How to tell whether honey is real or fake?

As we all know, honey is not only rich in nutrients, but also has the effect of beautifying and nourishing the skin. Therefore, the demand for honey is increasing. For the sake of profit, many unscrupulous merchants have produced a lot of fake honey. It is difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish the authenticity of honey. Some counterfeiting techniques are very advanced, and it is difficult to distinguish from the color, smell or taste. The following introduces how to distinguish the authenticity of honey.

Common ways to distinguish real and fake honey:

1. Smell the smell. Real wild honey or real honey will definitely have a floral scent, even if it is very light, and will definitely not have sour, industrial, fishy, ​​etc. If you can't tell what kind of floral scent it is, you can use the comparison method, smell two bottles of different honey, one bottle of real honey, and the other bottle of processed honey or fake honey. A comparison will have a very obvious effect.

2. Look at the bubbles. If the honey is unprocessed, bubbles will be produced if you shake it vigorously. There will be bubbles between the upper layer and the honey, which are relatively uniform and lasting. This is because of the active enzymes. After processing, there will be only a small amount of bubbles or no bubbles in the upper layer, and it is best if the honey has uniform bubbles floating on the surface.

3. Look at the color. Real honey is not that pure and it does not look that transparent. Fake honey is bright in color, very transparent, and usually light yellow or dark yellow.

4. Look at the viscosity. You must pay attention to this. Don't believe that the thicker the honey + the honey that can be drawn into threads, the better the honey. NO, it is not like that. Honey has a degree of Baume. Some businesses deliberately dehydrate and concentrate it in order to intentionally increase the degree of Baume. With less water, the concentration naturally goes up, and it is very easy to draw into threads. Real honey is semi-viscous, especially in summer, it is a bit thin. This is normal. Generally, this kind of raw honey needs to be refrigerated indoors in summer to keep fresh.

5. Taste the honey. The tongue is a relatively sensitive part of the human body. You can use it to distinguish real honey from fake honey. The flavor of real honey is stronger and purer, and the sugar content is moderate. It is not too sweet, and has a slightly sour and slightly tingling aftertaste. Fake honey contains more sugar and has a lighter honey flavor. It tastes sweet but not honey.

6. Identification of impurities: Take 5 ml of honey, add 5 times the amount of water to dilute and stir, let it stand for 24 hours. If there are suspended clumps or precipitates, it means there are impurities. The more precipitates there are, the greater the amount of impurities. Pure honey will not precipitate. Alternatively, you can put a spoonful of honey in a cup, add four to five times the amount of hot water to dissolve it, and then let it sit for three to four hours. If no precipitation occurs, it is honey without impurities.

7. Identification of water content: When honey is dropped onto white paper, pure honey will appear in the shape of beads and will not seep out, while honey mixed with water will gradually seep out. The faster the seepage speed, the more water it contains.

8. Identification of sugar content: Honey mixed with sugar has poor transparency, is not clear, is turbid, and has poor floral aroma. Honey mixed with brown sugar is dark in color, while honey mixed with white sugar is light in color. You can rub it with two fingers until it feels sticky. If it feels granular, it contains sugar.

9. Crystallization identification: Real honey crystals are generally softer, can be easily twisted between fingers, and have a delicate feel. The white sugar precipitated from fake honey is denser and feels gritty when you rub it between your fingers.

10. Identification by iron wire: Insert a red-hot iron wire into the honey. If there is sticky substance on the iron wire, it means there are impurities in the honey. If the iron wire is still smooth, it means there are no impurities.

11. Check the label when buying honey: Check the product label carefully. Some honey products have sucrose, white sugar, fructose syrup, high fructose syrup, etc. in the ingredient list, which is not allowed for real honey products. The label of honey can only say honey from certain flowers or pure honey. It is impossible to be fake honey such as honey paste, honey drink, etc.