With a pain in my soul, I have to admit that lately, fake is more and more often found on sale, fake honey.

There are people who are ready for any meanness for the sake of money. They use honey of unknown origin, of dubious quality. After all, even with the help of bees, you can make counterfeit honey... For example, give to bees, and they will process it into honey

It will be delicious honey, but it will not contain that vital energy that goes through the bee from the flower to the person. The only advantage of such honey is that it is easily absorbed by our gastrointestinal tract.

Let me give you another example: sugar dissolves in hot water, and a little honey is added for "plowing" and for sale. In one of the articles I read that some “craftsmen” add a drop of rose oil to sugar syrup, throw pieces of combs, dead bees, insist, filter, pack.

Moreover, these sly ones throw out such a surrogate during a period when it is already on sale. It is also liquid immediately after pumping out, and a gullible buyer will not always immediately understand the deception.

If the honey is natural and mature, then by scooping it up with a spoon and turning it over, the honey will be wrapped around the spoon with a ribbon in layers. And when it drips from a spoon, like jelly, it is a fake.

In winter, honey cannot be liquid. Liquid honey in winter is warm honey, and this is evidenced by the smell of candy or burnt sugar. Such honey is clearly overheated, it is dangerous to eat it. Indeed, at a temperature of 45-50 ° C and above, carcinogenic substances appear in honey. And healing enzymes and vitamins disappear completely. Even drinking tea with high-quality natural honey is better "with a bite", as in a hot drink the healthiness of this is lost.

With the help of simple tests, you can determine if you got a fake. Dissolve a spoonful of honey in a glass of water. The solution should be slightly cloudy, but no sediment. In the presence of impurities, a precipitate is always formed.

Flour and starch are "calculated" by adding a drop of iodine to a small amount of honey diluted with water. If the solution turns blue, there is flour or starch in the honey. If, instead of iodine, a little vinegar essence is added to a solution of water and honey, and the solution sizzles, then there is chalk in the honey. Unnaturally light honey is obtained when bees were fed sugar syrup or molasses. All these are 100% cases of honey falsification.

Several years ago, gypsies marched through our village. I was sitting on a bench near the house. Merchants came up to me and offered me honey in three-liter glass jars at a reasonable price. The price of honey is much lower than in our area. Liquid honey. And what was my surprise when I was offered to taste the quality of honey right over the edge of the jar. How can you be so careless about the priceless gift of nature !?

A person selling natural honey knows its price and will give it to taste with a small spoon, carefully, slowly. Moreover, those selling “correct” honey never run around the villages, there is no end to buyers, and they have no time to run. I don’t need to explain to you that the gypsies had fake honey.

Let me give you one more example. A beekeeper I know told me that beekeepers come to their village in summer from afar on KAMAZ trucks. Bees fly to flowers, carry nectar, and next to the hives, whole bags of dry sugar are poured onto cellophane and there are drinking bowls with grape juice and water. These beekeepers do not have time to pump honey. But this is not natural honey, but fake honey, although it is no longer sugar syrup. This is an obvious pursuit of money, falsification.

I believe that there should be a high responsibility of the beekeeper and the seller for the quality of honey. Intermediaries are not interested in quality, the main thing for them is to buy more, pay less, then sell fake honey at a higher price and get a rather big income.

Natural honey can be liquid only for a month after it has been collected. Honey collection lasts from late July to late September. If you are offered liquid honey in the winter, it is most likely unnatural. High-quality real honey by this time should thicken and begin to crystallize.

2. Check if the honey is foaming

If the honey foams on the surface, it means that fermentation processes are taking place in it. It starts when the volume of water in honey exceeds 20%. Such honey is definitely unnatural.

3. Smell the honey

Natural honey always has a characteristic scent. If the honey doesn't smell like anything, it was produced artificially.

4. Check if the honey is flaking

Take a close look at the container with honey and check if the mass is homogeneous. If the honey seems denser at the bottom of the jar and thinner at the top, this is a fake. Most likely, the manufacturer added an impurity. Often, unscrupulous manufacturers put a mixture of semolina with molasses at the bottom of the can.

5. Never mind the color

The color is not an indicator of the quality of the honey, it can only speak of its variety. For example, buckwheat and cherry honey is usually dark brown, while acacia honey is light. Other types of honey can be dark amber, amber, light yellow and even almost white.

Each of us knows about the taste and medicinal properties of honey. It contains more than fifty valuable substances necessary for normal human life. But the markets do not always offer us a natural product. How to distinguish natural honey from fake? You can use any of the following methods.

8 signs of natural honey

How to check if honey is real? Pay attention to several signs that are characteristic of an exclusively natural beekeeping product:

Appearance. Do you want to test honey at home? Rate his "appearance" on a five-point system. A quality product will not foam or bubble. This is what the fermentation process looks like, and good honey cannot ferment a priori.

Crystallization. After one and a half to two months, honey begins to thicken and grow cloudy - this is an absolutely normal phenomenon, indicating its naturalness. Liquid honey can only be purchased in the summer during pumping out. The only exception is heather and acacia honey - the first turns into jelly, the second remains liquid until spring.

Smell. Real honey has a fragrant and incomparable aroma, while fake honey smells absolutely nothing.

Taste. You can test the quality of honey by trying it on your tongue. A good product has a pleasant and slightly tart taste. It simply melts in your mouth and leaves no residue or particulate matter behind. You may even feel a slight tingling sensation in your throat and nose - another sure sign of high quality.

Colour. The shade of this product depends on the variety:

• Linden - amber;
• Flower honey - light yellow;
• Ash - transparent;
• Buckwheat - brown;
• Linden - amber.

Knowing this, you will not allow unscrupulous sellers to make a fraudulent transaction.

Viscosity. Dip a clean, thin wooden stick into the container with the product. Real honey will stretch in a long, unbroken thread, forming a slowly spreading tower. The fake product will simply flow down, leaving only splashes behind.

Consistency. It is very easy to check the naturalness of honey in a home laboratory - its consistency is delicate and homogeneous. A quality product is quickly absorbed into the skin and is easily rubbed between the fingers. But the counterfeit, when rubbed, forms rough and fairly hard lumps.

Volume and weight. Honey contains a lot of small particles, and therefore it simply cannot be lighter than water. A liter of honey weighs about one and a half kilograms. A lower mass indicates a high water content, which makes it very light.

How to determine the quality of honey

Pure honey is transparent, there is not even a hint of any sediment in it, regardless of color and variety. Do you want to check if there are any additional impurities and additives in it? You can send a purchase to a laboratory and pay a certain amount for it, or you can check the authenticity of honey at home.

• Method 1: using paper and matches

Drop honey on a sheet of blank paper and set it on fire. If the honey is really real, the paper will burn, but the drop will remain intact. If the honey began to burn, melt or darken, then the bees were obviously fed with diluted sugar.

• Method 2.Using a chemical pencil

This is another popular method that allows you to determine the quality of honey at home in just a couple of minutes. Apply a layer of the product to your finger, spoon or paper and run a pencil over it. You can put your pencil in a bowl of sweet nectar. The naturalness of the product is indicated by the absence of all kinds of traces on the surface of the paper, spoon or hand.

• Method 3.Using blotting paper

Do you want to know if your purchase contains sugar, starch and other additives? Put a drop of honey on a piece of blotting paper and wait a couple of minutes. Has a watery spot emerged from the back? There is a bad fake in front of you.

• Method 4. Using tea

The quality of the product can be checked directly during tea drinking. Just add a spoonful of honey to a cup and let it dissolve completely. If you are not fooled, the liquid will become darker. Will there be sediment in it? With a good medic, he simply does not exist.

• Method 5.Using bread

Honey is characterized by high hygroscopicity. It draws in not only odors from the environment, but also moisture. Dip a slice of fresh bread into the container and check the result after five minutes. If the honey is real, the bread will not only not get wet, but it will also become harder.

• Method 6 using vinegar

Using vinegar and distilled water, you can find out if your honey contains chalk. Dilute a tablespoon of the product with half a glass of water, add three drops of vinegar and stir everything thoroughly. In the presence of chalk, the mixture will simply boil (this is how carbon dioxide is released). Alternatively, use any other acid you find in your kitchen drawers.

• Method 7. Using silver nitrate

Another simple experience will help to check honey at home. Pour it with hot distilled water (1: 2), add a solution of silver nitrate (three drops) and assess the state of the resulting mixture. There is no sediment or turbidity in high-quality honey. But in the presence of sugar, the liquid becomes cloudy and becomes covered with a whitish bloom.

• Method 8 with iodine

Are you sure there are no starch particles in the honey you bought? Find out by mixing a spoonful of the product with half a glass. hot water and three drops of iodine. The counterfeit will acquire a bright blue tint.

• Method 9.Using ammonia

The principle is the same, only in this case iodine should be replaced with ammonia. Real honey will remain pure, low-quality honey will turn white with a brown sediment.

• Method 10: using cow's milk

Mix honey with hot milk. The surrogate is simply obliged to curl up, good honey reaches the bottom of the cup and dissolves.

• Method 11. Using a flame

Hold a spoonful of honey over an open fire. Nothing will happen to a good product, but a fake will catch fire.

Do you know how to distinguish high quality from fake at home? Refill our "box" with your own tips.

Try to find a seller you can trust 100%. It can be tracked by strong employment in the period from May to October. This is the only way you can be sure of the quality and benefits of your purchase.

Natural bee honey is a rather expensive product. Some rare varieties of honey, such as chestnut, orange, willow, are especially valued and have the highest cost. The rarity of a natural product also dictates its price, the corresponding price is higher, and this increases the likelihood of profit by unscrupulous sellers, and sometimes just scammers.

We should not forget that there is such a thing as artificial honey. It is a cheap sugar syrup with added colors and flavors. Such honey is usually added to various confectionery products. Artificial honey is not dangerous, but it is absolutely useless, so carefully read the text on the packaging, you need to know what you are buying.

From one kilogram of natural honey, scoundrels can "load" several kilograms of diluted honey and sell it at the price of natural honey. To avoid the expensive purchase of low-quality honey, there are several simple ways to distinguish natural honey from fake honey. You will not 100% expose the seller by these methods, but at least with a high degree of probability, it will be possible to determine whether you purchased high-quality honey from a private seller.

How honey is counterfeited

Honey has been counterfeited since the development of the sugar industry. The first fakes honey was ordinary sugar mixed with water and flavorings. Usually such a fake is mixed with real honey, for more difficult detection. Sometimes, substances harmful to human health were found in such mixtures. In our time, the technology of deception has leaped forward. Now for fakes, molasses, invert sugar (sugar syrup made from equal proportions of glucose and fructose), sucrose, starch and various other fillers are used. Counterfeits have reached such a level that they are difficult to detect even in laboratory conditions.

The state has undertaken the protection of consumers from low-quality honey and, in principle, buying honey in a trusted store, where everything is in order with the documents, it is unlikely to run into a fake. But a lot of honey is bought from individuals who are not subject to any verification. But impurities in honey, not to mention the fact that they reduce the benefits of this product, can directly harm your health.

Fakes of honey are divided into:

1) Natural honey with the addition of various additives to increase mass, viscosity
2) Honey made from non-nectar products
3) Artificial honey

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

First, the honey must be ripe. 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 such honey that has all its useful properties and can be stored for a very long time.

Often, beekeepers pump out honey during honey collection, without waiting for it to ripen, due to the lack of combs. The water content in such honey sometimes doubles the norm, it is little enriched with enzymes and sucrose, and quickly 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 is wrapped around her. From time to time it can become sugar-coated, this is normal. If you want to transfer it to its previous state, heat it slightly in a water bath. But sometimes this provokes further souring.

Test for the naturalness of honey

With the help of simple tests, you can determine whether honey is natural. 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. Flour or starch is added to honey. so that the honey diluted with water remains thick.

If, when adding vinegar essence, the solution sizzles, there is chalk in the honey.

If a white precipitate forms in a 5-10% aqueous solution of honey when a small amount of lapis (silver nitrate) is added, sugar has been added.

How to determine the quality of honey

By color

Each type of honey has its own color, inherent only in it. Flower honey - light yellow color, lime - amber, ash - transparent, like water, buckwheat has different shades of brown. Pure honey without impurities, as a rule, is transparent, whatever color it may be.

Honey, which contains additives (sugar, starch, other impurities), is unclear, and if you look closely, you can find a sediment in it. But remember, there is a catch here too, transparent honey is either fresh honey or melted honey! If they are trying to sell you pure transparent honey outside the honey season, most likely it is melted, or it is generally a fake. Over time, honey can be candied, this is not scary, it practically does not lose its beneficial properties over time. elevated temperature) melted, such honey will at least not be complete.

By aroma

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

By viscosity

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

Fake honey will behave like glue: it will flow abundantly and drip down from the stick, forming a spray.

Photo: natural honey, thin continuous thread

By consistency

Real honey has it thin, delicate. Honey is easily rubbed between the fingers and absorbed into the skin, which cannot be said about a fake. Counterfeit honey has a rough structure; when rubbed, lumps remain on the fingers.

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

Honey has long been famous for its beneficial properties. But it is important not to miscalculate and buy really real natural honey, otherwise there will be no benefit from it.

How to check the quality of honey

1. In order to determine the maturity of liquid (non-sugar, fresh) honey, a spoon is dipped into it and they begin to rotate it. Unripe honey flows from the spoon, and mature honey is wound, lying on the spoon in folds, like a ribbon.

2. Take liquid (non-sugar) honey for a sample by dropping a thin stick into the container. If this is real honey, then it follows the stick with a long, continuous thread, and when this thread breaks, it completely descends, forming a turret on the surface of the honey, a pagoda, which then slowly disperses. Fake honey will behave like glue: it will flow abundantly and drip down from the stick, forming a spray.

3. Quality honey should not foam. Foaminess indicates fermentation, i.e. spoilage of honey. Natural honey cannot ferment, because it is bactericidal.

4. Over time, honey becomes cloudy and thickened (candied) - this is a sure sign of good quality. Liquid honey usually occurs in the summer (July-August) during the period of its pumping. After a maximum of 1-2 months (depending on the variety), it crystallizes. Therefore, if liquid honey is sold in winter or spring, it means that it is either heated or falsified. It should be remembered that when heated to a temperature of + 40 ° C and above, honey loses its main beneficial properties. In candied natural honey, all the beneficial properties are preserved, and it is undesirable to heat it up or add it to hot dishes and drinks.

Most often, real honey is candied 2-3 weeks after collection. Considering that the last bribe is taken in late September - early October, by October 20, natural honey can only be candied. The exception is honey from white acacia (acacia honey), which does not crystallize for a long time (sometimes until spring), and heather honey, which turns into a jelly-like mass. It happens that honey during storage forms a crystallized layer from below, and syrupy from above. This indicates that the honey is immature and contains an increased amount of water.

5. Check the smell and taste. Counterfeit honey is usually odorless. Real honey has a fragrant aroma. This smell is incomparable. Honey mixed with sugar has no aroma, and its taste is close to the taste of sweetened water.

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

7. The addition of starch syrup can be determined with ammonia, which is added dropwise to a sample of honey previously dissolved in distilled water (1: 2). The solution turns white with a brown precipitate.

8. An admixture of chalk can be found if you add a few drops of vinegar to honey diluted with distilled water. In the presence of chalk, the mixture boils due to the release of carbon dioxide. Or you can just drip vinegar or some other acid on the honey. If the honey "boils", then there is chalk.

9. The definition of sucrose (sugar) additives in honey is as follows: dissolve honey in hot distilled water (in extreme cases, boiled water) in a ratio of 1: 2 to obtain an easily flowing (sufficiently liquid) solution. Inspect for the detection of mechanical impurities - a solution of natural honey (without introduced insoluble additives) will necessarily be transparent, without sediment and without impurities on the surface. Then carefully add a few drops of silver nitrate solution there, observing the reaction. If the honey is without added sugar, there will be no cloudiness. If sugar is added to the honey, a distinct whitish haze will immediately begin around the drops.

10. The presence of mechanical impurities is determined as follows: we take a sample of honey into a small test tube, add boiled or distilled water and dissolve it. Natural honey dissolves completely, the solution is clear. In the presence of insoluble additives (for falsification), a mechanical impurity will be found on the surface or in the sediment.

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

How to choose the right honey

1. By color. Each type of honey has its own color, inherent only in it. Flower honey - light yellow, lime - amber, ash - transparent, like water, buckwheat has different shades of brown. Pure honey without impurities, as a rule, is transparent, whatever color it may be. Honey, which contains additives (sugar, starch, other impurities), is unclear, and if you look closely, you can find a sediment in it.

2. By aroma. Real honey has a fragrant aroma. This smell is incomparable. Honey mixed with sugar has no aroma, and its taste is close to the taste of sweetened water.

3. By viscosity. Take honey for a sample by dropping a thin stick into the container. If this is real honey, then it follows the stick with a long, continuous thread, and when this thread breaks, it completely descends, forming a turret on the surface of the honey, a pagoda, which then slowly disperses. Fake honey will behave like glue: it will flow abundantly and drip down from the stick, forming a spray.

4. By consistency. Real honey has it thin, delicate. Honey is easily rubbed between the fingers and absorbed into the skin, which cannot be said about a fake. Counterfeit honey has a rough structure; when rubbed, lumps remain on the fingers.