Debunking Honey Myths You Were Brought Up To Believe

Growing up, we’ve been told many stories as susceptible and impressionable children like putting a tooth under your pillow summons the tooth fairy, that we have to be polite children to be on Santa’s nice list and more relevantly, that honey expires after a while and crystallized honey means it’s fake. 

We think it’s time we go over 3 common honey related myths that we were brought up to believe. Like most old wive’s tales, some could be true, some could be false, but we took the liberty of fact-checking everything on your behalf; so let’s go on a journey. 

To answer this question, we have to break down the process of honey creation and its origin. Natural raw honey (like the honey at My Naturi), is sourced from bees that collect nectar from various sources. Be it flowers, plants or trees and then it’s converted to simple sugars that the bees store in the honeycomb. After the nectar is stored in the honeycomb, evaporation occurs which create this gorgeous sweet liquid we call honey! 

Because raw honey is not artificially manufactured and it is a product of bees, it is made up of antibacterial properties that ensures no bacterial growth within the honey. Additionally, natural honey has a low pH balance (estimated pH of 3-4)  that inhibits bacterial growth.

Now that we’ve broken down the honey’s origin, let’s talk about expiration. Storage is one of the biggest factors of whether raw natural honey will go bad or expire. In regards to the expiration dates on honey, it varies from different country’s industry standard practices but honey does not expire when stored in an airtight glass jar as that prevents fermentation. When honey is stored in a plastic or metal container, this speeds up the oxidation process as it reacts with honey.

Ah yes, one of the other more frequently asked questions we get is “How can you cook the honey? I heard if you heat it up it becomes poisonous!”  Firstly, raw honey does not contain any toxic and poisonous properties at all so it’s safe to consume, and when reacted with heat it does not trigger any toxins or poisons to be released. The heat only makes the honey lose its antibacterial properties but the flavours and taste of the honey still maintains. So fire up the barbecue and get started on those honey-glazed veggie BBQ sticks!

If we had a dollar for every time someone questioned whether honey is fake or spoiled because it crystallized we would – ahem, anyway. Let’s talk about it. Crystallization is a clear indication that your honey is 100% raw and pure. Crystallization occurs in honey jars over time as that is honey’s natural state. This is because of its levels of glucose which turns to sugar crystals easier than fructose. Let’s look at it like this; raw honey contains pollen, propolis and glucose that attaches itself to the honey particles and creates crystals. So if your “real” honey doesn’t crystallize over time, you’d then ask yourself - is my honey even real? At the end of the day, crystallized honey is safe to consume, and quite frankly it tastes amazing because of its gorgeous texture. Alternatively, if you’d like your honey to be more runny, you may place the honey container in a warm water bath. 

Have more questions or theories you’d like to know more about? Reach out to us on our Instagram @my_naturi and we’d be more than happy to help!