhara-effect-vs.html

Initial D -- Drift Racer @ IMDb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0439630/?ref_=sr_2

AE86 World @ Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AE86world?fref=ts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liability_(financial_accounting)
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/depreciate?q=depreciate+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drifting_(motorsport)
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/legendary_1?q=legendary+

Medical, Health & Fitness: Which Honeys and Manuka Honeys Are The Best?

Consumer Council head Wong Yuk-shan. Photo: David Wong
Image and caption from SCMP

I have always enjoyed reading researches, and the Consumer Council of Hong Kong has often impressed me the most.

In Issue 441, the Consumer Council released the findings of their research on 40 General Honeys and 15 Manuka Honeys available in Hong Kong's supermarkets, department stores and retail shops. According to the labels, these honeys are made in New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, UK, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.

Is Cheap Always Bad?
Image from Locky's English Playground

All 55 samples were subjected to multiple tests carried out by labs in Belgium, Germany and UK, namely,

1. Safety Test: Test for the presence of Chloramphenicol, Nitrofurans, Streptomycins, Sulfonamides, Tetracyclines, Quinolones and Macrolides.
2. Added Sugar Test: AOAC998.12 test for C4 Sugar (corn syrup and cane syrup) and C3 Sugar (rice syrup, wheat syrup, chicory syrup).
3. Origin Analysis: Use pollen to recover plant types thus the origins of the honeys and compare with the labelled origin.
4. Common Quality Test: Test for the amount of moisture content, Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), diastase, invertase, sugar content and the level of fermentation.
5. Manuka Honey Anti-bacterial Activity Test: Test for Methylglyoxal, MGO content and  (Non-Peroxide Activity, NPA; Total Activity, TA) as compared with the NPA and TA of a phenol solution.

All tests are based on the Codex Standard for Honey, CODEX. and full documentation can be downloaded from here.

EXTRACT OF DOCUMENTATION

Content	Threshold
Moisture	Not > 20%; Heather honey (Calluna): Not > 23%
Total Fructose & Glucose	Not < 60%; Honeydew honey, blends of honeydew honey with blossom honey, Not < 45%
Sucrose	Not > 5g/100g Alfalfa (Medicago sativa), Citrus spp., False Acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia), French Honeysuckle (Hedysarum), Menzies Banksia (Banksia menziesii),Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), Leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida), Eucryphia milligani, Not > 10g/100g Lavender (Lavandula spp),Borage (Borago officinalis), Not > 15g / 100g
HMF	Not > 40mg / kg honey of declared origin from countries or regions with tropical ambient temperatures, and blends of these honeys, the HMF content shall Not be > 80 mg/kg
Diastase Activity	Not < 8 Schade units honeys with a low natural enzyme content Not < 3 Schade Units
Others	3.1      Honey sold as such shall not have added to it any food ingredient, including food additives, nor shall any other additions be made other than honey. Honey shall not have any objectionable matter, flavour, aroma, or taint absorbed from foreign matter during its processing and storage. The honey shall not have begun to ferment or effervesce. No pollen or constituent particular to honey may be removed except where this is unavoidable in the removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter. 6.1.8  Where honey has been designated according to floral, plant source, or by the name of a geographical or topological region, then the name of the country where the honey has been produced shall be declared.

The findings are truly amazing!!! For those of you who can read Chinese or knows someone who can, it is highly recommended that you purchase a soft copy of the report from the Consumer Council website to support what they do (I do!).

But for our English Playground readers, you definitely can benefit from the core of the matter.

First Choice (left) and Select (right)
Image from Consumer Council

For general honeys, among 40 samples, 16 samples earned a rating of 5-star, 12 others earned 4.5-star and 5 earned 4-star.

The best and cheapest of the 5 stars are:

1. First Choice Pure Australian Honey, 400g, HK$8.4 / 100g
2. Select Pure Honey, 400g, HK$8.5 / 100g

I live closer to ParkNShop than to Wellcome so I bought Select Pure Honey.

5 Star Waitemata (left), 4.5 Star Airborne (center) and 4.5 Star hnz (right)
Image from Consumer Council

As for Manuka honeys, among 15 samples, only 1 sample earned a rating of 5-star, 7 others earned 4.5-star and 5 earned 4 stars.

The 5 star Manuka is:

1. Waitemata Manuka UMF®15 New Zealand Honey, 500g, HK$107.6 / 100g

But the cheapest among the 4.5 stars are:

1. Airborne Manuka Honey Active NPA 8+, 500g, HK$39.6 / 100g
2. hnz New Zealand Manuka Honey UMF®10+, 500g, HK$45.6 / 100g

Airborne Manuka Honey Active NPA 8+ couldn't earn a 5-star because it has been tested with an NPA lower than 8 while hnz New Zealand Manuka Honey UMF®10+ has an invertase lower than 28 units.

FYI, Active Manuka Honey Association, AMHA provides a rough conversion table for UMF : MGO.

NPA	UMF	MGO
3	3	30
6	6	100
10	10	250
13	13	400
16	16	550

Source from Consumer Council

So if you are not a big fan of bigger NPA / UMF / MGO numbers, you can simply go for the cheaper 4.5-star ones.

Last but not least, I have some facts from the research article for you.

Some Facts of Manuka Honey from the Consumer Council's Research Article There isn't enough evidence to show that the consumption of general honeys or Manuka honeys heals / cures / prevent diseases or strengthen our immune system. Diabetes patients should go easy on honeys. Honeys and its ingredients might cause allergic reactions to some people. Tonnes of evidence shows that honey helps curing wounds and cuts mainly due to its anti-bacterial properties. Manuka Honeys with MGO do have anti-bacterial properties, but it is not a property solely possessed by Manuka Honey, for example, certain medicinal honeys. The viability of honey for external use should not be equated to that for internal use, that is, its anti-bacterial properties may not sustain inside our body. Evidence from large double-blinded clinical trial experiments are absent at the moment. The level of nutrients in honey isn't of much difference from normal sugar. Overconsumption of honey will increase the risk of obesity, similar to that of normal sugar. Infants below the age of 1 should not consume honey, as infection by Clostridium botulinum pores causing infant botulism is possible. Baby with Infant Botulism Image from botulismsymptoms.org

This report on honeys by the Consumer Council has stirred massive responses from the honey companies. If you want to read them, please see Resources below.

Vocabulary:
Chloramphenicol
Nitrofurans
Streptomycins
Sulfonamides
Tetracyclines
Quinolones
Macrolides
Hydroxymethylfurfural, HMF
Diastase
Invertase
Methylglyoxal, MGO
Non-Peroxide Activity, NPA
Unique Manuka Factor, UMF
phenol
viability -- (n) ability to work as intended or to succeed 
equate to sth -- (phrasal verb) to be the same in amount, number, or size:
Clostridium botulinum -- (n)[S] a Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium that produces several toxins. The best known are its neurotoxins, subdivided in types A-G, that cause the flaccid muscular paralysis seen in botulism. They are also the main paralytic agent in botox. C. botulinum is an anaerobic spore-former, which produces oval, subterminal endospores and is commonly found in soil.
Infant botulism -- (n) n humans, a rare but sometimes fatal paralytic illness. Foodborne botulism is an intoxication caused by consuming food contaminated with the botulinum toxin;



Resources:
Health and Fitness: Manuka Honey (1st Suggested Cure for Mouth Ulcers) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2010/01/health-and-fitness-manuka-honey-1st.html

List of standards @ CODEX Alimentarius
http://www.codexalimentarius.org/standards/list-of-standards/en/?provide=standards&orderField=fullReference&sort=asc&num1=CODEX

Standard for Honey @ CODEX Alimentarius
http://www.codexalimentarius.org/download/standards/310/cxs_012e.pdf

Calluna @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calluna

Consumer Council
http://www.consumer.org.hk/website/ws_en/

NZ vows to look into Hong Kong's manuka honey test findings @ South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1287903/nz-vows-look-hong-kongs-manuka-honey-test-findings

There's something funny going on with honey, says Consumer Council @ South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1283519/consumer-watchdog-says-some-honey-brands-contain-rogue-sugar

News : National : Hong Kong consumer body questions NZ manuka honey @ Radio New Zealand
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/214689/hong-kong-consumer-body-questions-nz-manuka-honey

Manuka Honey Test Finds Rogue Ingredients @ Stuff.co.nz
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8928858/Manuka-honey-fall-fouls-of-overseas-tests

Worrying manuka honey test brings call for action @ Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/farming/266065/worrying-manuka-honey-test-brings-call-action

NZ Honey Comes under Scrutiny in Hong Kong @ Scoop News
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1307/S00648/nz-honey-comes-under-scrutiny-in-hong-kong.htm

No Sugar Added @ Comvita
http://www.comvita.co.nz/news-media/general-news/no-sugar-added.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramphenicol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrofurans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptomycin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfonamides
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetracyclines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinolones
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrolides
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxymethylfurfural
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diastase
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invertase
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylglyoxal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenol

Clostridium botulinum @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_botulinum

Infant botulism @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infant_botulism

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/viability?q=viability+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/equate-to-sth