Due to the frequent incidents of fake honey, you, like many consumers, might be hesitant to trust packaged products. So, now is the time to learn all the details you need to know about fake and real honey!

As is known, honey is formed when bees process the contents they take from flowers with certain enzymes in their bodies. This highly nutritious food, obtained entirely through natural means, is the result of teamwork between flowers and bees – without human intervention. In other words, in addition to being a product completely far from industrial manufacturing, it is also one of the most valuable gifts nature has bestowed upon humanity.

1. ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE CONSUMING REAL HONEY?

Fake honey incidents, which have shown a significant increase especially in recent years, cause consumers today to approach honey jars with suspicion. This naturally brings up the question, “How can you tell if honey is real?” And contrary to popular belief, there is no practical way to distinguish fake or natural honey at a glance. In fact, it is often not possible to differentiate them by tasting or observation. However, there are some methods for this, of course…

2. HOW TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN REAL AND FAKE HONEY?

As science and technology advance, human knowledge about nature and food has also greatly developed. Along with this, some tricks in food production have emerged. Honey, on the other hand, has become one of the primary playgrounds for such malicious interventions. Many types of fake honey can be produced today using some methods as below:

• Directly adding coloring and artificial honey flavor to sugar syrup,

• Feeding bees with sugar syrup instead of allowing them to collect nectar from flowers,

• Adding honey enzymes to sugar syrups to achieve a natural taste,

• Mixing fake honey with real honey to increase quantities, etc.

Unfortunately, the authenticity of honey cannot be determined by its taste, smell, or appearance. While the mentioned criteria can largely be indicative, it is not possible to draw definitive conclusions in this way. In response to all of this, the most definitive way to answer the questions “How can you tell if honey is real?” and “How can you tell if honey is fake?” is solely through laboratory analysis.

2.1. HOW IS HONEY ANALYZED?

The naturalness and purity of honey can be 100% proven only by analyzing it in research and quality control laboratories. Therefore, you can trust the packaged honey of brands with accredited laboratories. So, how does the honey analysis process work in these modern facilities, you ask? As part of the analysis, the authenticity of the honey is first examined. Many chemical properties, from the conductivity of the honey to its sugar structure, are evaluated. The honey, which is also analyzed sensorily, is determined whether it is compatible with the chemical results. Along with all these steps, the honeys are also analyzed in detail for residues. For the determination of the honey's originality, pollen analysis is also carried out to identify from which flowers the bee obtained the nectars it used to produce the honey.

3. WHY DOES HONEY CRYSTALLIZE? DOES REAL HONEY CRYSTALLIZE?

Natural honey contains a high amount of glucose, along with fructose and nearly 20 natural sugar components. Due to the natural tendency of glucose to crystallize at certain temperature values, contrary to popular belief, real honey can also crystallize. In addition to low temperatures of 16° C and below, the amount of natural substances in the honey such as flower extracts, air bubbles, pollen, etc., are among the other reasons for honey crystallization. While real honey crystallizes, fake honey varieties that do not contain natural extracts mostly do not crystallize.

3.1. HOW TO DISSOLVE CRYSTALLIZED HONEY?

While honey crystallization is a natural physical change, this does not indicate that the honey has spoiled or lost its nutritional value. In addition, there is no harm in consuming crystallized honey. Crystallized natural honey can regain its previous consistency when it reaches a certain temperature. At this point, the bain-marie method provides the most ideal answer to the question, "How to dissolve honey crystallization?" For this, you can keep the honey jar completely closed in water at a maximum temperature of 45°C.

4. DOES ORIGINAL HONEY CONTAIN HARMFUL SUBSTANCES?

Honey, a natural food substance, is obtained by bees collecting the most valuable essences from flowers. Therefore, real honeys consist entirely of beneficial ingredients thanks to the selective and meticulous work of bees. Consequently, there are no harmful substances in the nature of original honey. However, as with all natural products, medicines can be used in the production of honey to combat some harmful organisms and diseases. Incorrect use of medication can lead to certain residues, such as antibiotics, passing into the honey. For this reason, when consuming honey, it is necessary to choose branded products whose contents have been determined by experts through detailed analyses.

5. DOES REAL HONEY GO SOUR? WHY DOES HONEY GO SOUR? CAN SOUR HONEY BE EATEN?

The souring of real honey can occur as a result of the fermentation of natural ingredients in the honey. The yeasts in honey multiply by using the sugar components in the honey, which leads to souring. In case of fermentation, the aroma and taste of the honey deteriorate. Reasons such as honey being harvested early, water mixing into it, or not being stored under suitable conditions are among the main reasons for honey to go sour.

While honeys with a moisture content below 20% do not ferment when stored under suitable conditions, honeys with a moisture content above 20% have a high risk of souring. For this, you can choose honeys whose moisture content and many other factors have been analyzed and stored under suitable conditions.

6. WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING HONEY?

Before buying honey, you should ask yourself these three basic questions:

6.1) COMB OR STRAINED?

Many consumers believe that honey sold in combs is naturally authentic and additive-free. However, fake honey production can begin as early as the hive stage, by feeding sugar syrup to the bees. Furthermore, many pesticides used in beekeeping are directly applied to the combs. In addition, it is possible that various tricks have been used in combs, whose basic structure is beeswax. Instead of natural combs produced by bees, fake combs containing paraffin can be placed in the hives. You can avoid such uncertainties by preferring analyzed strained honeys offered by reliable brands.

6.2) LOOSE OR PACKAGED?

Although unpackaged honeys sold under the name "organic" might give consumers an impression of naturalness, many types of such honey might also have been subjected to pesticides or counterfeiting methods. For this reason, you can safely choose natural and good honey brands that have undergone detailed tests and have been stored in a way suitable for long-term storage.

6.3) DO I KNOW THE BRAND? AND IS IT RELIABLE?

Companies operating in Turkey must meet certain conditions to continue their production. Production facilities are regularly inspected for this purpose. However, this does not necessarily mean that every brand approaches its products with sensitivity and is completely reliable. Therefore, it is important to choose brands that have proven themselves in the field, produce under hygienic conditions, and have a meticulous quality control system and expert staff.

7. BALPARMAK’S CAREFULLY SELECTED WORLD OF HONEY

The naturalness test, carried out in over 100 parameters at the Balparmak R&D and Quality Control Laboratory, accredited by the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK), is very important for consumers. By determining the naturalness of the honeys obtained from beekeepers through analyses at the Honey Science Center, it is possible to safely enjoy 100% natural honey.

Moreover, with the "Priospot" application, you can witness the naturalness of your honey and enjoy this miraculous flavor of nature with peace of mind. By using the Priospot application on the label of the product you purchased, you can initiate the Balparmak fingerprint verification and access the analysis report of your product and the flower source from which your honey was made. To do this, simply click on the link and enter the number found on the QR code of the product...