Do you want to know what the difference between real and fake honey is? As a honey lover, I would like to explain here how you can distinguish real honey from fake honey. Difficult? Not at all. A few small tests and you immediately know whether you are dealing with good and healthy honey.
As you probably know, honey has many health benefits. Think of drinking a cup of chamomile tea with some honey in it for a sore throat. But there are many more health benefits, which have been known since ancient times. For example, we see in the Bible that it speaks of the land of milk and honey (Israel) and honey was already used by doctors in ancient Egypt as a natural medicine.
Not surprising when you consider that honey is a natural antibiotic. Feel free to try it yourself, of course only with real honey! If you have a wound:just put good honey on it every time. You will see that your wound will be healed in no time, without having to use all kinds of other medicines and ointments.
As with many natural products that are counterfeited over time, the market is also flooded with fake honey. With numerous brands on the shelves of the supermarket, it is not surprising that you can no longer see the forest for the trees. Nevertheless, it is important to make sure that you buy real, good honey to fully enjoy the health benefits.
Another small but important tip:honey can contain the Clostridium botulinum bacteria. This bacterium produces the toxic substance botulin. Although this bacterium is virtually non-existent in the Netherlands, it is of great importance to take this into account. The bacterium causes serious food poisoning.
Children up to 1 year of age are particularly sensitive to this bacterium and can develop infant botulism as a result. That is why the use of honey for children under 1 year is strongly discouraged.
Honey is made from the flower nectar collected by bees. The nectar is taken to the hive, where it goes through three different processes (all done by the bees). During the first step, certain enzymes are injected into the nectar, causing it to ferment and thicken.
In the second step, the nectar becomes even thicker and turns into honey. And during the last step, water is extracted from the nectar, giving the honey a looser consistency and losing 80% water. This causes honey to have a deep golden brown color and a thick consistency. Now is the right time to "harvest" the honey. If the honey is collected too early, it is liquid.
After reading the above, you are of course very curious about the difference between real and fake honey. Below you will find 4 easy tests with which you can check at home whether you have bought real or fake honey.
During the final step of the nectar-making process, the bees inject it with an enzyme that extracts water. This process causes honey to form a thick crystallized lump at the bottom of the glass when stored.
This has to do with the enzyme that makes honey thicker even after purchase. Fake honey will not crystallize and will simply remain liquid regardless of the circumstances.
Precisely because of the composition of real honey, it does not dissolve easily and quickly in water. This test is very simple:take a spoonful of honey and put it in a glass of water (hot, warm or cold, it doesn't matter). Real honey will sink to the bottom and not dissolve quickly. You will have to stir a lot to get real honey properly dissolved. Fake honey, on the other hand, dissolves very quickly and easily.
For this you need two sheets of paper and a pen. On each sheet, write down the brand of honey you are testing. Spread a little honey on each leaf. Real honey is not wet, so it will not soak into the paper. Fake honey, on the other hand, will tear and destroy the paper due to the amount of moisture (water) it contains.
This test is not entirely objective as it takes some experience to find out whether you are dealing with real or fake honey. Just take a little honey between your thumb and index finger. Rub the honey between your fingers. Real honey will only be partially absorbed by the skin, the rest will stick between your fingers. Fake honey contains a lot of sugar and will continue to feel very sticky.
Did you already know the differences between real and fake honey?
