Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: Not sure, whether or not the honey you got from the supermarket is pure? Unfortunately, adulteration of pure honey with synthetic honey has become more prevalent nowadays.
As per a report from Times of India, recently tests conducted at the regional analytical laboratory in Kakkanad in Kerala showed that the product available in the market had colouring agents and additives.
Food safety officials found the presence of four colouring additives -tartrazine, sunset yellow, carmozine and ponceau 4R - in the sample that were collected from different shops in the city.
The adulteration was found in ATK Food Product with its address in Manickamanga lam in Kalady, although officials believe the address is wrong.
The tests were conducted following complaints regarding the widespread use of colouring additives in honey.
While the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) allows synthetic colours up to 100 PPM (parts per million) in a single of combination of products such as bread, chocolates and biscuits, adding colouring additives to honey is prohibited, as per the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulation 2011.
Here are some properties that will help you distinguish pure honey and adulterated honey:
Stickiness
Your honey is pure if not sticky when rubbed between fingers.
Thickness
Pure honey is fairly thick and takes time to move from one side of the jar to the other, whereas fake honey is light and runny.
Taste
The taste of pure honey goes away in a matter of minutes, whereas it remains for a little longer in fake honey due to presence of sugar.
Smell
Pure honey will posses a mild smell or the actual scent of the flowers from where the nectar is collected. However, a fake honey will have none or sour smell.
Dissolving method
Pure honey doesn't get dissolved in water, but settled as a solid body at the bottom of the glass. Whereas fake honey stays mixed up and gets dissolved in water right away.
Heating
Pure honey gets caramelized quickly and doesn't form foam, whereas fake honey becomes bubbly and never caramelizes.
