Even though honey is much beloved by health conscious and other sweet lovers in Malaysia, there are a number of honey products out there that are fake! In fact, the Berita Harian even reported that a bulk of the honey sold in Malaysia is not authentic honey, but fake honey. Most of the artificial honey was made out of sugar, starch, and corn flour that can harm consumers' health.
But with unknown numbers of suppliers selling fake honey everywhere, how can you tell the difference?
What is Real Honey?
Real honey is made from honey bees who collect nectar from flowering trees in the vicinity using their straw-like long tongues. The honey is passed mouth to mouth from bee to bee, as they chew and regurgitate the nectar between each other to reduce the moisture content. During this process, the bees’ enzymes break down the complex sugar in the nectar into simple sugars. It is this chewing process that adds the anti-bacterial properties to the honey and also makes the honey more digestible for the bees. The honey is then placed in the honeycomb and capped with beeswax, where it is stored as food for the hive.
What is Fake Honey?
On the other hand, fake honey is honey that has been adulterated with water, high-fructose corn syrup, dextrose and molasses to make it more like natural honey. It is often highly processed, where it is heated to high temperatures and loses most of its nutritional content. Even all the pollen, beeswax and other bee parts are removed in fake honey, leaving the honey with little to no nutritional goodness.
However, appearance wise, you often cannot tell fake honey from pure honey. Perhaps the only way is to look at the listing of ingredients on the bottle of honey to see if there are any additives to the honey. Even then, some suppliers do not even include these ingredients on the labels of their products.
How Else Can We Distinguish Real vs Fake Honey?
Taste:
Real honey has a mild floral taste along with its sweetness. Fake honey often has an aftertaste, perhaps from the additives and artificial sweeteners added to it.
Stickiness:
Real honey is actually not very sticky when rubbed between your fingers, however fake honey is sticky due to the sweeteners added.
Texture:
Real honey is often quite thick and illiquid. In contrast, fake honey is runny, light and quite liquid. Fake honey should move faster from one side of the jar to another compared to real honey.
Heat:
When heated, real honey becomes thicker but does not create any foam. Fake honey, however, will produce bubbles and never caramelize.
Dissolving:
Real honey does not dissolve properly in water, instead it settles as a lump at the bottom. Meanwhile, fake honey dissolves completely and instantly.
Impurities:
Real honey often has impurities like bits of pollen and discolouration, however fake honey is clear and consistent throughout.
The Solution? Look for Certified Organic Honey
One of the best ways to ensure that your honey is real, is to look for ‘certified organic’ honey. We recommend Nature’s Glory certified organic honey in Malaysia. Our organic honey products include our Organic Manuka Honey (Bioactive 15+), Organic Manuka XO Honey (Bioactive 30+), Organic Wilderness Honey, Organic Dew Honey and Organic Lemon Honey.
Being organically certified means our honey products are independently audited by organic associations throughout the whole lifecycle of the product process- from harvest to collection and to storage and packing. Chemicals are not allowed any of the processes including during storage. Tests are randomly conducted to check for pesticides and antibiotics.
For Nature’s Glory, our products are independently audited by NASAA, Australia and AgriQuality, New Zealand (now AsureQuality NZ).
Proper certification assures that you are getting real, certified organic honey.
Do check out our Organic Honey collection page for more information about organic honeys in Malaysia.