What is Unpasteurized Honey?
That’s a great question! Let’s talk about pasteurized, raw and unpasteurized honey to help explain.
Pasteurized honey
must be heated to a minimum temperature. This honey is treated in a registered pasteurizing plant by the controlled application of heat so that the honey is free of viable sugar-tolerant yeasts*.
Raw honey
is kept in its natural state with no heat or filtering.
Unpasteurized honey
is only slightly heated during processing, helping the honey to retain many of its nutritional properties. There is growing Consumer interest in Unpasteurized Honey in North America driven by Health & Wellness.
What is Crystallization?
Crystallization is a natural occurrence for honey. Honey is processed into a liquid state through heating and filtration, but all honey will eventually return to its natural, crystallized state. Because unpasteurized honey is heated to a lower temperature during processing, there is a risk that it will return to the crystallized state more quickly than a pasteurized honey.
Crystallization does not impact product safety, and the honey can be returned to a liquid state by placing the bottle in a warm water bath.
