How do we know if the HONEY is pure or fake?

honey - fake or natural?
@Theresaaiza (10487)
Australia
April 23, 2009 4:30am CST
Some people say there's a way to test if the honey is pure or fake, meaning it is added with water and sugar. I just don't know how. Few years ago, we bought a brand of honey whose bottles creatively are in a form of a bear. It's fun to look at and the honey inside looks very mouth watering. However, we didn't like that characteristic aroma of honey very much therefore we didn't consume it anymore. It just stood there half-empty inside the shelf. Months went by and we were just surprised because sugar-like crystals begun to form at the bottom of the bottle and on the rim of the bottle. Do you think honey does crystallize like that? Or are some commercial honey fake or mixed with sugar?
6 people like this
22 responses
@ElicBxn (63194)
• United States
23 Apr 09
yes, honey does crystalize, but warming it will change it back, this is normal however, you might not have liked the taste because of the flowers it was taken from for example, if they use certain pollens, it can even be poisonious.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63194)
• United States
23 Apr 09
let me add, here, that beekeepers, do know where their bees are getting their pollen and don't have the dangerous ones go out.
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63194)
• United States
23 Apr 09
no, don't know why, except that the honey doesn't seem to effect the bees - this is pollen collected from plants that are poison to us - don't remember exactly what they are tho - maybe oleander or yew
1 person likes this
• Canada
24 Apr 09
I know Oleander is poisonous. There is a movie where a woman puts white oleander stems in her husband's milk to slowly poison him.
1 person likes this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
24 Apr 09
I am a Canadian Beekeeper. I've been extracting Honey from my beehives for 30 years. Its very difficult to know if the Honey is Pure in the store. Looking on the label is not always the best way. Usually the beekeeper who extracted the honey is proud of his product and will not dilute it with water or sugar. If you read the label in the store look for the name of the beekeeper who made the honey. The Packing Companies who buy honey from the beekeeper are just business men who do not care about quality. They will pasteurize the honey and add 5% water to make it sparkle in the glass. Never buy honey in a Bottle with the Brand Name of a Packing Company. Always look for honey from a local beekeeper. All natural Honey will Granulate. Just warm it up until it melts, and it will be as good as new honey. The color of the honey is different depending on the flowers its collected from. Usually honey from trees is darker than honey from Flowering Plants. The lighter the color of the honey, the milder the flavor. Honey is called," The Nectar of the Gods!"
1 person likes this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
24 Apr 09
BeeMaid and BillyBee are Canadian Brands. These Companies like to Blend honey from Mexico and Argentina. Off shore honey is cheaper so they can make more profit. When you buy directly from the beekeeper ( or from a small store rather than a Supermarket) you are getting 100% Canadian Honey. In Canada we have a law that makes it mandatory that Honey labels must have the countries of origin, listed on the label, so look on the back of the label in the small print.
• Canada
24 Apr 09
Hi there! I too live in canada. I live on the west coast. Do you know of any brands out here that are good? Any to stay away from? What is an example of a packing company? Beemaid?
1 person likes this
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Thank you for the information barehugs. I find bees and honey topics more and more interesting now. I have learned that there are poisonous honeys? Is there a way of knowing whether this honey is safe for human consumption or not? I am very fond of buying locally extracted honey and the people who sell them got their sources straight out from the forest where the sources are unknown. This really alarmed me because I might end up buying the unsafe sort. Hope you can shed some light on this?Thanks
1 person likes this
• Philippines
23 Apr 09
I also buy honey and I always buy Raw Honey. This kind of honey doesn't have any additives and has a longer shelf life even without refrigeration. The honey you bought is a popular and commercial honey from the USA because I can see that in supermarkets. I have not use that one so I can't really say if its fake or not. The one I am using right now is locally been made here.
1 person likes this
• Canada
24 Apr 09
Right on! Buying local raw honey is great for the environment too. Less processing and chemicals involved and less of a carbon footprint because it does not have to be shipped. Its also great for your local economy to be supporting local merchants. This is very important in this time of global recession.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Hi to both of you. Well I do prefer the local / raw honey because first, it is way cheaper than commercial brands. Second, it doesn't have that honeyish aroma. Instead, it has a very mild odor, and more liquid consistency, and the taste is fruity sweet. However you have to make sure that the extraction and packing or bottling have been done in a hygienic manner. Some folks who extract this honey can sometimes work in places and conditions with very poor sanitation. So I am just careful.
1 person likes this
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
23 Apr 09
I do not know if this would apply to all settings but one time a guy told me that to check if the honey is really pure is to dip a matchstick into the honey and strike it on a match. If the matchstick will ignite, then you will know that the honey is really pure and free from any additives including sugar or water.
1 person likes this
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
3 May 09
Hahaha, I see. I have seen this myself when someone along the street was selling honey. He tested it in front of me and the match stick really ignited. I really do not know if it was a trick or not. But somehow it could be true.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
5 May 09
I hope the vendor/seller didn't "side-line" as a magician!
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Yeah I have tried that but we ended up doing a messy job!
• India
23 Apr 09
There are a few things you can do to test the purity of the honey. The first thing you should do is check the label for ingredients. Additives may already be mentioned which could give you a clear idea itself. The second is the dissolving test. Just take a teaspoon of honey & put it in a glass of water & wait for minute. Impure honey will dissolve itself into it but pure honey will stick together & stay as a lump in the bottom of the glass. The most common additive to honey is jaggery which dissolves easily in water. Alternatively you could also take a blotting paper & pour a few drops on it. If it does get absorbed then the honey would be impure. I hope these help you out. I understand that these two tests can be undertaken only once the bottle is opened & not before. Maybe this will help you in whether you should be buying the same brand again or not.
1 person likes this
• India
23 Apr 09
Also crystallized/ granulated honey is always pure, so you should not worry about it. You can reliquefy the honey by placing the jar in a warm water bath till all the crystals dissolve. Hope this helps!
1 person likes this
• Philippines
24 Apr 09
WOw! This is good to know, I honestly do not know how to answer this post, but when I saw your reply it's awesome. I never have to search for it on the web. So maybe I'd be doing those that you've said, because it has been one of my questions too whenever I see honey's sold on the streets or in the malls. I would always wonder if they're genuine or not, and I end up not buying at all. Thanks for the tip! Ciao!
1 person likes this
• Canada
24 Apr 09
lol I think I found the same website as you. Good Show! Honey is awesome.
@Ritchelle (3790)
• Philippines
23 Apr 09
honey - honey in a jar.
i believe that the moment honey starts crystallizing, it's fake. but what i'm sure of is my father would brag about the pure honey he used to take in uae. he says it is different from the ones here since it is pure. and it is expensive. he also said that the darker the color the closest it is in purity.
1 person likes this
@jayrene (2708)
• Philippines
23 Apr 09
i disagree about the darker the color being the closest to purity. i have read somewhere that the color of the honey depends on the flowers the bees got the nectar to make the honey with... different flowers will yield different colors for every honey, you can read this in some bottles, which flower the honey came from.
2 people like this
• Canada
24 Apr 09
I agree that the darker colour comes from the different flowers. Buckwheat honey is often a rich dark amber colour. Here is a link to a website that outlines some of the different kinds of honey. http://www.urbanvivant.com/inseason.html
1 person likes this
@Ritchelle (3790)
• Philippines
24 Apr 09
thanks for the info.
@flagella08 (5065)
• Philippines
30 Apr 09
honey - make sure it's not fake
identifying pure or fake honey is really difficult for mist people. but since i grew up in a place where lots of bee hives are around, i got the privilege to identify it's true taste and appearance.these are the steps: get one glass of water and put a small amount of honey in it. if it dissolves then its a fake.pure honey just stick together as a lump and settle down at the bottom of the glass.Another one is pour a little bit of honey on a white cloth, then wash the cloth. If there is any stain left by the honey, it is probably not pure.i hope these help.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
2 May 09
Yes, many people have suggested the same and I appreciated the tips you all guys gave me. Thanks.
@Monkeyrose (2840)
• Canada
24 Apr 09
I don't know about where you live, but here we have strict regulations on what they can label the bottle. If it says 100% pure honey on the bottle then thats what has to be in the bottle. To answer your question... honey does crystallize like that. We often keep our honey for years as we do not eat it often. It does that. Especially the creamed honey. It crystallizes very fast. We have a Canadian company that sells honey in bear shaped containers.I actually have one in my cupboard right now which has crystalized. You should be able to reliquify it by soaking it in very hot water. If you go to the website they claim that all their products are 100% pure Canadian Honey. http://www.beemaid.com/products I found a website that tells you how to test the honey. 1. You pour a little bit in a glass of water. -if it dissolves it is fake -if it stays clumped together and falls to the bottom it is pure 2. Pour honey onto a paper towel -if it is absorbed then it is fake -if it is pure it will remain sticky and on the surface
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Why, thank you so much for the info that's very helpful. Thank you also for dropping by at the other responses. Plus your pink-colored avatar adds more brightness into the page! Hehe.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Why, thank you so much for the info that's very helpful. Thank you also for dropping by at the other responses. Plus your pink-colored avatar adds more brightness into the page! Hehe.
• China
27 May 09
In fact , verry simple, because my father is a beekeeper, so I know you concern. those honey sell in store from honey processing factory are all mixed other things, besides sugar, pure sugar water produce little bubble, but pure honey will produce bubble, especially at a high tempeature envirment comparately. Normally, honey processing factory will buy honey from beekeeper, then mix some component and sell. they also afraid beekeeper sell fake or unpure honey to them, they check the density use a density-meter. of course, they have many experences about honey, basically, they can know the pure or unpure only per color, smell.
• China
27 May 09
There are two type honey, u can't distinct pure or unpure by crystalize, crystal honey,for example,tiliaceae honey; liquid state honey,for example,Huaishu honey. besides, whichever honey, only if the temperature is too much low, it will be crystalization.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
1 Jun 09
Some entomology students insist that honey don't crystallize. I wonder.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 May 09
Does pure honey crystallize?
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
25 Apr 09
Apparently, pure honey will never grow mould or go off, due to its high natural sugar content. It does crystallise, but warming it will return it to normality. I prefer creamed honey - it somehow seems less sickly than ordinary honey (no logic in this!) and there are definitely different flavours and qualities, depending on where the bees are from and their diet.
@guybrush (4658)
• Australia
30 Apr 09
It's probably the same thing. Creamed honey is sort of more 'frothy' looking - and not transparent. They probably whip it up or something, so the texture is thicker. I don't think they add anything to it. It's nice on crumpets!
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
30 Apr 09
hmmm....creamed honey? how's it done? I have tasted buttered honey and im wondering if they're one and the same.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
5 May 09
Yes, they are probably the same. That's a good spread for sandwiches too, right? Haven't tasted crumpets in my entire life. How does it look? And how does it taste? Hope you don't mind me asking, though.
@Kofficup (150)
• Philippines
24 Apr 09
My schoolmate earned her degree in Entomology, the study of insects. I asked her about the things to know about honey before buying a jar of it. She said, pure honey has no sediments in the bottom of the jar or bottle when stored. The color is hazy honey glaze that when it sticks to light colored or white clothes it doesn't leave a trace of stain when rinsed off with water. It doesn't create a granule particles on the rim of the jar.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
30 Apr 09
Thank you for that information. Entomology huh? That sounds like a cool way to spend college! hehe Well some responders here told me that it's normal for honey to crystallize and that reheating or warming the bottle should get it back to normal. I don't know now whom I should believe actually.
@Kofficup (150)
• Philippines
30 Apr 09
I believe that pure honey wouldn't be called fake if it has the major characteristics that entomologist from UP Los Banos described. It has no sediments, It does not crystallize, it doesn't stain. Taking up Bachelor of Science in Agri major in Entomology is like taking up law because you have to memorize minute details of each of the minute insects. How many millions of insects do we have with different sub-specie? That is the challenge.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
5 May 09
Did you say UP Los BaƱos?! okay..okay...honey doesn't crystallize! And it doesn't stain! Kidding aside, that's very informative of you and I truly appreciate it. I hope you didn't get the wrong idea like I was questioning or something. I was just wondering why other people would say otherwise. From a viewpoint of a layman who has no idea about the real properties of honey, you would expect me to get confused somehow, right? Thanks for enlightening me though. I don't know why those that they call natural still crystallized. Could it be that some honey are just like that?
@savypat (20216)
• United States
23 Apr 09
It's natural for honey to crystallize like that after it's been stored awhile, I would only be concerned if it didn't. You just set the container in very warm water for awhile and it goes back to syrup.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Oh so I guess I misjudged that honey. :-D I love honey on pancakes by the way.
@kingpong (166)
• Philippines
23 Apr 09
Pure honey does not crystallize when placed inside the fridge. you can try shaking the bottle, pure honey normally "fizzle", creating small bublles like when you try shaking a soda bottle
1 person likes this
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
I have noticed that too! :-)
1 person likes this
@jayrene (2708)
• Philippines
23 Apr 09
we have been buying honey from markets for a long time now here. my husband would do this one test that he learned from his grandpa, i dont know if its really true or not. he will dip a match in the honey, and then while the match is still wet and dripping with honey, he will scratch it to the matchbox, the matchstick dipped in honey should light a fire, if it's not, then it is fake, added with water and sugar. this kind of test i have heard from other people too. and there is also this test that he's saying, if a honey attracted ants, then its fake and not pure -- this i dont know... lol. what i know is that if its sweet, ants will definitely go to it. be careful though with honey, babies below 1 year old should not be given honey even in very very small amounts, as it would kill the baby. better yet, dont give honey to kids, just to be safe.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
About the below 1 year kids, how come, accroding to my mom, my grandma used to swab their gums during teething stage with honey and nothing happend so far? COuld it be that some honey are poisonous and some are not?
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
30 Apr 09
O great, thanks for the information guys. I have read this information before and I am just surprised I have forgotten about it completely! Thank you I appreciated it so much!
@eichs1 (1934)
• Philippines
29 Apr 09
jayrene is right. However, honey for babies is not that bad at all. Only if it has been infected with Clostridium botulinum spores that it becomes fatal to infants. If the kid is already eating solid food, there is no problem giving them honey as the increased acid in their digestive tract can already kill the bacteria.
@orderfox (231)
• China
24 Apr 09
to see diffenent colors as a result of bee and honey are not the same color. Generally speaking, dark-colored honey contains minerals rich than the light-colored honey. If you would like to add trace elements, can be an appropriate choice of a dark-colored honey, such as jujube nectar. good quality honey, delicate texture, bright colors; the poor quality of the honey is usually turbid, and gloss differential.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
30 Apr 09
Why thank you for the wnderful info. :-)
@Drumman (305)
• United States
23 Apr 09
I've never noticed a change in taste in any of the honey I've eaten. I guess I just like it all.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
There's an aroma of honey that I don't like. The local ones don't have such smell so I like it better. :-)
@nainesh1 (1656)
• India
23 Apr 09
My grandma told me once that to check if the honey is pure or not take little hone in spoon and one drop in glass filled of water if it spread rapidly then it is not pure. The cheaters here in my city added Castor Oil and sugar in honey.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Castor oil? My, I don't know what castor oil can actually do although I am pretty sure it isn't poisonous. But I wouldn't like castor oil into my honey.
@eichs1 (1934)
• Philippines
29 Apr 09
Unfortunately, there is no sure way of finding if a honey is fake or not when you buy it. The best thing to do is to have a trusted supplier. I don't like buying branded honey. I prefer having it from a local supplier.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
30 Apr 09
yeah, me too. I would rather choose the local variety. It is much cheaper too.
@dlr297 (5409)
• United States
23 Apr 09
Did you check the ingredients label to see if they added anything to it. I buy my honey locally, right from the person who has the bee hives, and nothing like that has ever happened. Honey is the one thing that should never spoil. no matter how long you have it.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
I agree. I have read trivias and facts about honey and one of them is that it's the only food that doesn't spoil. Isn't that just great? However, a responder told me that labels are also not reliable source of info since most honey sellers don't actually admit into adding anything. They always claim their product to be pure. So we consumers must investigate on our own.
• China
24 Apr 09
Hi, theresaaiza, just take a drop of your HONEY on the newspaper, the pure honey will be hemispherical, and the fake will be wet the paper. Just take a try.
@Theresaaiza (10487)
• Australia
27 Apr 09
Yes, I will try that. Thanks!!! :-)