How much fake honey is sold in stores? According to many sources, it is up to 76%!

 We all want to feed ourselves and our families the best products we can find. Unfortunately, many of those choices are now using misleading labels or are downright fake honey. This article will attempt to give you the tools you need to pick the right honey when you go shopping, avoiding all of the pitfalls of fake honey. You must keep in mind that the variety of honey, both fake honey and pure honey is enormous. If you do not have the tools to select real honey, you may as well feed your children pure corn syrup.

Sugar is not a healthy sweetener when compared to natural 100% honey. So it is important that you are choosing real honey when you visit your local grocery store and avoiding fake honey. The fact is that the odds the honey in your cabinet at home is fake honey is about 76%. Honey unlike sugar contains many essential nutrients and is very healthy for you. So if the honey you have at home is fake, it is likely unhealthy. Let's use this article to research the right and the wrong way to choose 100% real honey when you shop.

How common is fake honey?

Many research projects have been done on this topic. A well-known project conducted by Food Safety News shows that up to 76% of the honey on United States grocery stores shelves is fake or has been processed so intensively that most international food laws would prevent it from being labeled as honey.

Why is this an issue in the United States?

Many US food laws are actually much more relaxed here than they are abroad. This is mostly due to the phenomenon prevalent in the US of political lobbyists. Unfortunately, the health and welfare of US citizens sometimes take a back seat to the money and political leanings of those who make the rules. Most "honey" products here in the US start out as natural honey. The problem is that to increase profits or marketability, they are modified or processed in order to make them "safe". This processing leaves you with a sticky, honey-colored, sweet liquid which is now devoid of any health benefits.

What do the terms you see in grocery stores really mean?

Let's take a look at some common terms you may encounter in the grocery store. These terms can be found on product labeling. If you intend to buy raw honey which is 100% pure and natural, you need to know what not to buy. Take a look at the below terms. Familiarize yourself with them.

Honey Fructose:

This product category is made up mostly of various sauces and syrups which contain small amounts of honey with a large corn syrup base. They may look and taste like honey but they are not. This is why reading labels is important rather than just looking at the flashy packaging on products in grocery stores and assuming it is made from honey.

Blended Honey:

The term "blended honey" means that a portion, usually between 30% and 70% of the product is honey. The rest of the product is usually made up of high-fructose corn syrup.

Sugar-free Honey:

honey by its very nature is a substance high in sugar. I do not know of any means to remove said sugar from said honey. What this means is that it is probably not honey.

Fortified Honey:

This is honey that has actually had sugar added! This negates any health benefits you may get from eating natural raw honey and increases both your caloric intake and your chances of developing diabetes. Stay away from these products.

Organic Honey:

Organic honey is usually raw honey, but this is not always the case, the term organic just means that the honey and any extra ingredients were certified organic. But sugar can be added and it still is called organic honey. If you can find both organic and raw honey this should be your first choice of which product to buy.

Medical-Grade Honey:

This honey has high levels of anti-microbial properties. It is good to use as a salve on cuts and scrapes and burns. One widely used honey for medicinal purposes is called Manuka honey. It can be used to naturally treat acne and other problems caused by bacteria.

Pasteurized Honey:

Louie Pasteur invented the process of pasteurization. It is accomplished by heating the product up to a certain temperature and holding the product at that temperature for a specific length of time. While this does kill any dangerous pathogens, it also kills all the beneficial flora in the honey. It also breaks down healthy enzymes in the honey and renders it worthless, destroying its healthy benefits.

Raw Honey: (If Produced and bottled in the USA)

Now, this is the good stuff and the only honey I would personally eat. This is honey that after removal from the hive has had no more done to it than perhaps straining it to remove bee parts, etc. It contains all the health benefits of honey with no added sweeteners. If you can look for labels that say "raw honey" when you shop at your grocery store or better yet buy local honey from a beekeeper in your area.

 Raw Honey: (Produced and bottled everywhere else)

To be honest, up to 80% of the honey consumed in the US each year is imported from overseas. There is no testing of honey that is done to guarantee its purity when imported. This is where most of the "fake honey" comes from.  Since most of that imported honey was not pure or raw honey you can be sure that most of the "honey" in your grocery store is likely corn syrup flavored with honey.

So How Do I Find Local, Pure, and Raw Honey?

I am glad you asked. So far in all my searching, I have found an agricultural extension office in every county in the United States. Simply make a phone call to your local agricultural extension office, and ask for the phone number to the county beekeeping club. They will be more than happy to provide you pure, local, unadulterated, raw honey. The best you can get. Ill go into the health benefits of eating local honey vs. non-local honey in another article.