Testing Organic Honey – From Bees or Factories?

There are constant changes in the corporate clean product space which requires us to able to constantly adapt.  Many companies that were previously the strongholds of trustworthy “clean products” have caved to the almighty dollar and swapped out the more expensive and healthier ingredients for the cheaper toxins, while holding onto their label and riding on the reputation they built.  This is the probably the hardest part of trying to learn to remove toxins from your home and foods and even more of a reason that the key to clean living is still ongoing DETOXIFICATION. (Do I sound like a broken record yet?  We all need to learn how to safely and consistently implement detoxification into your lifestyle!)

In the meantime, here’s a tip to help you distinguish from fake honey that permeates the market. The demand for honey has gone up as many people have learned of its powerful healing qualities and have chosen to replace toxic sugar with the healthier honey alternative. Unfortunately, as the demand has gone up, so has the adulteration of honey, or just fake production of it. Imagine, you are buying honey to avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup, only to learn that some companies are using HFCS to adulterate honey? Honey is expensive because there is a true science and love to create it and protect the declining bee population in the process. As a former apiarist myself, I have seen first hand the labor of love one must undertake to care for honeybees while producing honey.

That precious gallon of honey that a single beehive can produce has taken hours of care for the hives and takes a lot of energy from the bees to produce. Our honeybees are also at risk from the toxins in the environment, like we are, leading pests to thrive on weakened hives that have been exposed to toxins. (Just like our bodies).  Consider supporting your local apiarist who is caring for those bees. They don’t just produce the best honey, they also help maintain our precious (and dwindling) honeybee population!

How to tell the difference:

Home Laboratory Test

In order to increase profit margins, large corporate “honey” producers will often dilute honey with sugar syrup or molasses to enhance the sweet flavor. To increase the thickness, they will often use flour, starch, chalk, sand and even ……sawdust!

Spot the fake:

1. Hold a lighted match to the honey. If it’s natural, it will melt. If it does not melt  begins to make hiss sound right away, IT’S A FAKE!
2. Mix the honey with water. Natural honey will not dissolve. If you add 2-3 drops of iodine to the solution with real honey, the water will not turn blue. if the water turns blue, IT’S A FAKE!
3. Drip some honey on a piece of paper. If a damp patch spreads around it, it’s a fake!
4. Dip a piece of stale bread into the honey and leave it for 8-10 minutes. If the bread absorbs the honey mixture and softens, IT’S A FAKE!
5. Mix some water into the honey and add 2-3 drops of vinegar. If the solution becomes foamy, IT’S A FAKE!
6. Heat a stainless steel piece of wire and insert it into the honey and pull it back out. If it doesn’t cling to the metal, IT’S A FAKE!

Cheers to fresh honey!