Why pasteurisation is bad, really bad, for honey
The fact is that most people like their honey to be runny or at least easy to spread. The big honey producers have caught on to this. It suits them well because before when the honey has been pasteurised it pours much easier into jars and enables them to fill more jars per hour – thus more profit. It also enables them to blend and mix honey from many different sources. If you look at the honey for sale in supermarkets most of it has on the label ‘From more than one country of origin’. This is a problem because the honey producer cannot actually say where the honey in a specific jar has come from. In the past honey from China has been proven to have been adulterated with sugar and to have unacceptably high levels of antibiotics. In fact for a while imports of honey from China were banned – then China took to sending honey through other countries, like Vietnam and India.
The main problem with pasteurisation though is that it destroys the natural enzymes in honey. Wikipedia says: Heat-treatment after extraction reduces the moisture level and destroys yeast cells. Heating liquefies crystals in the honey, too. Heat-exposure also results in product deterioration, as it increases the level of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and reduces enzyme (e.g. diastase) activity. The heat also affects sensory qualities and reduces the freshness. Heat processing can darken the natural honey color (browning), too.
So it destroys the enzymes and the flavour. Cooked honey is also higher in water and lower in peroxide activity than uncooked – one of the enzymes in honey produces a mild form of hydrogen peroxide.
