A crystallized jar of honey, be it cold or simply old, can be revived after just a few minutes in a hot water bath. Fear not: You can restore the stuff to its former glory by (you guessed it) introducing heat. Oops! In an abundance of caution, you sent your jar or bottle of honey straight to the fridge before stumbling upon this article. Again, storage conditions have no bearing on whether or not your honey is safe to consume-namely ‘cause the stuff just doesn’t go bad. Of course, you’re free to stash your honey in the fridge if you don’t mind your sweetener on the chewy side, but room temperature is your friend if you want to keep that (viscous) gold flowing freely. In fact, storing a jar of honey in the fridge will do more harm than good, as the cold temperature causes rapid crystallization of the sticky, sugary goodness within. Most of us rely on the refrigerator to extend the life of food items-and for good reason-but this does not hold true for honey. The pantry is hands-down the best place to store this shelf-stable product. As far as honey is concerned, you’re in the clear, regardless of how long that cute little teddy bear bottle has been languishing in your kitchen: Expired honey will not make you sick (but if it has crystallized it might be a real pain to squeeze out into a cup of tea). In other words, even products that are known to spoil cannot be judged by expiration dates when it comes to freshness and food safety. In general, expiration dates are relatively arbitrary and are assigned by the manufacturer to indicate peak quality. Does expired honey make you sick?Īs previously suggested, the question of whether or not to use expired honey has nothing to do with food safety concerns and everything to do with quality. Per the National Honey Board, some indications of such decline include a darkening in color, loss of aroma and crystallization. When it comes to whether or not honey has gone bad, it’s really just a matter of determining whether the honey in your pantry is at its best, or if it has begun to decline in terms of flavor and texture, due to the aforementioned physical and chemical changes. Allow us-or rather the National Honey Board-to explain: “Honey stored in sealed containers can remain stable for decades and even centuries! However, honey is susceptible to physical and chemical changes during storage…these are temperature-dependent processes, the shelf life of honey difficult to define.” As such, the experts at the National Honey Board say that your best bet is to assume your jar of honey has a shelf life of one to two years, and consider bidding it adieu after that. However, that doesn’t mean it will taste as delicious after gathering dust in your pantry for years as it did the day you brought it home from the store. In fact, honey is the only food that doesn’t spoil in the true sense of the word. Ultimately, the answer to this question is no, honey does not go bad.
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