I'm sure there's a logical answer but, if honey never goes off, why does it have a sell-by date?

Question

Honey is supposedly the only food-stuff not to go off or decay, so I can't understand why it should have a sell-by date!!!

Answer 1

I have a jar with a little honey left, it has a best before date of November 2007.
Some honey is sold as liquid honey, some is sold as set.
Both are affeced by time, heat, light, and extreme cold.

When they sell honey, it it sold as it then appears, and as it is labelled. Honey however can change by crystalization, soft honey can become hard, and even set honey can change. the best before date, or sell by dates, are to ensure the honey stays in the condition you buy it in, and of course there is a lot of leeway, as it is likely to maintain condition longer than they estimate.
Also time, heat and extreme cold can change the chemical formation within honey.
link1:
http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodstorage/a/honeystorage.htm
Read the storing honey part at this link:
http://www.groceries-usa.com/honey_knowledge.htm

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Answer 2

You've got to remember that Bees are not very good at slowing down their production line, so if the shops don't sell their stock, their shelves begin to get overfull as the bees keep delivering more and more of the stuff.

Also if the shops don't sell enough of their honey stocks, there will soon be a glut of honey on the market. The price will tumble and countless honey factories will have to close with the loss of millions of jobs for bees.

Do you want to have to carry the responsibility for making millions of bees redundant and having to then report to their local job centre with their U Bee 40 to collect unemployment BEEnefit?

What would happen to all the wives and children?

So don't let this happen. Go out and buy some more honey NOW!!!

Answer 3

1. All honeys in containers are processed to some extent -- comb honey is the ONLY unprocessed honey.
2. LESS PROCESSED honeys (no heat applied) have more taste but can be susceptible to fermentation from sugar-tolerant yeasts which are always present in honey.
3. High temperatures used during processing (over 160 degrees) with filtration, tend to reduce granulation and help improve the looks of the products, however, natural enzymes are eliminated.
4. Straining or filtering IS NECESSARY (many different systems are in use) to present honey at it's best. Partially granulated honey on a shelf, sells very poorly.
5. Organic is a term that should not be used at all. Bees are nature's creatures and can not be controlled totally by beekeepers.
6. Just find a honey that looks and tastes good to you and enjoy!

Today sell-by, use-by and best-by dates are sacred. People now scour their cupboards and fridges, throwing out anything tainted by time. Twenty-four hours' obsolescence is all they will tolerate.

It doesn't matter that the product is still good, and likely to stay good, for months. Nor that half the world would be grateful to be offered the nearly fresh contents of their garbage/rubbish cans. What's important is keeping their homes clear of anything that could possibly contaminate their children or gross out their friends if they happened to drop by and saw a bag of week-beyond-deadline potato chips sitting on the coffee table, releasing deadly toxins into the air.

Most of our friends don't believe in sell-by dates. We all believe they're arbitrary figures put on consumer items by overzealous manufacturers anxious to encourage sales and avoid lawsuits.

What is worse is that sell by dates encourage us to eat more than we need. As adults we loath having to through good food away "so we eat it even though we are not hungry"

"O" by the way it is down to goverment legislation. All food must have a sell by date, use by date. This is determined by the Food manufactures not growers.

Do you ever see sell by dates on food sold loose in markets ?No, you only see it on processed food Packaged food

Answer 4

All the other answers are very valid. A sell-by-date ensures the product meets the manufacturere's specifications for quality and taste. Hard or solid honey thoug edible is not what is sold to you so it has deteriorated. If you want the definitive answer, consult the Food Standards Agency.
Beyond DAve

Answer 5

Although honey does not go off, it does crystallise, and this is why it has a 'best before' date. The crystallised honey is much thicker and less sweet than the original honey, however gently heating it in the microwave helps to dissolve the crystals in most types of honey.

Answer 6

because they don't want the honey sitting in the store for a long time. and they put the ones that have the sell by date the closest to the date that's that day!

Answer 7

even when honey goes lumpy and sugary,it is not bad, just put it in micro for about 15 seconds or less and it comes right back. As for why there is a sell by date, my honey doesn't,I just looked, but the government in all its wisdom,may say everything needs a sell by date.

Answer 8

It does not say sell by (not mine)
You are reading the date mark to make some kind of issue..
Isn't it simple
that is the last date the marketers will replace the product for quality or flavor....
also they may have plans to change the labels so they can increase the price.

Answer 9

You seem to have a lot of good answers so I won't try and add anything - just thought I'd mention, salt doesn't have a date on it, so I assume honey isn't the only thing.

Answer 10

The date is usually just a quality sell by date. It is still good after the date, just not as good or fresh as it would be before the sell by date.
For example: When I used to work at McDonalds, the friut had a use by date for quality but they were still perfectly good a few weeks after that date.