Why dosen't honey spoil?

Answer 1

There is nothing in it that grows bacteria. It does crystallize when it gets old.

Answer 2

1. Because honey has a pH of about 3 to 4. This is very acidic and most organisms cant survive it.

2. Honey has a very low water content. Organisms need water to survive.

3. Its hydroscopic. It absorbs water, so any organism that finds it way to the honey if essentially dehydrated to death!

If you add water to honey, it will spoil because it loses factors 2 and 3 (above). This is good though because yeast can find its way to the honey and ferment it... making mead! So I guess that is spoilage in a way, but if you keep it sealed in a cool dry spot it can last for centuries. Its even been found in egyptian tombs!

Don't give honey to babies though because botulism spores live in honey and will make babies very ill. We can resist the low amounts though.

Hope thats what you were looking for. Best of luck.

Answer 3

Honey is a syrup of mostly fructose, with some glucose and sucrose and other yummy stuff in there. Surely, something that is so sugary would be a good place for bacteria to grow?

However, one of the miracles of life is that bees manage to concentrate honey until it's only 17% water. All that water is bound up chemically keeping the sugar dissolved, so there isn't any available for the bacteria or mold to live in. It's just like the bag of dry white sugar in your cabinet.

However, certain spores that can make you sick, such as botulism, can ride along in honey until they get to your tummy. That's why you should never give infants honey until their internal systems are strong enough to fight such things.

Answer 4

Because it was never living. All things that were once living go bad-apples, potato chips, milk (part of a living thing), etc. start to break down and "go bad" when they are removed from the living situation. For example an apple is picked from a tree or a cow is killed. The use of preservatives slows this process down, but can't stop it. Honey is basically a naturally occuring sugar, since sugar is a basic organic compound there is nothing for it to break down into. However, if you leave it out exposed to air it hardens because oxygen will react with hydrogen in the sugars and water will evaporate leaving it rock hard...

That's my theory anyhow...

Answer 5

To spoil means that bacteria and or fungus has decided to munch on it. Honey doesn't contain the nutrients for either to survive. Sugar (what honey is mostly made out of) is not a nutrient for either type of organism. That's why sugar doesn't spoil and is used as a preservative.

Answer 6

Honey, thick, sweet, supersaturated sugar solution manufactured by bees to feed their larvae and for subsistence during winter. The nectar of flowers is ingested by worker bees and converted to honey in special sacs in their oesophagi. It is then stored and aged in combs in their hives. Bee honey is an important constituent of the diet of many animals, such as bears and badgers, and is put to many uses by humans. In addition, the honey ant and various aphids manufacture a honey-like substance from flowers, from the honeydew of plants, or from the sweet secretions of other insects.

Bee honey is composed of fructose, glucose, and water, in varying proportions; it also contains several enzymes and oils. The colour and flavour depend on the age of the honey and on the source of the nectar. Light-coloured honeys are usually of higher quality than darker honeys. Other high-grade honeys are made by bees from orange blossoms, clover, and alfalfa. A well-known, poorer-grade honey is produced from buckwheat.

Honey has a fuel value of about 3,307 cal/kg (1,520 cal/lb). It readily picks up moisture from the air and is consequently used as a moistening agent for tobacco and in baking. Glucose crystallizes out of honey on standing at room temperature, leaving an uncrystallized layer of dissolved fructose. Honey to be marketed is usually heated by special processes to about 66° C (150° F) to dissolve the crystals and is then poured into containers that are sealed to prevent crystallization. The fructose in crystallized honey ferments readily at about 16° C (60° F) or over. Fermented honey is used to make honey wine or mead (see Fermentation).

Honey is marketed in the original comb as comb honey, or centrifuged out of the comb and sold as extracted honey. Chunk honey consists of pieces of comb honey suspended in extracted liquid honey. hope i helped! =)

Answer 7

It doesn't spoil. It crystalizes. The water evaporates leaving crystals.

Answer 8

Probably because it's natural. If you left it out of the container it would go hard. I wouldn't eat it then.