Honey is naturally sweet and very good for health, therefore forming the centerpiece in most houses. The unfortunate bit about this is that most of the honey sold in the market currently is adulterated. This dilemma leaves most consumers no way to tell the difference between the fake and the raw ones. Well, not anymore. In this article, we will explore the various to spot fake honey.
Nine Ways to Spot Fake Honey
The following are ways to distinguish between raw and adulterated honey
1. Knowing Raw Honey
Honey, in its most natural form, is extracted directly from the honeycomb. As it is not processed, therefore all the natural enzymes are preserved with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Some bee pollen or propolis, or even microscopic bits of wax, may sometimes be in the raw honey.
2. Characteristics of Fake Honey
Fake honey or artificial honey, involves mixing with sugar syrups, corn syrup, glucose, dextrose, molasses, or some other additives to increase volume and reduce associated costs. All these additives bring down the nutritional value of honey along with its other health benefits to a considerable extent.
3. Visual Inspection
- Raw Honey: One of the most common features of raw honey is that it’s invariably cloudy or even completely opaque due to suspensions of pollen, propolis, or minute air bubbles. Quite often, it crystallizes after some time and acquires a solid or semi-solid state.
- Fake Honey: Most fake honey is clear, filtered, and processed to refrain from impurities. It holds a liquid state for quite a while before crystallizing.
4. Taste and Aroma
- Raw Honey: The taste is characteristic, intense, and different according to the flowers from where the bees gather nectar. It also has a particular aroma that is natural and floral.
- Fake Honey: Most of the time, fake honey lacks the flavor profiles of the raw honey variety. It may just be overly sweet, like sugar syrup, and smell faint or not at all.
5. Water Test
How to conduct a simple water test:
1. Fill a glass with water.
2 Add one tablespoon of honey to the water.
- Raw honey: It will settle at the bottom of the glass instead and won’t dissolve straightaway.
- Fake Honey: Fake honey will completely dissolve in the water on its own, which means that it is mixed with additives and syrups.
6. Thumb Test
Drop a little honey on your thumb:
- Raw Honey: Due to its high thickness, it will stay there and will not spread fast.
- Fake Honey: It spreads or runs off from your thumb, indicating that it is cut with other substances.
7. Heat Test
Put a little amount of honey to heat in the microwave or stove:
- Raw Honey: Raw honey caramelizes fast as there is very little water content in it, hence forming few bubbles.
- Adulterated Honey: Frothing and foaming are characteristics of adulterated honey, which contains added sugars and water in it.
8. Check the Labels
- Raw Honey: Labels specifying “raw,” “unfiltered,” or “unpasteurized” are what you want. Scanning for certifications by some reputed organizations in their full form would verify the purity and quality of the honey.
- Fake Honey: Beware of ambiguous labels, particularly those that do not say much about the product.
9. Price Consideration
Raw honey is pretty expensive compared to fake honey since it is laboriously harvested and of great quality.
Final Thoughts
Since honey has become a staple in most homes, knowing how to differentiate between artificial and raw honey through simple tips found in the article then becomes very important to consumers who desire to consume a truly natural health product.
