What is Raw Honey?

This is a question that comes up a lot and one thing that has become clear to us since we set up Honey Tradition is that many people are interested in knowing more about what they buy and where their food comes from. Most of us are trying to live healthier lives and better access to quality honey online, at specialist supermarkets or from farm shops have in part allowed us to do that but it’s a bit of a minefield out there and it’s often difficult to know where to start.

When you shop for raw honey one of the first things to do is to get to grips with the various phrasing that I think us beekeepers take for granted! Have you ever been online and thought…what is  unpasteurised honey? Does raw honey and organic mean the same thing? So first I’ll explain the different terms you might and what they mean.

The different terms for raw honey…

Pure Honey – For me, this is honey that may have been pasteurised but has not had other substances added to it.

Unfiltered Honey – This type of honey has had minimal treatment once it’s been harvested and added to jars.

Unpasteurised Honey – Pasteurising is a heating treatment that we usually associate with milk, heating milk to high temperatures kills off bacteria. Some honey producers will heat their honey, but this can often destroy the nutritional profile of the honey.

Is organic honey better than raw honey?

You may assume that buying organic honey means it’s raw honey. This might not be the case, just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it hasn’t been heated or filtered. Food products with the organic label have complied with a certain set of Standards. This means the producer has demonstrated a product or operation that has met these legal standards. They look at all aspects of organic manufacturing, production, storage and sales.

The best way to find out about the quality of your honey (organic or not) is to do your research about the brand. Check their reviews, look up their story, ask about their production methods.

Raw honey is often more expensive than you would usually find in the supermarket so make sure you’re making a worthwhile investment in your health and well-being.

Raw honey in nutshell…

Put simply, raw honey is best described as straight from the hive. This means no unadulterated substances. That said I can assure you that treating the honey very slightly is a worthwhile exercise to ensure beeswax and grains of pollen aren’t present!

If you’d like to know more about raw honey or if you have any questions then please pop a note below this post or get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading!

Marek