How to Check Pure Honey
What could be better than a spoonful of pure honey? But, do you have the real thing – can you check the purity of honey? The honey industry is plagued with products that are not pure. How can you know? There are several ways to test for pure honey – some more reliable than others. Join me-as I look at a few of the most popular ideas to try.
As a long time beekeeper, I know how different true honey can be – even from one jar to the next. In truth, the wide variety of types of honey makes it impossible to test for purity with 100% accuracy. But, there is no harm in trying a few of the tests on a jar that you are unsure of.
Testing the Purity of Honey
Is it possible to test your jar of honey to make sure it’s the real thing? Well, short of expensive laboratory results nothing is 100 percent accurate. But, many people use the home honey testing methods for preliminary investigations.
Is Your Honey Fake?
Why is it so difficult? When I harvest from my beehives, the color of honey varies greatly from year to year – or even season to season. Each jar of honey is made by bees using hundreds of nectar sources. Color and taste vary greatly.
The consumer should also keep in mind that real honey does crystallize. Most pure honeys will crystallize with time – so will those with additives – this is not a test of honey purity.
Home Methods to Check Honey Purity
Do not be alarmed if your honey tests as fake due to the performance of these checks. I submit these tests “tongue in cheek” more for entertainment value than 100% reliable test results.
If however, it fails all of them you might choose a different source next time unless it came from your own hive and you know it is pure.
Read the Label First
When you are buying honey, always read the honey label on the jar. The ingredient label should only have one item listed: honey.
Unfortunately, the words on the label only tell part of the story. Depending on where you live – the word “pure” means different things. Words such as pure, natural, etc are not regulated in most regions.
Avoid products with additives when shopping for raw or pasteurized honey. Any type of syrup or sugar blend is a sign of additives.
Solubility or Water Test
Honey has a viscosity that causes it to stick together better than some liquids. This is why we can pile it up on a spoon or roll it around a honey dipper.
Add a spoonful of honey to a small glass of water (room temperature) just put the spoon and honey in the glass – do not stir.
Pure honey tends to remain in contact on the spoon or in a glob at the bottom of the glass. If present, sugar additives will dissolve.
Of course, honey is water soluble so stirring will not work for this test – just gently place the spoon in the water.
Matchstick or Flame Test
The burn check for honey purity is not what it seems. Rather than checking for purity- this test is checking for added water.
Ripe honey has a low water content. If it has been thinned with water, the theory is that it will not burn. But, all honey does have moisture and this will vary from one to the next.
To do the test: dip a cotton ball or candle wick in some honey and try to light it. If it does not light easily, it may contain water. You may also apply honey to the side of a matchbox and try to light a match.
Blot or Flow Honey Test
A thick viscosity liquid like honey, flows slowly, especially when the temperatures are cool. However, viscosity and flow rates do vary from one type to another.
To do the check: Place a spoonful of honey on a folded paper towel. Pure honey will sit on the surface and not spread out. While watery or sugar added products will seep into the fibers quickly creating a wet mark.
Laboratory Tests
If you want to spend the money to have scientific tests performed on your honey, your results will have a higher level of accuracy. There are several to consider and each one has limitations.
C4 Syrup Detection
This process tests for the presence of sugars made from corn or sugar cane. It can not detect other types of sugars such as is present in rice etc.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Profiling
This test aids in checking for pure honey by testing for unknown sugars. It is also able to determine the country of origin by nectar/pollen source.
Unreliable Tests
Some of the checks for pure honey that you will read about have absolutely no scientific validity. Don’t believe everything you read online!
One is the ant test – being that ants will not want to eat fake honey. Seriously? Sorry, ants are not reliable sources test for honey purity.
They will eat anything sweet from honey to sugar water to soda. We beekeepers know that because we struggle to keep ants out of the hives!
Another bad honey test is the idea that pure honey mixed with alcohol will not dissolve. This is not true and the idea has been around for a long time.
Yet another false test is that you can check honey purity using the pour test? Supposedly pure honey poured from a container would only turn clockwise or would make a comb pattern on a plate. No and no – these are entertaining but they are just not true.
What is Adulterated Honey?
Adulterated honey is a term used to describe a product that contains honey with other additives (non-disclosed additives). The product contains honey but other substances too.
Why would anyone practice honey adulteration? It’s about money – isn’t it usually. These substances are added to make the total product go farther.
This enables the packer (or seller) to get more money for the crop. If 100 jars of honey can be stretched to 200 jars… that means more profit. Legally the label should disclose these ingredients but some people break the law.
Cheaper products used in substitution:
- High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
- Rice Syrup
- Liquid Glucose
- Molasses
- Sugar Syrup
- Invert Sugar
Final Thoughts
Honey is a remarkable substance that has many different nuances. Each jar is different and finding an at home test for honey pureness – it is not a certainty. Try to find a local trusted beekeeper to buy from. If this is not possible, read the labels in the grocery stores to find the best authentic honey available.