This article is transferred from: China Economic Net
Source: China Consumer News
Xiong Zheng reporter Zhu Hai
Honey is because of its sweet and fragrant fragrance The taste is loved by people. Nowadays, honey has already entered thousands of households and has become a standing food in people’s lives. Honey contains a variety of nutrients, the main components are glucose and fructose. In addition, it also contains proteins (enzymes), free amino acids, minerals, vitamins, phenolic compounds, volatile compounds (such as monoterpenes, benzene derivatives) and solid particles (such as pollen, etc.) obtained from honey harvesting, since honey contains Rich in macro and micro nutrients, it is known as “the most perfect nutritional food in nature”.
The mature honey with high purity after being fully brewed by bees has high enough sugar content that bacteria generally cannot survive and is not easy to deteriorate. Therefore, manufacturers generally set the shelf life of honey as 18-24 months. This shelf life is for mature honey, not mature honey or honey containing active substances. Because the components in it will change over time, it often fails to meet the above shelf life requirements.
Is the honey crystal spoiled? Many people may find that the honey at home will crystallize at the bottom. So, is the honey crystal spoiled? Is honey crystallized or not crystallized? In fact, the crystallization of honey is the crystallization of glucose in honey. The crystallization is affected by various factors such as environmental temperature, humidity, water content of honey, and honey source, not honey deterioration. Generally speaking, honey with relatively high glucose content is easier to crystallize, such as linden honey, which will crystallize below 20 °C; while honey with relatively high fructose content is more difficult to crystallize, such as acacia honey, usually below 10 °C will crystallize.
The honey market is huge, and some unscrupulous manufacturers often make “fake honey” by mixing sucrose, starch, ammonium sulfate, alum, and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose into honey to make profits. So, how do ordinary consumers buy honey?
Look at the label to distinguish between honey and bee products. The label of honey is generally marked with pure honey or some kind of nectar, and the words marked with honey syrup, honey juice, honey ointment, etc. on the label are all bee products. “National Food Safety Standard Honey” (GB14963-2011) stipulates that no other substances may be added to honey. Therefore, the products marked with sucrose, white sugar, high fructose syrup, etc. in the product ingredient list of the label are all bee products. In addition, consumers can also identify by crystallization. Pure natural honey usually has a yellowish-white crystal, soft texture, and inconspicuous graininess. It will be broken when twisted by hand, and it is easy to melt in the mouth; while honey mixed with white sugar crystallizes harder, has obvious graininess, and melts more slowly.
Recently, Jiangxi Provincial Market Supervision Bureau issued a consumption reminder, reminding consumers to pay attention to the following points when choosing honey: (earth) honey. If the bees collect poisonous nectar plants, such as tripterygium wilfordii, big tea medicine, mountain begonia, digitalis, etc., the wild (earth) honey produced by them may cause poisoning to the eater. In addition, wild (earth) honey is not specially treated, which may bring hidden dangers to pollen allergy sufferers.
Second, the water temperature for brewing honey should be lower than 50 degrees Celsius. If the temperature is too high, the vitamins in honey will be destroyed, enzymes will be inactivated, and its nutritional value will be reduced.
Three, babies under the age of 1 should not eat honey. One is that babies may suffer from fructose intolerance and diarrhea; the other is that honey may contain botulinum toxin and its spores, and the botulinum toxin secreted by it may pose a fatal threat to babies. Adults and children over 1 year old, due to their relatively mature intestinal development, can inhibit the reproduction of this bacteria and avoid being poisoned by the botulinum toxin it produces.
Fourth, when taking honey, it is advisable to use dry and clean spoons and other tools, and cover the container after each use to prevent pollution and air leakage. It is best to eat it within the shelf life. Honey deteriorates quickly if it is contaminated or mixed with water during consumption.
5. Honey should be stored in a dark, low temperature (5-10 ℃), dry (air humidity not more than 75%), clean and ventilated environment.