Do you shop around for the most affordable honey? Don’t make this mistake, the sad truth about “cheap” honey is that you really get what you pay for, most of the cheaper supermarket varieties are not pure honey at all!
Honey is oftentimes subjected to many alterations, this is to lower the price. The Food Safety News conducted a study which showed up pretty shocking results, up to 76% of Supermarket honey has been “Ultra Filtered”. What is Ultra filtration you may ask? It’s a process used to remove impurities, such as traces of wax, but it also filters out the pollen.
Honey manufactures claim that this is a necessary process to stop the honey from crystallizing and to prolong shelf life – but the pollen that is being removed is very important and good for our bodies!
Avoiding honey that has been Ultra Filtered is also important because once treated, the origin of the honey cannot be traced without the pollen. In case of pollen contamination this is important as it needs to be traced and analysed.
None of these honeys are pure, all the good has been taken out and often some bad added in – Many of the honey’s sold is supermarkets have had glucose combined into it, and often are high in poor quality mead.
Sometimes super market honey is not much cheaper in price – So, how do you know if your honey is of inferior quality?
- Honey should crystalize over time, this is normal and natural, if yours does not, chance are it’s been filtered. Placing it in the fridge should speed up the crystallization process if your honey is pure.
- Read the label and look out for any ingredients other than honey – glucose and high fructose corn syrup listed on the label means your honey is far from pure!
- Add a couple drops of iodine into a glass of water, and a teaspoon of honey added to the water after. If the honey turns a blue colour it’s had corn starch combined into it.
- Make a mixture of water and honey and add a couple drops of vinegar to it, if it foams, this means the honey has been adulterated with plaster.
- Use a match to burn the honey, if it ignites it’s pure. If not, toss it out!
- If your honey dissolves in cold water, it’s of a poor quality. Pure organic honey will not dissolve.
H/T: World Truth