There are a couple of ways to identify natural honey and distinguish it from artificial ones. Because the market is littered with counterfeit products, it is important to test the honey for its quality before making any purchase.
Many producers and retailers add foreign ingredients to natural honey. These counterfeiters generally add sucrose or corn syrup to maximize profits.
Sometimes a moment of inattention is enough to mistakenly reach for artificial honey that only resembles the natural one in appearance and doesn’t share the same health-promoting features.
So, how do you distinguish natural honey from artificial honey? Well, there are both lab and home tests you can do to identify natural honey.
Simple Homemade Tests to Identify Natural Honey
While there are more accurate lab tests to identify the quality of honey, most of us do not have the luxury of carrying them out ourselves. So are we doomed to counterfeit honey? Not really.
Fortunately, there are certain simple tests that you can do at home to make sure the honey you buy is what you had paid for.
1. The Match Test
One of them is the “match test”. Sounds mysterious, but nothing complicated about it. The idea is to dip the match in the honey and then try to light it. if it quickly catches fire, it surely is real honey. Fewer people know that natural honey is flammable.
2. Flat or Cone Test
Pour a small amount of honey on a flat surface. Pay attention to whether it forms a cone as it spreads over the plate. If it’s spreading flat, that’s a bad sign. You’ve probably bought artificial honey.
3. The Solubility Test
Add a spoonful of honey to a glass of water. If the honey drops right to the bottle without dissolving quickly, and if it forms streaks while dissolving, that’s how the real honey behaves.
4. The Weight Test
Honey is quite heavy and has a density of about 1.4 g / cm3. This means that a liter of honey should weigh closer to 1.4 kg. If the weight deviates significantly, it definitely is not natural enough.
5. Look for The Price
Natural honey is not cheap. If a retailer is offering significant discounts, it should instantly raise eyebrows.
So, there it is, simple homemade tests to identify natural honey. Do you know any other methods of distinguishing real honey from counterfeit honey? We would love to know your ideas.