Teach You Four Ways to Identify Adulterated Honey
Among the various honeys sold on the market, especially bulk honey sold by some door-to-door vendors, some are adulterated. Adulteration mainly involves adding sugar, water, and starch. Some honey also contains impurities, making its texture impure. As long as you master certain identification methods, adulterated honey can be detected.
1. Drop honey on white paper. If the honey gradually spreads, it indicates that sucrose and water have been added. Honey adulterated with sugar has poor transparency, is not clear, appears cloudy, and its floral aroma is also diminished. Honey adulterated with brown sugar is darker in color, while honey adulterated with white sugar is light in color.
2. Honey adulterated with flour, starch, or cornstarch is more cloudy in color and not sweet enough. Place a small amount of honey in a cup, add an appropriate amount of water and bring to a boil. After cooling, add a few drops of yellow rice wine and shake well. If the solution turns blue, red, or purple, it indicates that the honey contains starch substances.
3. Insert a red-hot iron wire into the honey. If a sticky substance adheres to the wire, it means the honey contains impurities. If the wire remains smooth, it means there are no impurities.
4. High-quality honey is one that can be picked up with a chopstick to form a long thread, and the thread will automatically retract into a ball when broken.