Honey is a beneficial substitute for refined sugar that is frequently utilized in India. It is a naturally delicious chemical that honeybees create. Liquid honey is devoid of salt, fat, and cholesterol. India is the nation that uses the most honey worldwide. Honey’s medicinal powers have caused consumption and production to rise significantly since the COVID outbreak. A rise in honey adulteration has coincided with rising demand. Pure or raw honey is presently sold under a very limited number of brand names. Learn about the adulterants used in honey, how to evaluate its purity at home and in a lab, how to quickly tell the difference between pure and impure honey, and the criteria used to assess honey’s purity in this article.

What are the Organic honey adulterants that are present?
Organic Honey is adulterated using materials that are inexpensive and may pass the requirements of laboratory testing. In India, the following chemicals are often employed as adulterants:

Sugarcane juice that is thick and viscous is known as molasses. You may make a black, turbid solution that tastes like honey by boiling sugarcane juice.
In the baking and confectionery industries, liquid glucose is a thick, shining solution. Additionally, it is inexpensive and simple to get on the market.
When refined sugar is processed, an opaque, viscous liquid is created.
When sweetcorn is processed, high glucose corn syrup (HFCS) is created. HFCS resembles honey in terms of both composition and consistency.
Rice syrup: This syrup is created when rice is processed. It is one of the honey adulterants that is most often utilized globally.

How can I tell if honey is pure or messed with?

Many businesses adulterate honey with less expensive substitutes due to the rising demand for honey and their desire to increase profits. The health advantages of pure or raw honey are definitely not present in contaminated honey. It is quite challenging to determine the purity of honey since there is no obvious physical difference between pure and contaminated honey. Here are some tests that may be run at home or in a lab to find out if the honey is pure.

Household honey purity testing
You may check the purity of honey at home using a variety of techniques. You may evaluate the purity of various types of honey that are sold by using these home treatments. It is usually advised to employ many tests to determine the honey’s purity because a single test may result in false positive findings. The following are the main diagnostic techniques you may employ to evaluate the purity of the honey:

Test for solubility
In this experiment, honey is allowed to dissolve gently in a glass of water. It is stated that your honey is pure if it sinks to the bottom of the glass without evaporating into the water. However, this test could produce erroneous findings because the adulterants used to make honey thicker (apart from molasses) prevent it from dissolving in water. Unripe honey is pure as well, but due to its thin nature, it dissolves readily in water.
Flame test:
This is a method for determining if honey contains water. By dipping a matchstick in honey and attempting to light it with a matchbox, the flame test is carried out. If your honey is pure, lighting a match won’t be difficult. However, it could be challenging to light a match if your honey is tainted. If your honey has been tampered with using thick adulterants with low moisture content, the test may produce erroneous findings.

Blot test:
The blot test evaluates the honey’s ability to flow. A few drips of honey are poured over the cloth or blotting paper to conduct the test. Honey is seen as being pure if it runs through blotting paper without becoming absorbed into it; nevertheless, impure honey is regarded as honey that has soaked into or saturated the paper. The test might produce erroneous findings if the density of the adulterants is equal to that of honey.

Test with vinegar:
You may use vinegar to determine the purity of honey. Take a glass of vinegar water and top it over with a few drops of honey. If the mixture starts to foam, your honey is likely false or contaminated. On the other hand, if no froth appears, your honey is pure.

How can the purity of honey be confirmed?
Have you ever been stranded in a grocery store, unsure of which honey to buy and which is the greatest quality? You can utilise the advice in the following paragraphs to avoid buying tainted honey.

Make sure there are no flavors or additives added to the honey by carefully inspecting the label and the whole bottle.
Understand the requirements for honey put out by the regulating body.
Always sample the honey before purchasing it if you have the opportunity.
If you have already purchased honey, use the home tests suggested above to determine whether it is 100 percent real.