In a supermarket full of treats made with white sugar and white flour, it’s hard to stick to your guns and pick the nutrient-rich vegetables and meat that will keep you healthy. However, once you do decide to pick the healthy options, the challenge is not over. The food industry in the United States unfortunately has an enormous problem with companies deliberately mislabeling food, also known as food fraud. Companies know that Americans are slowly becoming more conscious about what they put in their bodies. However, instead of improving their products to meet consumer desires, companies simply tweak the wording on the packaging to mislead the consumer. Over the next few articles, I will be spotlighting several foods that are commonly mislabeled. First up: honey.
Pasteurized vs. Unpasteurized Honey
Most of the honey available in supermarkets is pasteurized, and therefore does not actually give you the benefits that you think you are receiving. What does “pasteurized honey” mean? Pasteurization is the process of killing microorganisms with heat. The pasteurization process varies depending on the brand. Some instruct pasteurizing honey by heating it to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes,1 while others instruct pasteurizing honey by momentarily heating it to over 161 degrees Fahrenheit.2 Please note that pregnant women are advised to avoid eating unpasteurized honey.
When dairy products are pasteurized, it is to remove potentially harmful bacteria. However, due to honey’s low moisture content and high acidity, harmful bacteria cannot survive in honey. Companies pasteurize honey to kill yeast, which prevents fermentation (fermentation in honey does not have any health risk) and to keep the honey in its liquid state longer, which looks more appealing to consumers.3 Do not be alarmed if your unprocessed honey crystallizes, it is still safe to eat. Crystallization is a natural process in which the glucose precipitates out of the liquid honey. To return your honey to its liquid form, simply stick the jar in a bowl of warm water and stir.4
When honey is pasteurized, the high temperature changes the structure of enzymes and kills probiotics.5 Unpasteurized honey still contains these helpful enzymes and probiotics. The National Honey Board defines unpasteurized, or raw, honey as, “honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat.”6
Importance of Bee Pollen
Through the pasteurization process, the pollen in honey is also removed. This is extremely unfortunate because bee pollen has a myriad of health benefits. Bee-gathered pollen contains protein (about 40%), free amino acids, vitamins, and folic acid.7 Because of this, bee pollen is a natural energizer, aids digestion, boosts the immune system, and soothes the respiratory system preventing the onset of asthma, among other benefits. There is also a theory that eating local honey reduces allergies because it slowly exposes your body to local pollen, a process called immunotherapy.8
Bee pollen is a valuable resource – it takes one bee eight hours a day for one month to gather one teaspoon of pollen.9 It is a shame that such a valuable resource goes to waste when honey is processed, especially in light of the current . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (as well as the World Health Organization and the European Commission) maintains that any product that is ultra-filtered and that does not contain pollen is not honey.10 However, the FDA does not test honey products to see if they contain pollen. When Food Safety News tested a variety of honey brands, many brands contained no traces of pollen, despite some even claiming to be organic. Mark Jensen, president of the American Honey Producers Association, stated, “I don’t know of any U.S. producer that would want to do that. Elimination of all pollen can only be achieved by ultra-filtering and this filtration process does nothing but cost money and diminish the quality of the honey.”11
Harmful Added Ingredients
When honey is processed, there are also unwanted ingredients that are added in. Honey is sometimes cut with corn syrup and traces of antibiotics and heavy metals have also been found in honey samples.12 Contaminated honey has been reported coming from China and India. This is because in 2001 an epidemic of the foulbrood disease hit Chinese beehives. Chinese beekeepers used strong antibiotics, including the carcinogen chloramphenicol, to fight off the disease. Chinese honey has also tested positive for lead contamination, which is attributed to small beekeepers in rural China using lead-lined drums to collect the honey from their hives. Unfortunately, the FDA only tests 5% of imported honey, allowing for plenty of contaminated honey to enter the U.S. market.13
https://web.archive.org/web/20180329225149if_/http://www.youtube.com/embed/LqGfo4qYliE iii
The moral of this story? Pay attention to where your honey is coming from and try to buy from local unpasteurized sources if possible! Stay tuned for more mislabeled food spotlights.
In a supermarket full of treats made with white sugar and white flour, it’s hard to stick to your guns and pick the nutrient-rich vegetables and meat that will keep you healthy. However, once you do decide to pick the healthy options, the challenge is not over. The food industry in the United States unfortunately has an enormous problem with companies deliberately mislabeling food, also known as food fraud. Companies know that Americans are slowly becoming more conscious about what they put in their bodies. However, instead of improving their products to meet consumer desires, companies simply tweak the wording on the packaging to mislead the consumer. Over the next few articles, I will be spotlighting several foods that are commonly mislabeled. First up: honey.
Pasteurized vs. Unpasteurized Honey
Most of the honey available in supermarkets is pasteurized, and therefore does not actually give you the benefits that you think you are receiving. What does “pasteurized honey” mean? Pasteurization is the process of killing microorganisms with heat. The pasteurization process varies depending on the brand. Some instruct pasteurizing honey by heating it to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes,1 while others instruct pasteurizing honey by momentarily heating it to over 161 degrees Fahrenheit.2 Please note that pregnant women are advised to avoid eating unpasteurized honey.
When dairy products are pasteurized, it is to remove potentially harmful bacteria. However, due to honey’s low moisture content and high acidity, harmful bacteria cannot survive in honey. Companies pasteurize honey to kill yeast, which prevents fermentation (fermentation in honey does not have any health risk) and to keep the honey in its liquid state longer, which looks more appealing to consumers.3 Do not be alarmed if your unprocessed honey crystallizes, it is still safe to eat. Crystallization is a natural process in which the glucose precipitates out of the liquid honey. To return your honey to its liquid form, simply stick the jar in a bowl of warm water and stir.4
When honey is pasteurized, the high temperature changes the structure of enzymes and kills probiotics.5 Unpasteurized honey still contains these helpful enzymes and probiotics. The National Honey Board defines unpasteurized, or raw, honey as, “honey as it exists in the beehive or as obtained by extraction, settling or straining without adding heat.”6
Importance of Bee Pollen
Through the pasteurization process, the pollen in honey is also removed. This is extremely unfortunate because bee pollen has a myriad of health benefits. Bee-gathered pollen contains protein (about 40%), free amino acids, vitamins, and folic acid.7 Because of this, bee pollen is a natural energizer, aids digestion, boosts the immune system, and soothes the respiratory system preventing the onset of asthma, among other benefits. There is also a theory that eating local honey reduces allergies because it slowly exposes your body to local pollen, a process called immunotherapy.8
Bee pollen is a valuable resource – it takes one bee eight hours a day for one month to gather one teaspoon of pollen.9 It is a shame that such a valuable resource goes to waste when honey is processed, especially in light of the current . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (as well as the World Health Organization and the European Commission) maintains that any product that is ultra-filtered and that does not contain pollen is not honey.10 However, the FDA does not test honey products to see if they contain pollen. When Food Safety News tested a variety of honey brands, many brands contained no traces of pollen, despite some even claiming to be organic. Mark Jensen, president of the American Honey Producers Association, stated, “I don’t know of any U.S. producer that would want to do that. Elimination of all pollen can only be achieved by ultra-filtering and this filtration process does nothing but cost money and diminish the quality of the honey.”11
Harmful Added Ingredients
When honey is processed, there are also unwanted ingredients that are added in. Honey is sometimes cut with corn syrup and traces of antibiotics and heavy metals have also been found in honey samples.12 Contaminated honey has been reported coming from China and India. This is because in 2001 an epidemic of the foulbrood disease hit Chinese beehives. Chinese beekeepers used strong antibiotics, including the carcinogen chloramphenicol, to fight off the disease. Chinese honey has also tested positive for lead contamination, which is attributed to small beekeepers in rural China using lead-lined drums to collect the honey from their hives. Unfortunately, the FDA only tests 5% of imported honey, allowing for plenty of contaminated honey to enter the U.S. market.13
https://web.archive.org/web/20180329225149if_/http://www.youtube.com/embed/LqGfo4qYliE iii
The moral of this story? Pay attention to where your honey is coming from and try to buy from local unpasteurized sources if possible! Stay tuned for more mislabeled food spotlights.
