How to spot fake honey Fake honey and how to identify them, how to distinguish from the real one at home? By color and texture

Methods for determining the quality of honey

Many people ask: "Where to make an examination of honey in St. Petersburg?"

I answer: "In the State budget institution St. Petersburg city Veterinary laboratory at the address: st. Rizhskaya, d.6, lit.A

Test center phone: 444-57-11

The people have their own methods of how to determine the quality of honey, for example, by using chemical pencil. The bottom line is this: a layer of honey is applied to paper, a finger or a spoon and a chemical pencil is drawn over it, or a pencil is dipped into the honey itself. It is assumed that if the honey is falsified, i.e. contains all sorts of impurities (sugar, sugar honey, as well as an increased amount of water), then a colored pencil mark will remain. However, the researcher V. G. Chudakov in 1972 tested 36 samples of honey of different quality, including 13 falsified ones, and believes that this folk method determining the naturalness of honey and assessing its quality is absolutely wrong.

There is another folk method to determine the falsification of honey, it consists in a test on blotting paper. Not a large number of honey falls on blotting paper. If after a few minutes a watery spot appears on the back of the paper, this is considered a sign of falsification. Again, V. G. Chudakov carried out laboratory research of this test, which led to the conclusion that the test actually allows you to determine almost 100% of counterfeit honey, but besides, some natural honeys also fall into the category of counterfeit.

If you buy honey, then look in the reference books for how it should look. The main thing is that it must have a certain aroma, honey taste, that is, a bouquet corresponding to a certain variety of natural honey must also match the color.

If the honey is too white, this should raise the suspicion that it is sugar? If the color is dark brown - is it not honeydew? If its aroma is blunted, the taste of caramel is felt - it means that it is melted honey.

Also pay attention to the consistency of honey - it should correspond to the density of the variety, at a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius it should be wound on a spoon, like a ribbon, with sweet threads that break at a certain moment.

Liquid honey should arouse suspicion. Most likely, this is unripe honey. It will not be stored, it will ferment, as it contains a lot of water. Such honey will not "wrap" on a spoon, but will simply drain from it. If you buy honey in the winter, it should not be liquid, and if it is, then it has most likely been warmed up or diluted.

When buying, check the honey for fermentation. When stirring, it should not be felt that it is not viscous, actively foaming, gas bubbles appear on the surface, that a specific sour smell comes from it, and there is also an alcohol or burnt taste.

Before buying a large amount of honey, buy 100-200 grams for a sample.

Beware of purchasing honey from apiaries located along highways with heavy traffic. In such honey, there may be an increased amount of lead compounds and other substances that fall on flowers with car exhaust. With nectar and pollen, lead gets into honey, and this is dangerous for the health of those who use it.

Honey collected in areas with unfavorable ecology is very harmful.

How to identify impurities in honey?

To identify in honey various impurities recommend the following methods. Pour water into a transparent jar, add one teaspoon of honey, stir - the honey will dissolve, an impurity will settle at the bottom.

In order to detect an admixture of flour or starch in honey, you need to pour 3-5 ml of an aqueous solution of honey (1: 2) into a jar or glass and add 3-5 drops of Lugol's solution (or tincture of iodine). If honey contains flour or starch, the solution will turn blue.

An admixture of molasses (a mixture of cool water and starchy sugar) can be recognized by appearance, stickiness and lack of crystallization. You can also mix one part of honey with 2-3 parts of distilled water, add a quarter of the volume of 96% alcohol and shake. If honey contains molasses, then the solution will take on a milky color. After settling this solution, a transparent semi-liquid sticky mass (dextrin) will settle. If the impurity is absent, the solution will remain transparent.

You can detect impurities of sugar (beet) molasses and ordinary sugar by adding a solution of silver nitrate (lapis) to a 5-10% solution of honey in water. If it falls out white precipitate silver chloride, this indicates the presence of an impurity. If there is no sediment, then the honey is pure. There is another way: to 5 ml of a 20% solution of honey in distilled water, add 22.5 ml of methyl (wood) alcohol, with the formation of an abundant yellowish-white precipitate, it will become clear that honey contains sugar syrup.

To detect an admixture of inverted sugar (grated honey), there is enough hard way: grind 5 g of honey with a small amount of ether (in which the products of fructose breakdown are dissolved), then filter the ether solution into a bowl, evaporate to dryness and add 2-3 drops of a freshly prepared 1% solution of resorcinol in concentrated hydrochloric acid to the residue (specific weight 1.125 g). If the impurity turns orange (to cherry red), then there is invert sugar.

An increased percentage of sucrose in honey, which can be established in laboratory conditions, speaks of its poor quality: in natural flower honey, sucrose is not more than 5%, not more than 10% - in honeydew. How better quality natural honey, the less sucrose in it. "Sugar" honey has its own organoleptic characteristics: the smell of old honeycombs, insipid inexpressive taste, liquid consistency(if it's fresh) long-term storage becomes thick, sticky, sticky.

"Sugar" honey (the bees were fed or fed with sugar), like everyone else unnatural honeys, is distinguished by the absence of vitamins, organic acids, protein and aromatic substances, mineral salts. In sugar honey, silicon is the main element, and other salts are practically absent, there are only traces of them. In natural honey - on the contrary.

If the honey does not crystallize, then it can be assumed that there is an admixture of potato molasses.

In order to detect an admixture of honeydew honey, pour 1 part of an aqueous solution of honey (1: 1) into a glass and add 2 parts of lime water, then heat the mixture to a boil. If brown flakes are formed that precipitate, then this indicates the presence of an admixture of honeydew honey.

A SET OF EXPRESS CHECKS OF HONEY FOR QUALITY AT PURCHASE

(Some points will repeat the above, but repetition is the mother of learning, because any reasonable adult is simply obliged not to allow himself to be fooled by any crooked crooks and in all cases be able to choose normal quality products)

Can I buy honey from my hands? Only if you are sure what you are buying. Selling honey in a store is also not a guarantee of its quality.

The only true guarantee of the quality of the purchased honey is a personal acquaintance with the beekeeper, confidence in his integrity and the knowledge that his apiary is located in a safe area. Therefore, it is best to buy honey from a familiar beekeeper right in his apiary.

The most common fake honey is sugar syrup. The same syrup is often diluted with unripe honey to give it the missing sweetness.

First, the honey must be mature. After all, bees work on nectar for about a week: they evaporate water, enrich it with enzymes, break down complex sugars into simple ones. During this time, honey is infused. finished product bees seal with wax caps, it is this honey that has all its useful properties and can be stored for a long time.

Very often, beekeepers pump out honey during the honey collection, without waiting for it to ripen, due to a lack of combs. The water content in such honey is sometimes twice the norm, it is not enriched with enzymes and sucrose, and quickly turns sour.

To determine the maturity of fresh unsweetened honey, its temperature is adjusted to 20 g. C, stirring with a spoon. Then the spoon is taken out and rotated. Ripe honey wraps around her. From time to time, honey can become sugary, this is normal, and does not affect either the taste, or the aroma, or healing qualities honey.

With the help of simple tests, you can determine if honey is adulterated:
- Flour and starch are determined by adding a drop of iodine to a small amount of honey diluted with water. If the solution turns blue, honey with flour or starch.
- If when adding vinegar essence the solution will hiss - there is chalk in honey.
- If in 5-10 percent aqueous solution honey, when a small amount of lapis solution is added, a cloudiness forms around the drops, and a white precipitate forms - sugar has been added.

How can you determine the quality of honey?

1) By color.

• Each type of honey has its own unique color. flower honey- light yellow, linden - amber, ash - transparent, like water, buckwheat has different shades of brown. Pure honey without impurities, as a rule, is transparent, no matter what color it is.
• Honey, which has additives in its composition (sugar, starch, other impurities), is cloudy, and if you look closely, you can find sediment in it.

2) By flavor.

• Real honey has a fragrant aroma. This scent is incomparable. Honey with an admixture of sugar has no aroma, and its taste is close to the taste of sweetened water.

3) By viscosity.

• Take honey for a sample, lowering it into a container thin stick. If this real honey, then it stretches after the stick with a long continuous thread, and when this thread is interrupted, it will completely fall, forming a turret, a pagoda on the surface of the honey, which then slowly disperses.
• Fake honey, on the other hand, will behave like glue: it will profusely drain and drip down from the stick, forming splashes.

4) By consistency.

• In real honey, it is thin, tender. Honey is easily rubbed between the fingers and absorbed into the skin, which cannot be said about a fake. Fake honey has a rough texture, and lumps remain on the fingers when rubbed.
• Before buying honey in the market in reserve, take the product you like from 2-3 regular sellers. To start with 100 grams. Do the recommended quality tests at home and only then buy it for future use from the same sellers.

5) Check if water and sugar are added to honey.

• To do this, drop honey on a piece of low-grade unglued paper (for example, ordinary newsprint or toilet paper), which absorbs moisture well. If it spreads over the paper, forming wet spots, or even seeps through it, it is fake honey.

6) Determine if there is starch in honey.

• To do this, put a little honey in a glass, pour boiling water over it, stir and cool. After that, drop a few drops of iodine there. If the composition turns blue, it means that starch has been added to the honey. This is fake honey.

7) Find out if there are other impurities in honey.

• To do this, take a red-hot stainless steel wire (you can heat it in the flame of a lighter) and lower it into honey. If a sticky foreign mass hangs on it, this is a fake for honey, but if the wire remains clean, honey is natural or, in other words, full-fledged.

8) What should I pay attention to when buying honey?

• Honey, incl. and when sold, it cannot be stored in metal containers, since the acids contained in its composition can give oxidation. This will lead to an increase in the content of heavy metals in it and to a decrease useful substances. Such honey can cause discomfort in the stomach and even lead to poisoning.

Conscientious sellers store honey only in glass, earthenware, porcelain, ceramic and wooden utensils. If you see that honey is being sold from metal containers, immediately step aside.

9) How else can you distinguish a fake?

• In a cup of weak warm tea, add a little of what you bought under the guise of honey. If you are not deceived, the tea will darken, but no sediment will form at the bottom.
• Over time, honey becomes cloudy and thickens (candied) - this is a sure sign good quality. And not, as many mistakenly believe, that honey has deteriorated.
• Sometimes honey is divided into two layers during storage: it thickens only from below, and remains liquid from above. This suggests that it is immature and therefore should be eaten as quickly as possible - unripe honey only lasts a few months.
• Careless beekeepers do not take out bees to collect nectar, but simply feed them sugar. sugar honey- unnatural. There is nothing useful in it. Such "sugar" honey is unnaturally white.
• There is no free water in real honey - in mature honey, water (about 20% of it) is completely bound in true honey. saturated solution. Honey with sugar syrup has high humidity, this can be checked in the following way: dip a piece of bread into honey, and after 8-10 minutes remove it. IN quality honey the bread will harden. If, on the contrary, it softened or completely spread, then in front of you is nothing more than sugar syrup.
• But no one on the market will allow you to conduct such experiments, but they will give you a try. often on small piece paper dripping honey for tasting. This is quite enough to conduct another experiment. When going to the market for honey, take a chemical pencil with you. Smear honey on a paper with a pencil, you can smear it with your finger, and try to write something on the “honey” strip with an indelible pencil. If an inscription or streaks appear after a few seconds of blue color, you can confidently and loudly tell the seller (so that other buyers can hear) that starch or flour is present in the product. If there is no chemical pencil, a drop of iodine will do. The same blue hue of the proposed honey will unmistakably determine the starch and flour in the product.

10) What kind of honey is better - mountain or, let's say, plain?

• Do not fall for the bait when they try to convince you that mountain honey better than that, which is collected by bees in our open spaces. Mountain honey has no special advantages over “plain” honey. The quality of honey and the concentration of useful substances in it depends only on the decency and knowledge of the beekeeper, as well as on the ecological situation in the honey collection area. Here, however, there is a difference between honey collected in a clean environment, and what the bees collected from the beds of an industrial enterprise. But here it all depends on the beekeeper. Conscience should not allow him to earn on "industrial" honey.

11) Honey sellers have several tricks designed for gullible buyers.

• First, plug your ears and don't listen to what they tell you. Check everything yourself. Of course, one honest seller can fall for a bunch of liars, but how do you know that the one who is standing in front of you is honest? Try honey not only from above, but also from the bottom of the jar. Feel free to put your spoon in the jar and don't listen to the salespeople who start yelling, "Don't ruin the product!"
• Unheated honey - both fresh transparent and candied - is an effective antiseptic, and a clean spoon in a jar cannot spoil it. Another thing is if there was not honey at the bottom, or this honey was previously heated, which led to the loss of its antiseptic and all other healing properties.
• Do not buy honey on the market without checking or rolled up. That honey is better kept rolled up tin lid- myth. A simple screw-on or tight polyethylene lid is sufficient.
• Crystallization (candied) is a natural process for honey, which does not affect its quality and composition of nutrients. Don't let crystallized honey fool you. Do not come the next day to the seller who promised you uncrystallized honey. They will bring the same, but warmed up. And in no case should you heat honey, because. this turns it into a simple sweet substance, devoid of so many useful properties!

12) Real honey has the following features:

• Quality honey does not roll off the spoon too quickly. Take a tablespoon of honey and turn the spoon over several times in a quick circular motion. Honey will wrap around it, almost not flowing into the jar.
• Immerse the spoon into the honey container. Pulling out a spoon, evaluate the nature of the flow of honey. A good one will form a ribbon, sit down in a hillock, and bubbles form on its surface.
• All types of honey have sweet taste, but some of the varieties have a specific taste. For example, tobacco, chestnut and willow varieties have a bitter taste, while heather is astringent. Any deviations in palatability honey speaks of its poor quality. Other taste defects may be due to the presence of impurities. Excessive acidity may be associated with the onset of fermentation, the aroma of caramel is the result of heating, obvious bitterness is incorrect storage conditions for a low-quality product.
• The color of honey depends solely on the variety. It can be all shades of brown and yellow flowers. Don't be alarmed by pale yellow, slightly hazy honey - this is normal for acacia honey that has stood for a while, because it is candied very slowly and for a long time - sometimes completely only by the end of winter (but be sure to try it and determine for yourself that it is acacia honey). Turbidity is not inherent in other types of non-candied honey, because. the process of their sugaring (turbidity and hardening) occurs quickly - it was just transparent and suddenly (2-4 weeks after the bribe - the period depends on the type of honey) it was all sugared at once.

Another very simple express check: you need to drop honey on paper and set it on fire. The paper around burns, but real high-quality honey does not burn, does not melt and does not turn brown. If the honey began to melt, it means that the bees were fed with sugar syrup, and if it turns brown, it means that it was diluted with sugar.

Some simple rules, which are important to know and observe when buying, will allow you to choose a real linden honey and avoid unpleasant disappointments from fakes. Question: how to recognize linden honey, how to check linden honey and other similar ones very often face buyers.

Definition of maturity

To begin with, it is necessary to dwell on such a concept as the maturity of this beekeeping product, because the bees work on it for about a week: in this case, water is evaporated, enriched with enzymes and complex sugars are split into simple ones. It is during this time that honey must be infused, after which the insects pack it with special wax caps, which ensures it long storage and having beneficial properties. If the pumping of "amber gold" began earlier, then it will quickly turn sour. To determine the maturity, it is necessary to heat the honey to about 20 degrees, and then stir with a spoon: wrapping the mass on it indicates maturity.

Additives

In some cases, in order to achieve the density of real "amber gold", starch, chalk, molasses, flour and other obscure impurities are added to unripe honey. The best evidence that these substances are present in the composition will be the dissolution of honey in water: the solution of the falsified beekeeping product will be cloudy, iridescent, and after some time a precipitate will form at the bottom of the container.

To understand whether flour or starch is added to honey, you just need to add to it a small amount diluted with water, a drop of iodine. A blue solution will indicate that the product contains flour or starch.

The hissing of vinegar essence in honey, also added in a small amount, will indicate that the composition contains chalk.

If a white precipitate suddenly appears in a 10% aqueous solution of this magical beneficial substance when lapis is added, sugar has been added to it.

To check for the addition of sugar and water, you need to take a well-absorbent paper, and then drip honey on it. If it spreads over it, forming wet spots, seeps through it, there are definitely impurities.

To determine the starch content, you need to put a little of the proposed product in a glass, then pour boiling water over it, cool and drip a few drops of honey. A blue solution will indicate the presence of starch in the composition.

A simple chemical pencil can also help to detect the presence of impurities, which can be easily drawn over a piece of paper on which the sold honey is applied.

Color

Each of the varieties of honey has its own unique color, which is unique to it. For example, floral has light yellow, lime - amber, buckwheat - all shades of brown, ash - transparent as water. When honey is free of impurities, it tends to be clear regardless of color. Cloudier and sediment, which can be easily detected by eye, indicate that the composition contains starch, sugar and other similar impurities. Careless beekeepers often feed bees with sugar, and the substance produced by such insects has absolutely no useful properties, it has an unnatural white color.

There are so many useful properties of honey that it is possible to list them for a long time. Honey is eaten and used in the cosmetic field, preparing various masks with it. With it, they treat the throat and get rid of hematomas, bruises, they are used as additional remedy in the fight against many diseases.

Such versatility and popularity attracts many scammers and speculators selling fake product. Let's try to figure out how to distinguish honey from a real fake.

How to distinguish real honey by group

Honey is divided into three different groups, depending on different parameters.

1. Origin. If the product is from a single plant, it is called monofloral. It happens that they get it from different colors, those growing in the garden or in the meadow. Then honey is polyfloral. In addition, it is collected either only from the nectar of flowers, obtaining high-quality, delicious product, which has many useful properties or from the juice of the leaves, as well as aphids and other insects, getting a thick, dark and bad-smelling honey. The latter type should not be used, since it is not useful, but it can also harm a person.
2. Mode of production. Depending on this parameter, it can be gravity-flowing, flowing from honeycombs, pressed or pressed and centrifugal, that is, pumped out by a centrifuge. It is the latter method that is used more often and transparent pure honey is obtained.
3. Visible differences. It is liquid or thick in consistency. The color varies from light yellowish to brown, depending on the nectar used by the flower bees.

There are several ways to distinguish real honey, which we will discuss a little later. Indeed, even the appearance of a product can alert an experienced connoisseur. Let's first study what fakes are.

How to distinguish a fake

To determine a fake, you need to know what they are.

Often dealers dilute natural honey with additives. This is sugar syrup with tea leaves, starch, chalk, sand and more. Additives may appear unnaturally light or too dark in color or have a caramel-like consistency. Honey becomes cloudy or has sediment.

Another type of poor-quality product is honey that is not obtained from nectar. Bees are fed with syrup, receiving processed sugar. To understand how to distinguish a fake, you need to smell it (the smell is similar to sweet water) and try (there will be sugar crystals or powder in your mouth).

Manufactured and completely artificial product. Then, they simply boil the sugar syrup with acid and clean it with soda, add starch and various flavors. "Honey" has sugary taste, may delaminate or have lumps.

Of course, a low price is also a sure sign of a fake. Having found honey at a seductive price, it is better not to rush to buy it as soon as possible, but first think about why the beekeeper, having spent so much effort on obtaining honey, sells it so cheaply? There is a high probability that this poor quality product, consisting of additives to natural or, even worse, completely artificial.

How to distinguish real honey from a fake

Every year the qualification of unscrupulous manufacturers and resellers is only growing. Therefore distinguish natural product artificial becomes more difficult. Often visually this is not even possible. Therefore, other ways have been devised to distinguish real honey from a fake.

You can simply “calculate” a fake using a glass of water and iodine. Add a little honey to the glass, then water, stir it. The additives will then settle to the bottom. And if you drop iodine, the appearance of a blue color will tell you about the starch in it.

If the room is twenty degrees and above, then use the method with a spoon, quickly winding honey on it. Real product will become like caramel, twisting and not draining. And if it flows, and even blowing bubbles, you can see a different color, which will clearly indicate additives.

You can, on the contrary, let the honey drain from a spoon. Natural, will create a ribbon without interruption, and will lie down in a slide.

Put a little honey on the paper and leave for five minutes. If wet spots with reverse side does not appear, it is the real undiluted product.

Honey is sprinkled with starch - the formation of a white film will show that it is real. Soaking will reveal the fake.

Crystallized honey is sometimes tried to be set on fire. Normal melting will show its good quality, and hissing and crackling will indicate the presence of additional components.

Smeared with honey small piece papers, they set it on fire. A good product will not burn, melt or turn brown.

If vinegar is added to a spoon with honey, the added chalk will foam in it. A drop of added iodine will show the presence of starch if the color turns bluish.

A good way to distinguish natural honey from fake honey is to use a piece of bread. It is dipped in honey for ten to fifteen minutes. If after this time, the bread remains not softened, then everything is in order. When adding sugar water, it softens.

How to distinguish real honey from a fake by appearance

Some rare types of honey, by their name, should cause alertness. Consider a few non-existent varieties.

• From chamomile - the variety does not exist.
• From royal jelly- it is very difficult to make it, and it is almost impossible to sell it. Real honey from royal jelly whitish color should be very expensive.
• May - a real beekeeper will not collect the product in the month of May, since the bees only feed at this time.
• From blueberries, strawberries, blackberries - plants contain nectar in very small quantities, so it is very difficult to make it for sale. But if the bees are fed with juice, then the product is Bad quality And it's better not to buy it.
• From wild rose, corn, hazel, lupine. These plants simply do not contain nectar in flowers, so it would be nice to ask manufacturers how it is made.
• You can make honey from pumpkin, but due to the presence of pesticides in it, it can be dangerous.

You should be wary if they talk about the so-called "wild" honey and the seller has a wide variety of varieties.

Real honey has a floral aroma, pleasant taste, which can be slightly bitter and tickle in the throat. Armed with ways to distinguish real honey by appearance and all of the above parameters, you will not fall for a fake, and will purchase and use only a high-quality natural product.

Can I buy honey from my hands? Only if you are sure what you are buying. The most common honey adulterant is sugar syrup. The same syrup is often diluted with unripe honey to give it the missing sweetness.

First, the honey must be mature. After all, bees work on nectar for about a week: they evaporate water, enrich it with enzymes, break down complex sugars into simple ones. During this time, honey is infused. The bees seal the finished product with wax caps - it is this honey that has all its useful properties and can be stored for a long time.

Very often, beekeepers pump out honey during the honey collection, without waiting for it to ripen, due to a lack of combs. The water content in such honey is sometimes twice the norm, it is not enriched with enzymes and sucrose, and quickly turns sour.

To determine the maturity of honey, it is heated to 20 degrees, stirring with a spoon. Then the spoon is taken out and rotated. Ripe honey wraps around her. From time to time it can become sugary, this is normal. If you want to return it to its previous state, warm it up slightly in a water bath. But sometimes it provokes further souring.

With the help of simple tests, you can determine if honey is falsified. Flour and starch are determined by adding a drop of iodine to a small amount of honey diluted with water. If the solution turns blue, honey with flour or starch. If the solution sizzles when adding vinegar essence, there is chalk in honey. If a white precipitate forms in a 5-10% aqueous solution of honey when a small amount of lapis is added, sugar has been added.

How can you determine the quality of honey?

by color

Each type of honey has its own unique color. Flower honey - light yellow, linden - amber, ash - transparent, like water, buckwheat has different shades of brown. Pure honey without impurities, as a rule, is transparent, no matter what color it is. Published by ruslife.org.ua

Honey, which has additives in its composition (sugar, starch, other impurities), is cloudy, and if you look closely, you can find a sediment in it.

By flavor

Real honey has a fragrant aroma. This scent is incomparable. Honey with an admixture of sugar has no aroma, and its taste is close to the taste of sweetened water.

Viscosity

Take a sample of honey by dropping a thin stick into the container. If it is real honey, then it follows the stick with a long continuous thread, and when this thread breaks, it will completely fall, forming a turret, a pagoda on the surface of the honey, which then slowly disperses.

Fake honey, on the other hand, will behave like glue: it will profusely drain and drip down from the stick, forming splashes.

By consistency

In real honey, it is thin, tender. Honey is easily rubbed between the fingers and absorbed into the skin, which cannot be said about a fake. Fake honey has a rough texture, and lumps remain on the fingers when rubbed.

Before buying honey in the market in reserve, take the product you like from 2-3 regular sellers. To start with 100 grams. Do the recommended quality tests at home and only then buy it for future use from the same sellers.

Check if water and sugar are added to honey

To do this, drop honey on a sheet of low-grade paper that absorbs moisture well. If it spreads over the paper, forming wet spots, or even seeps through it, it is fake honey.

Determine if honey contains starch. To do this, put a little honey in a glass, pour boiling water over it, stir and cool. After that, drop a few drops of iodine there. If the composition turns blue, it means that starch has been added to the honey. This is fake honey.

Find out if there are other impurities in honey

To do this, take a red-hot wire (made of stainless steel) and lower it into honey. If a sticky foreign mass hangs on it, this is a fake for honey, but if the wire remains clean, honey is natural or, in other words, full-fledged. Published by ruslife.org.ua

What should I pay attention to after buying honey?

Honey should not be stored in metal containers, since the acids contained in its composition can oxidize. This will lead to an increase in the content of heavy metals in it and to a decrease in useful substances. Such honey can cause discomfort in the stomach and even lead to poisoning.

Honey is stored in glass, earthenware, porcelain, ceramic and wooden utensils.

Honey contains 65-80% fructose and sucrose, it is rich in vitamin C, in addition, it contains almost all minerals. Therefore, using honey with warm water or when heating candied honey, do not bring the temperature to 60 degrees - this is the limit after which the structure of honey breaks up, the color changes, the aroma disappears, and vitamin C, which can live in honey for many years, is destroyed by half or more.

How else can you spot a fake?

In a cup of weak warm tea, add a little of what you bought under the guise of honey. If you are not deceived, the tea will darken, but no sediment will form at the bottom.

Over time, honey becomes cloudy and thickens - and this is a sure sign of good quality. And not, as many mistakenly believe, that honey has deteriorated.

If even after years your honey has not thickened, it means that it contains a large amount of fructose and, alas, does not have healing properties. Sometimes honey is divided into two layers during storage: it thickens only from below, and remains liquid from above. This suggests that it is immature and therefore should be eaten as quickly as possible - unripe honey only lasts a few months.

Careless beekeepers do not take out bees to collect nectar, but simply feed them sugar. Sugar honey is not natural. There is nothing useful in it. Such honey is unnaturally white. Published by ruslife.org.ua

There is no water in real honey. Honey with syrup has high humidity - this can be checked in the following way. Dip a piece of bread into honey, and after 8-10 minutes remove it. Bread will harden in high-quality honey. If, on the contrary, it softened or completely spread, then in front of you is nothing more than sugar syrup.

But no one on the market will allow you to conduct such experiments, but they will give you a try. Often honey is dripped onto a small piece of paper for tasting. This is quite enough to conduct another experiment. When going to the market for honey, take a chemical pencil with you. Smear honey on a paper with a pencil, you can smear it with your finger, and try to write something on the “honey” strip with an indelible pencil. If after a few seconds an inscription or blue stains appear, you can confidently and loudly inform the seller (so that other buyers can hear) that starch or flour is present in the product. If there is no chemical pencil, a drop of iodine will do. The same blue hue of the proposed honey will unmistakably determine the starch and flour in the product.

What kind of honey is better - mountain or, let's say, lowland honey?

Do not fall for the bait when they try to convince you that mountain honey is better than the one that bees collect in our open spaces. Mountain honey has no special advantages over “plain” honey. The quality of honey and the concentration of useful substances in it depends only on the decency and knowledge of the beekeeper, as well as on the ecological situation in the honey collection area. Here, however, there is a difference between honey collected in a clean environment, and what the bees collected from the beds of an industrial enterprise. But here it all depends on the beekeeper. Conscience should not allow him to earn on "industrial" honey.

Sellers of a useful product have several tricks

First, plug your ears and don't listen to what they tell you. Of course, one honest seller can fall into a bunch of liars, but how do you know that the one who is standing in front of you is honest? Try honey not only from above, but also from the bottom of the jar. Feel free to put your spoon in the jar and don't listen to the salespeople who start yelling, "Don't ruin the product!"

Honey is an antiseptic and a clean spoon in a jar can't ruin it. Another thing is if it was not honey at the bottom.

Do not buy honey on the market without checking or rolled up. The fact that honey is better stored rolled up with a tin lid is a myth.

Crystallization - natural process honey, which does not affect its quality and composition of nutrients. Don't let crystallized honey fool you. Do not come the next day to the seller who promised you uncrystallized honey. They will bring the same, but warmed up. You can't heat honey. Those who prefer honey in liquid form should take this fact into account. Put a jar of honey in warm water. When the water cools down, change it. Gradually the honey will melt.

Real honey has the following characteristics:

Quality honey does not roll off the spoon too quickly. Take a tablespoon of honey and turn the spoon over several times in a quick circular motion. Honey will wrap around it, almost not flowing into the jar.

Immerse the spoon into the honey container. Pulling out a spoon, evaluate the nature of the flow of honey. A good one will form a ribbon, sit down in a hillock, and bubbles form on its surface.

All types of honey have a sweet taste, but some of the varieties have a specific taste. For example, tobacco, chestnut and willow varieties have a bitter taste, while heather is astringent. Any deviations in the taste of honey indicate its poor quality. Other taste defects may be due to the presence of impurities. Excessive acidity may be associated with the onset of fermentation, the aroma of caramel is the result of heating, obvious bitterness is incorrect storage conditions for a low-quality product.

The color of honey depends solely on the variety. And there can be all shades of brown and yellow. Do not be afraid of pale yellow, slightly hazy honey - this is normal for acacia.

And here's more:

When buying honey, conduct an experiment: scoop it up with a spoon, scroll it and see how it drains. If the honey is mature and of high quality, then it is viscous, thick and does not drip from a spoon, but is wound on it with a viscous tape. Such a state of honey is also noticeable when pouring it from one dish into another - the stream of natural honey should be continuous and form folds like accordion bellows. In other words, good honey It should be neither too liquid nor too thick. Another such feature: natural honey must be completely uniform in both color and texture. And some more subtleties regarding the color of honey. They say that the quality of honey with a reddish tinge - spring and summer - is better, and autumn and winter - worse.

There are other ways to determine the quality of honey. Add a little honey to a cup of weak warm tea. If it is not fake, then the solution of tea with honey will darken, there will be no sediment in it. And in general, make it a rule not to buy a lot of honey at once from unfamiliar merchants. Take 100-200 grams of honey and check its quality at home, and then make a conclusion whether to buy such honey or not.

Many honey lovers have accumulated in their arsenal many other ways to determine its quality. Here are some of them:

• if the honey is very white, then it is not natural, but sugar - some beekeepers feed the bees with sugar;
• strong and well-crystallized honey is easily rubbed between the fingers and, like grains of ghee, should melt quickly;
• if the aroma of honey is blunted and the taste of caramel is felt, then this is melted honey;
• hold a spoonful of honey on fire and look at it: natural honey should not burn with a blue flame, it will gradually char;
• dip in raw honey egg- if it does not sink, honey is good, undiluted;
• dissolve a small amount of honey in hot milk - if the milk curdles, then the honey is diluted with sugar syrup.

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Honey is very useful for colds It boosts immunity and normalizes metabolism. This product is especially needed by children, it helps them resist diseases and improves brain activity. But all this only applies to natural honey. And in Lately there are a lot of fakes on the market that are difficult to identify at a glance. Those who care about their health should know how to distinguish real honey from a fake.

When buying on the market, you can come across not only a product diluted with sugar syrup, but also an outright fake. Unscrupulous manufacturers can add molasses, gelatin, starch and even sawdust to increase the volume.

You can fake honey even at the production stage. Beekeepers feed bees with sugar syrup, and they produce a product that contains almost no nutrients. It's just a sweet treat. You need to know how to distinguish real honey from a fake, so as not to harm your health. In order to make more profit, some unscrupulous farmers pull out the combs very early. Honey does not yet have time to ripen and remains useless.

How to check if honey is real while buying it? At room temperature a fake can be identified by the consistency of the product. Try to mix the honey - it should not foam and have impurities. If you scoop a little from the jar onto a spoon and rotate it, you will see the quality of the product. Immature and

it will drain quickly. Real healing product it should be viscous, wrap around a spoon, and if you want to pour it, it should not break into drops. A thin, even stream forms a small hill on the surface.

It can only be liquid fresh honey. After 3-6 months, it should harden and crystallize. Usually in stores for sale, it is heated, and it remains liquid for a long time. But such a product does not have any useful properties.

How to distinguish real honey from a fake taste? To be curative, it must contain only plant nectar. Therefore, real honey smells like flowers and has a slightly bitter taste. If you swallow it, then

you will feel your throat churn. A fake will be just a sweet treat, often with an admixture of foreign smells and tastes.

If you have already purchased the product and brought it home, how to distinguish real honey from a fake then? The easiest way is to stir it in water. It must dissolve completely. And to check if there are any impurities, drop a little iodine into the solution. If it turns blue, then there was starch or flour. Chalk impurities react to vinegar - it will foam and sizzle.

How to distinguish real honey from a fake yet? Dilute it with water and drip a little ammonia. If molasses is added to it, then the solution will turn brown and a precipitate will form. An easier way is to drip honey onto paper. It should not be absorbed and spread on the surface.

It is very important to know how to identify real honey for those who buy it for treatment. It should have bactericidal properties, so a piece of food put in honey should not spoil for a long time. If it is sour, foam and signs of fermentation appear, then the product is not suitable for treatment.