Raw Honey vs Commercial Honey - Which Is Better?

Ever thought why there are different labels used for honey? There is Raw Honey, Commercial Honey, Organic Honey and Unfiltered Honey? Aren’t they all essentially the same? Well, in terms of nutritional value and processing, they are not the same.

Honey comes in many forms, it may be creamed, runny, set or comb honey. Some people prefer buying honey directly from the beekeeper, others pick it up from specialized stores or supermarkets.

There is always a risk of buying fake honey which is heavily processed and pasteurized. The processing destroys all the natural vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes and also reduces honey’s nutritional value.

What Is Raw Honey?

To put it simply, Raw Honey is the one which is not filtered, pasteurized, or processed. Raw honey does not undergo any sort of high temperature heating or processing.

Raw Honey is also termed as Natural Honey, Unfiltered Honey or Pure Honey

Raw Honey should be bought only from the local beekeepers who don’t process their honey in any way.

Raw honey is sourced directly from the honeycomb and never pasteurized. The beekeeper only filters the honey to remove any debris or impurities. Raw honey looks opaque or cloudy but is still safe to consume.

What Is Commercial Honey?

It is pasteurized to enable easier handling of honey when packed. After heating honey, it becomes more watery, hence commercial honey is easier to filter. Also, apart from removing impurities, filtering makes the honey appear smoother and clearer in texture.

Commercial Honey is the one that undergoes processing at a high-temperature heat followed by rapid cooling.

The pasteurization of honey extends its shelf-life, enhances the honey's appearance, and also kills yeast cells which might change the honey’s flavor. However, pasteurization reduces the number of nutrients and antioxidants in honey.

Comparison Between Raw Honey And Commerical Honey

Raw honey is the most natural form of honey and retains all of its healthy qualities. The bees gather the nectar from various wildflowers and blossoms.

Later, the bees carry this nectar to their hives and stores it into the beeswax. Once the nectar is stored, the bees make use of their wings to remove the water content from the nectar.

Over time, the nectar matures and becomes honey. This takes around 2-3 weeks. The beekeeper harvests the honey from the honeycomb and lightly filter it to maintain the particles of bee pollen but remove any beeswax or other impurities.

Commercial honey bought from stores experiences excessive processing. Pasteurization of honey is being done where the honey is heated at about 70 degrees Celsius. However, the beehive temperature can go only up to 40 degrees.

Due to this, commercial honey loses all of its natural characteristics.

Commercial honey is excessively filtrated due to which it tends to lose rich nutritional values, and the honey is much clearer and smoother. Commercial honey also has sugar syrup in it and as a result, you are only consuming artificial sugars but in different forms.

How To Pick The Healthiest Honey?

• To cherry-pick the healthiest honey, prefer buying it directly from the beekeeper.
• If this is not possible for you, then look for honey brands that state raw on the label.
• Keep in mind that honey brands labelled as pure or organic might not certainly be raw.
• The appearance of the honey is another factor that can help you decide!
• Commercial honey appears very smooth and clear in texture whereas raw honey looks a little cloudy or creamy as it is not filtered.
• Raw honey tends to have more variety in taste and color in comparison to commercial honey.

Raw Honey Vs Commercial Honey - What is the difference between them?

1. Raw Honey Is More Nutritious

   Raw honey is packed full of a wide variety of nutrients including amino acids, minerals, vitamins and enzymes. Raw honey also contains bioactive plant compounds known as polyphenols that act as antioxidants.

   On the other hand, commercial honey may contain only traces of antioxidants and nutrients due to heavy processing.

2. Commercial Honey Doesn’t Contain Any Pollen

   Bee pollen present in raw honey is extremely nutritious and consists of essential fatty acids and micronutrients. It has remarkable health benefits and helps fight inflammation and improve liver function.

   Commercial honey undergoes processing methods like ultrafiltration and heat treatments that remove bee pollen from honey.

3. Commercial Honey Have Artificial Sugars Or Additives

   Raw honey contains pollen and is more nutritious. Commercial honey has added sugars and additives present in it.

Summary:

Raw honey holds all the natural elements as it is not processed, hence it is more suitable especially for those who use honey for healthful purposes. Raw honey is only mildly filtered hence it retains most of its nutrients and antioxidants.

Unfortunately, commercial honey undergoes a variety of processing and treatment to make it more appealing for the customers, but this step removes useful nutrients like pollen and also decreases the level of antioxidants present in honey.

When it comes to picking healthier honey, it is best to buy raw honey. Therefore, consumers should be cautious and before buying honey from big supermarkets, they must read the labels for ingredients and other packaging details to know if the honey is real and raw.