How to distinguish natural pure honey from synthetic honey? The secrets of honey (4)

In the previous article, we introduced that natural honey is rich in nutrients, a precious quality that synthetic honey can never "replicate". Beekeeping is truly hard work, and the cost of controlling every detail of food safety is bound to be reflected in the price of natural honey; it is only reasonable that quality is reflected in price. Yet the current market situation is that some operators use low-cost artificial refined sugar and flavorings to make synthetic honey, and even advertise it as natural honey to reap huge profits, or undercut the market with low prices, forcing natural honey to be sold at reduced prices, leading to bad money driving out good. When even the government has no way to regulate it, this is the time for us to strive to become smart consumers and think carefully before making a decision!

“Whole-honey stable carbon isotope δ13CH” is a statistical result summarized from research and analysis of a large amount of real honey and synthetic honey. Simply put, looking at the chart: honey with a value less than -23.5‰ is real honey, while if this value is greater than -21.5‰, the probability that it is synthetic honey is as high as 99.9%. However, this test has a gray zone that cannot be accurately identified, from -23.5‰ to -21.5‰; it could be natural honey or synthetic honey.

Therefore, to identify this gray zone, one must look at “extracted honey protein stable carbon isotope δ13CP”, which likewise must be less than -23.5‰ to be real honey. But if there is honey falling in the gray zone and you want to identify its authenticity, you must subtract the value of the whole-honey stable carbon isotope from the value of the extracted protein stable carbon isotope. If the result is -1‰, it means that 7% C4 plant sugar exists in the honey. The more negative this index is, the more C4 sugar is adulterated into the honey, that is, synthetic honey artificially made from corn syrup or sugarcane.

The knowledge density in this installment is very high, but since it concerns the important matter of physical health, spending some time to understand it is certainly more worthwhile than spending money yet losing your health.

Starting next time, we will share more interesting honey quality identification, and more about bee ecology and beekeeping craft!

Series articles:

From how the human body absorbs sugars, to an introduction to common sugars in daily life, and a guide to appreciating natural honey

The Secrets of Honey (1) Why do humans need to eat something sweet?
The Secrets of Honey (2) Sugar: eat what tastes good, and eat good quality
The Secrets of Honey (3) Only natural honey is nutritious
The Secrets of Honey (5) How to judge whether honey quality is good or not
The Secrets of Honey (6) The craft and wisdom of Taiwan, China beekeepers
The Secrets of Honey (7) A flavor guide to real honey of Taiwan, China, and recommended ways to eat it