Can raw honey spoil?

The good news is that raw honey is an exceptionally safe natural food and can withstand months or even years of storage at ambient temperatures without becoming hazardous to eat.

The quality of freshness of any raw honey will change over time with exposure light and heat. We encourage you to care for your honey.  It is an unprocessed food and naturally contains yeast, which can cause honey to ferment over weeks to months if stored in a warm, humid environment (like most kitchens).

Wendell Estate Honey’s low moisture content prevents fermentation. However, honey is strongly hydroscopic and readily absorbs water vapor from the air. This occurs even in unopened jars, but at a much slower rate. Honey exposed to heat and humidity loses freshness over time, first turning dark yellow in colour and then yellow-brown and developing bubbles and froth on the surface accompanied by a “yeasty” odor and sour taste. Eating fermented honey poses no health risk whatsoever, but many people find the sour taste unpleasant. Fermented foods and drinks are currently enjoying popularity among health-conscious consumers for their health benefits.

Pictured above: A jar of honey that has fermented due to being opened and then forgotten for over a year in a kitchen cupboard. The dark colour, separation of liquid and solid phases, bubbles and sour odor readily give away the fermented state.

Storage instructions for soft-set raw honey can be found here.