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The Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) has recently dropped a piece of not-so-sweet news for honey aficionados.

According to the agency, the majority of the honey products being sold in the market are not made of pure honey.

Instead, the ones most available for consumption are made of sugar syrup (sugar cane and corn).

The DOST-PNRI conducted the test on 16 local brands sold in groceries and souvenir shops, and 74 local products offered online.

Twelve out of the 16 brands proved to be not made of pure honey while 64 out of the 74 turned out to be made of sugar syrup as well.

“The problem is that people are being tricked. You may be buying honey for its wonderful health benefits, but because of adulteration, you may actually just be buying pure sugar syrup. Consuming too much pure sugar syrup can lead to harmful health effects,” said Angel Bautista VII from DOST-PNRI.

“Imagine, incomes that are supposed to be for our honest beekeepers and honey producers are being lost instead due to adulteration and fraud. This is affecting our local honey industry so badly that we estimate that they are losing P200 million per year.”

The Philippine National Standard for Honey of the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standard has said that honey sold in markets must not contain any other substances and food additives.

Simple experiment

Photo: Pixabay

The DOST-PNRI used stable carbon isotope ratio analysis to determine the origin and composition of the tested honey products.

But there are simple experiments that you can do to gain an idea if you're consuming real or fake honey according to the honey manufacturer, Bee America.

Paper test

Put a few drops of honey on a napkin or paper towel. Pure honey will remain solid and intact, and would not soak through. Fake honey, on the other hand, would wet the napkin and would get through as any liquid would.

Crystallization test

Natural honey would usually crystallize and thicken in time. The same cannot be said of impure honey.

Use the microwave

Put two tablespoons of honey inside a microwave-friendly bowl. Then set the microwave's temperature to a high for 45 to 60 seconds. Fake honey will become bubbly and foamy from all that heat. Real honey, however, will caramelize as a result.

Water test

Real honey is naturally thick. Put it in water and see if it easily dissolves in water. If it does, then what you have is fake honey. True honey doesn't blend easily and you have to do some stirring for it to mix in water.

Bread test

Grab some bread and spread your honey on it. Real honey will end up crunchy on the bread's surface after a few minutes. Fake honey, meanwhile, will turn the bread soggy from all that liquid component.

Natural honey contains many health benefits like antioxidants to help lower blood pressure. However, too much of it is not advisable because of its sugar and calorie content.

To counter this, make sure to engage in physical activities to flush away excess calories.

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