What is Raw Honey? What is “Regular” Honey?

Raw honey is the honey you get straight from the hive, with all of its natural health benefits. It undergoes minimal processing, and it maintains unique tastes and textures that are determined by the given hive’s location, climate, and surrounding floral species.  (Read more about raw honey on the Buzz Blog.)

By contrast, “regular” or processed honey that you might find in a plastic bear at the grocery store honey undergoes a more intense heating and filtration process compared to raw honey, and it loses both flavor and health benefits from the processing procedures.

How is “Regular” Honey Processed?

Regular or processed honey is heated at temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit and poured through a filter with a typical pore size of 0.1 to 10 micrometers.

For context, a strand of human hair is about 100 micrometers in diameter, and cheesecloth, often used to lightly strain raw honey, has a pore size diameter of 400 - 600 micrometers.

Why Does “Regular” Honey Get Processed?

It’s mainly for shelf appeal. Consumers have been trained to believe that honey looks better as a golden, transparent liquid. People assume any deviation from that look, like crystalized honey, is bad or spoiled, when in fact raw honey can last for hundreds of years (when properly stored), crystallizes naturally, varies in color, and has a thicker, creamery texture than what you may often find in the stores.

What Happens to Honey’s Health Benefits Once Processed?

Several studies have found that both the micro filtering and the heating methods used to process honey can destroy or diminish compounds that are essential to natural honey’s health benefits. (Piatti, et al., Subramanian, et al., Zarei, et al.)

Raw honey contains enzymes, antioxidants, and other compounds that contribute to its many health benefits, which include anti-inflammatory capabilities, anti-microbial (anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal) effects, and prebiotic ability. (Pasupuleti, et al.) (Read more about Raw Honey’s health benefits on The Buzz Blog - coming soon.) 

The micro filtration process removes pollen from honey, which has itself been linked to many health benefits, while the temperatures reached in commercial honey processing (close to 200 degrees fahrenheit) have been found to destroy enzymes and antioxidants naturally occurring in honey, which are credited with many of its health benefits. 

Additionally, the heating practices in commercial processing have been reported in several studies to introduce a toxic compound into honey, known as 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF); this compound is not naturally found in raw honey and may be mutagenic (changes genetic material), carcinogenic (promotes the formation of cancer) and cytotoxic (toxic to cells). (Khalil, et al., Zarei, et al.)

Read more about Raw Honey’s Health Benefits, Raw Honey Crystallization,
and Raw Honey on The Buzz Blog!