Processing Raw Honey

Processing Raw Honey

After the beekeeper collects the honey it's processed immediately after harvesting because it crystallizes when it's allowed to sit. It has to be heated up between 150-170 degrees because it carries the bacterium that causes botulism, which can be dangerous since this is the very bacterium that causes food poisoning. Honey is actually sweeter than table sugar, but the problem with table sugar is that it's bleached white since actual unprocessed raw sugar is brown. Honey is pasteurized to kill off the bacteria like botulism to make it safe to eat and to put in food.

Honey actually doesn't have that golden color it's actually white and pasty looking before it's cooked down to the point that it caramelizes. Honey also serves a purpose in medicine and in many vitamin supplements since raw unprocessed honey carries a high level of antioxidants and enzymes and aids in digestion and other health properties.

What is great about honey is that it's slowly taking the place of corn syrup being used in a lot of the food that we eat today because it's been linked to cause diabetes because people eat it in such an increased amount. Honey is being used because it's produced naturally since corn syrup is mechanically processed. Honey is also being used in beer and other beverage like teas and is readily becoming a hugely useful product that puts a lot of beekeepers back in the spotlight to produce high quality honey. For the past 2700 years according to history honey was used in medicine to provide topical relief for rashes and skin irritation like the condition called MRSA (pronounced mersa-a type of resistant staph infection). Honey is also good for mixing it with a little lemon to treat laryngitis and was used to treat contagious conjunctivitis (pink eye).

There are 7 different ways honey can be processed the most common are comb honey that's heated and treated through pasteurization and then you got the raw honey which is the base for pasteurized honey you see mostly in the stores today. Parents are advised to be careful in giving infant honey products because of the acid levels and potential exposure to the botulism bacteria. That's why it is wise to eat honey that's been pasteurized since you don't know what kind of exposure the bees who produced the honey has been around so it's better to eat honey that's been pasteurized or produced by an organic farmer that does raw honey because that's probably the safest kind of honey you can eat that isn't going to expose you to harmful bacteria.

Many beekeepers are trying to take the honey they produce to the organic level because they don't believe in producing a product using harmful pesticides and chemicals. If anything organic is your best bet because these farmers only produce a product on land that's not treated with chemicals. Organic farming also have standards they adhere to in terms of what the market expects of the product and beekeepers are usually about the natural way of things especially when it comes to the honey they produce.