HONEY, WE SHRUNK THE GOODNESS
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LIFE IS SWEET: Roger with one of his precious hives
WHEN we buy a jar of honey in a supermarket we imagine that it has come from a beekeeper who has taken out the frames, spun them, jarred up the proceeds and passed them along into the food chain.
“After all, that describes a generally accepted definition of honey which has lasted around 8,000 years,” says author Roger Morgan-Grenville.
But while researching his book, he discovered that most of the jars of honey in supermarkets are produced using “rather more industrial and chemical” processes than you might think.
“For a start, it has probably had all the pollen filtered out of it so that it stays nice and runny.
“But not having pollen allows it to be sold as ‘blend of EU and non EU honeys’ which is code for several giant processing plants in South America and China.”
There may be a picture of an English garden on the label, but the truth is murkier than that.
“Honey is a living thing, but the nutrients in it can only live up to about 40C. The honey in the average jar has been pasteurised up to about 75C and is now technically dead, no more than ‘honey-flavoured sugary syrup’.
“EU regulations insist modern honey has a two-year sell-by date, so how come they’ve taken 3,000-year old honey out of a pyramid and eaten it?
“Modern honey is almost certainly dead. Supermarkets supply what we want and try to get it to us as quickly, and cheaply, as they can.”
He says that most of what they sell has no right to be called honey: “I can’t even feed it to my bees to get them through the remaining bit of winter.” Roger is calling on us to support local delis selling honey from reliable beekeepers. “Everything about it will be better,” he promises.