Food fraud: is the honey in your pantry fake?

After olive oil and milk, honey is the third most fraudulent industrialized food, that is, the population buys some thinking he is taking pure honey, when there are many thinners there that are not good for the health. Faced with this problem, today we will address its causes and how to identify if fake honey ended up in your kitchen.

Read more: The benefits of honey and learn how to identify its purity before buying

High demand and attempt to overcome it

The justification for this lack of honesty comes from domestic suppliers. Apparently they can't keep up with the high demand. As a result, high tariffs are imposed on Chinese honey, a major supplier, whose “disguised” versions arrive, for example, in the United States through China's neighbors.

It is worth noting that many of the tests used to select good honey are out of date and that some of the Health Administration guidelines US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – which is used to declare whether honey ingredients are not legally enforceable – is making this difficult. identification.

Solution of the problem

An attempt to reverse this situation is to continue supporting beekeepers at this time. In addition to being a group of excellent pollinators, bees are an integral part of our food chain and are experiencing rapid population decline. For future purchases, ordering from small scale legal bee farms is a good way to ensure you enjoy high quality honey.

Refrigerator test to identify adulterated honey

Non-real honey has additives that, in addition to adulterating the product, are also harmful to health, as well as industrial glucose, dyes, stabilizers, sucrose, aniline, iodine and others. Knowing this, you can apply the refrigerator test to identify this fake. See what to do:

• Place some of the honey to be tested on a plate;
• Take it to the fridge and make sure it is at a temperature below 25º C;
• Leave for a few hours. If the honey hardens or crystallizes, that means it's pure!