There are several ways of identifying real from fake honey in the market today. Since the demand of honey increased in the recent past, the fake honey has flooded the market and it has become difficult to distinguish the original honey from the fake one. Here are some of the ways to tell the purity of honey;
- Dissolve it in Water
This is one of the ways to find out if the honey you bought or have is pure and not mixed wih other things. Use a clear glass to do this; take a small thumb of honey, drop it in warm water and wait to see if it will dissolve in water or settle at the bottom of the glass.
Pure honey normally will settle at the bottom of the glass but the fake/impure honey will dissolve in water.
- Flammability
Now, pure honey is flammable, test this by taking a small cotton dip it in honey and try to light it. Pure honey will light the cotton, but the impure one mixed with other impurity will not.
- Is it Runny or Thick?
Take a small amount of honey and place it on the palm of your hand and check if it drops/runs off your hand quickly. Pure honey is thick, does not run off like water, while the impure honey runs off; it is light and not thick.
- Reaction with Vinegar
This is one of the ways to check the purity of honey. Take a bowl, add your honey, 2.3 drops of vinegar and water, see if something happens, in this case you expect a reaction, however if that does not happen, your honey is impure. On the other hand if you add a little water, vinegar and honey and it happens to foam, then you know your honey is pure.
- Try blotting it on paper Towel
Tear off a small square piece of paper towel or thick napkin, drool a drop of honey on it. In this case impure honey will be absorbed completely while pure honey is too thick to be absorbed, the thickness of pure honey prevents it from being absorbed completely.
- Test its Reaction to Heat
This is another way of checking the purity of honey you have. Have a 1-2 tablespoon of honey into a saucepan, and put the saucepan over medium heat on a cooker. As the saucepan heats up the colour of honey should be seen browning. Honey usually caramelizes easily and quickly when subjected to heat. However, if you notice the honey bubbling/foaming even slightly, then it means that honey has been tampered with from its originality.
- The color of Pure Honey
The color of pure honey range from light transparency to dark brown, if it is within this color range, then it is most likely to be pure.
- Does it expire?
Pure honey never expires; it is the only food that never expires
- Do Ants Love it?
If you spill the honey on the ground and the ants comes quickly to it, it is likely the honey has been tampered with, however, it is good to take note, that both pure and impure honey will attract ants. However, pure honey takes time to attract them compared with honey that has been added water, sugar or anything else.
- Does the honey Freeze when put in the Fridge?
Pure honey does crystallize easily in the fridge. However, this is not the best method to test honey, because even impure honey may crystalize easily when put in the fridge depending with the types of additives added to it. So it is best to follow up with another experiment to make sure its purity.
