# Honey darkening/Carmelizing with age?



## mrspock (Feb 1, 2010)

A coworker showed me a jar of honey that was quite brown. It was labelled "Canada No. 1 White", but is as dark as buckwheat.

I took a taste, and it tasted slightly caramelized to me. 

It looks like overheated honey... but she say's it's never been heated.

There's no reason she'd lie, but of course oversight is a possibility.

Anyone care to try to explain?


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

"Anyone care to try to explain?"

The honey 1) was not light colored and was mislabeled, 2) was originally light but was heated prior to labeling and inappropriately labeled, 3) was originally light when labeled but heated before being given to your coworker, or 4) was light and properly labeled, but was heated after having been provided to your coworker with or without their knowledge.


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## HillBilly2 (Jul 26, 2015)

Honey gets darker with age. Honey stored in the top of a cabinet is subjected to higher temperatures and fluctuations than honey stored in a basement. Honey stored on top of the cabinet will get darker much sooner, but both will get darker with age. HMF levels are around 10mg/kg in fresh honey, but increase around 16mg/kg per year thereafter. This is greatly accelerated with higher heat. Dextrin formation also increases greatly over time and will make honey darker.

My guess, it was what it says, then stored on a shelf for a few years. Should be ok to eat, but don't feed it to the bees. HMF and dextrins both make bees sick.


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## rwlaw (May 4, 2009)

I had a gallon of that I forgot about for a couple months that was set over a light bulb, it darkened and thickened. I don't think it was a overheating issue as much as the light, I'm using it for cooking and hot cereal.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

It had to have been heated, or was not canola honey. Here is why I say that. I have never in all my years of beekeeping had natural Canola honey that would stay liquid for more than a couple months. The only way to prevent it from doing so is to heat enough to make the viscosity thin enough to go through a 25 micron filter. No way would canola stay liquid lone enough to darken. thus it would have to have been heated to re-liquefy.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

Tenbears said:


> It had to have been heated, or was not canola honey.


Where was it said that it was Canola honey?


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

My BAD was in a rush and misread Canada for Canola. Carry ON!


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## mrspock (Feb 1, 2010)

beemandan said:


> Where was it said that it was Canola honey?


Hey,

At least we made it this far without talking about ISIS or the Presidential Race.


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## mrspock (Feb 1, 2010)

Thank you to everyone who replied. Unfortunately, the honey was in an office drawer, so exposure to either heat or light do not seem likely.

I'm afraid we'll have to chalk this one up as a mystery.


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## lemmje (Feb 23, 2015)

Any idea how old the honey was? After my mom died, going thru all her food storage, we found a couple buckets of honey in the back of the closet in the mud room -- very little heat and no light -- and it had gotten quite dark over the 30 years it was stored there.


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## ggileau (Feb 19, 2013)

lemmje said:


> Any idea how old the honey was? After my mom died, going thru all her food storage, we found a couple buckets of honey in the back of the closet in the mud room -- very little heat and no light -- and it had gotten quite dark over the 30 years it was stored there.


Wow! Had the honey crystallized? I have a hard time getting through the winter!


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