Don't Forget to Check the Expiration Date

Taken from : Can Honey Really Stay Good Forever?

Does Honey Expire?
Kelsey Rae DimbergUpdated: Feb. 09, 2023
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Natural honey can change color and crystallize—but does it ever expire? Here's the scoop.
Alongside jewels and wine, ancient Egyptians buried jars of honey inside the tombs of royalty, in the hopes that it would sweeten their passage into the afterlife. Amazingly, when the tombs were uncovered 3,000 years later, the excavated honey was perfectly preserved and still completely edible. Hungry archaeologists immediately slathered it onto their bread.

OK, that last part isn’t true—but the rest of the story absolutely is, as unlikely as it sounds.

So, does honey expire? How about modern honey? Here’s the scoop.

Can Honey Ever Expire?
Technically, all types of natural honey cannot expire because honey doesn’t spoil on its own. (More on why below.)

Honey can and will, however, change. It can change color from pale to dark. It can start clear and become cloudy. And, most peskily, its texture can change from smooth and thin to thick and grainy in a process called crystallization. Thankfully, though, none of these changes make the honey bad or unsafe to eat!

There is an important exception to this rule. If honey is exposed to moisture, it can ferment and spoil, which will be immediately obvious: smelly, sour, moldy and utterly unappetizing.

Does It Make a Difference if Honey Is Raw, Pure, Honeycomb, Infused or Pasteurized?
Less-processed honeys, like raw and honeycomb, will be more apt to darken or crystallize. Many stores sell pasteurized honey, which is honey treated with heat. Treated honeys stay pourable and clear for longer, but the treatment may remove some of the natural antioxidants and health benefits found in less-processed honey.

Watch out for supermarket honeys that dilute pure honey with added stuff, like corn syrup. While they’ll stay good a while, they’re not nearly as good for you.

Why Does Honey Have Expiration Dates?
Plenty of foods don’t need expiration dates, honey included. Stores use them largely to ensure that their stock is fresh. Obviously, they want to sell honey before it shows signs of aging. If your honey’s expiration date is approaching, it’s still safe unless it’s obviously fermented.

Can I Eat Dark or Crystallized Honey?
Yes, both are safe to eat. You can easily restore crystallized honey to a pourable state by placing the uncapped jar in a double boiler or directly into a pan of warm (not boiling) water. Every few minutes, remove the honey and stir it. Be careful to use a clean utensil, and don’t let water drip into the container. Microwaving honey isn’t recommended, as it’s difficult to heat evenly and easy to overheat, which may destroy nutrients.

Why Does Honey Never Go Bad?
Honey is inherently hostile to microbes and bacteria. Honey is a very low-moisture sugar with an acidic pH, yielding an environment in which bacteria literally cannot thrive. Other foods share this description—think molasses—and keep a long time, but not indefinitely. What makes honey so special? The answer is both gross and fascinating, so consider skipping ahead if you’re squeamish.

As it turns out, honey lasts so long because bees “process” it: they swallow nectar and regurgitate it into combs to make honey. (Yum!) An enzyme in their stomachs breaks the nectar down into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Does the latter sound familiar? A natural antiseptic, it’s literally sold in drugstores to treat all manner of wounds and maladies. In other words, on top of its natural resistance to bacteria, honey’s hydrogen peroxide repels any microorganism with the temerity to trespass.

This amazing chemical makeup is also why honey has been used for medicinal purposes (like ointments, and to treat burns and wounds) for thousands of years, including by those ancient Egyptians who buried honey in tombs.

How to Store Honey
Store honey tightly covered to keep out air and moisture. The ideal location is cool and out of the sun, probably another reason the tomb honey remained so pristine. In your own home, however, a pantry shelf will work just fine.
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What I find amusing about the question and the answer is that honey has no expiration date, but salt does. Salt that is as old as the earth itself can be pulled from caves, but as soon as it is put into a container, it's given a shelf life.
I think about expiration dates with people, relationships, and the random things that are in the cupboard. Obviously, things that have oils in them will undergo change. No one wants old coffee or tea leaves. Even oils need to be used once they have been opened.
But imagine my surprise when I was in my exam room and was told that we were going to be inspected and that everything with an expiration date that had passed needed to be discarded. Do you know what that included? Gauze, Q-tips, tongue depressors, syringes, needles. Pretty much anything that had been packaged to be sterile had an expiration date. Yes, even Band-Aids.
I'm saddened to admit how many friendships I had made over the years that had turned to acquaintanceship or something worse; termination. I have learned to live with these life occurrences and would shrug my shoulders and proclaim that the person is mentally ill or deficient for making the decision to end a friendship with me.
Language certainly has an expiration date. That's not something that everyone can fully understand or appreciate. I have learned languages both in school and on my own. I have also come to realize that you are only as good as your textbooks. When I learned German, for example, I was using pre-war textbooks. Some that even predated WWI. Many of the words had changed over time. Some did not exist. And some seemed almost exotic. If you were to look up telephone in the English to German section of the dictionary, you would see das Telefon. It would also include Tischtelefon (for desk phone), Autotelefon (for car phone), die Telefonrechnung (for telephone bill), or der Telefonanruf (for a telephone call).
When I learned the word in the 1970s, it was der Fernsprecher (for telephone) or--in fancier times--der Tastenwahlfernsprecher (for push-button telephone). My word is obsolete and anyone who were to hear it would know that my vocabulary had not been updated or would wonder if I were being pretentious.
The same could be said for English. My father used words such as ice-box or Victrola. In my native hometown we had regional words that were not used outside the boundaries such as 'the El' or sliding-pond.
Getting education or educated at an older age comes with a cost. The intended learner has to agree to forget things that had a different name or usage. Some such words are not always clearly accepted in all circles. I was asked by a straight man if he could use words such as fag, twink, or queer. I told him that it depended upon his audience. Personally, I said it would be best if he not self-identify as being heterosexual. People who are of the sub-group are able to take ownership of the words whereas an interloper, poser, or provocateur might not be so well-received were he/they/it/she to take on the language without concern of offense to others.
<SHRUG> We offend one another regardless of our age, gender identification, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status.
Now back to the expiration date. The thought that love might expire saddens me. My maternal grandmother has been gone since 1977. Years before the expiration date, she had obvious dementia. Some 46 years later, I can still see her in my mind and say out loud that I continue to love her and the memory of who she was to me.
There is a difference between expiration dates and things going out of fashion. We older people have an expression used to youth, "I have underwear that's older than you." I can certainly say that about my tie collection. Some of them were from my father's collection and they carry the name of stores that have long since gone the wayside. Still, a silk cravate from Gimbel's can manage to raise an eyebrow.