Laurence Edwards' petition to allow the use of the word "Raw" to describe unheated, non-pressure filtered honey.

[Murox]

not dissagreeing on that just advising what the Trading Standards/Law current interpretation is.

Isnt that a part of the issue - there are some 116 or so areas applying their interpretation through X thousand officers and yet they still won't apply the law evenhandedly because "its not worth their while" if its a company with clout and cash.

 

[user 20297]

Round and round in circles: maybe time to retire this thread?

There has been an interesting range of views and information and no-one appears to be getting really cross. If you're getting dizzy, why not simply get off the roundabout?

 

[Repwoc]

but I can't think of a food-related example that uses "raw" like that.

Milk.

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/raw-drinking-milk

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Milk.

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/raw-drinking-milk

But it's a reserved description - only applicable to.........................

Milk!

 

[user 20297]

But it's a reserved description - only applicable to.........................

Milk!

......the law and the use of language is fixed and therefore it is set in stone that no other natural food product may ever be described as "raw".

 

[Repwoc]

But it's a reserved description - only applicable to.........................

Milk!

And that's exactly what Lawrence is asking for for honey. @Firefly was looking for another food example using the word raw, and there is one so there is a precedent.

 

[enrico]

But it's a reserved description - only applicable to.........................

Milk!

But it is all we drink. I drink raw milk and eat raw honey

 

[Poly Hive]

Elsewhere I am assured by a person that they have never warmed honey to filter it. I find that I hesitate to say unbelievable but....

I have always had to warm to filter and in my innocence thought that the majority do so ..........another poll?

PH

 

[enrico]

Elsewhere I am assured by a person that they have never warmed honey to filter it. I find that I hesitate to say unbelievable but....

I have always had to warm to filter and in my innocence thought that the majority do so ..........another poll?

PH

Never done it, only use the two part filter and nothing finer. Filter immediately after extraction. Honey still warm from hives!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Is it all sold straightaway or does it go in buckets ?

 

[Boston Bees]

Never done it, only use the two part filter and nothing finer. Filter immediately after extraction. Honey still warm from hives!

Me neither

But I certainly warm the jars to make them runny again as and when required

 

[Anduril]

The main question I get asked is if the honey is organic not raw. My honey is sold via recommendation from others and I have a growing Muslim clientele because they use it as a medicine. Does that make me a doctor?
The use of the word raw is a misnomer, how do you liquefy it if you can't heat it, who will police the heat treated honey and are all your warming cabinets calibrated to a certified level (my warming cabinet is calibrated by a certified thermometer, I'm fussy), one degree over or a hotspot, then it could be classed as cooking honey. There is a difference between very small scale where you sell out before the honey crystallises, to the mid range where you store it and and warm it to bottle it, hobbyist and semi-commercial, then to full time commercial where you have the choice of selling it by the jar or barrel.

 

[mbc]

So who's honey is rawist?

 

[user 20297]

Never done it, only use the two part filter and nothing finer. Filter immediately after extraction. Honey still warm from hives!

I agree, same here; in a warm, modern, house, the relatively small quantities I produce have been easy to filter in that way. The petition is suggesting 40C as a top end temperature...that should be warm enough with fresh honey.

 

[Sanntos]

So who's honey is rawist?

Don't know, but I know the rawist beekeeper

 

[The Poot]

So who's honey is rawist?

Perhaps there’s a business opportunity for Pargyle here - a raw’ometer. To detect rawness in a honey sample and produce a sticker showing the rawness on a coloured scale, a bit like the power rating on an electrical appliance.?

 

[Jonnyl]

Elsewhere I am assured by a person that they have never warmed honey to filter it. I find that I hesitate to say unbelievable but....

I have always had to warm to filter and in my innocence thought that the majority do so ..........another poll?

have

Elsewhere I am assured by a person that they have never warmed honey to filter it. I find that I hesitate to say unbelievable but....

I have always had to warm to filter and in my innocence thought that the majority do so ..........another poll?

PH

Hi PH. I've only been a beek for 4 years but i can honestly say that I've never heated my honey. I keep a jar aside every year and it never crystallizes. Had to buy soft set to seed my honey for SS. i use the CEH lab to test every year x2 and it always comes out at 81% brix and 17 point something as moisture content so it is 'proper'. Therefore for my own part i am satisfied that my honey is raw so i see nothing wrong with calling it raw and im miffed im not allowed to call it what it plainly is. Raw. I don't sell it, prefer to give it away and make mead etc but i defy any chamber/court to argue that my honey isn't raw. It is. If you do/say what you truly know then surely you can never be wrong? It is what it is?

 

[Anduril]

Your honey is very high in fructose, that is why it is not crystallising, if it was higher in glucose then it would crystallise. @Jonnyl

 

[enrico]

Is it all sold straightaway or does it go in buckets ?

Into jars 24 hours after extraction and sold/used whenever they get sold/used. Never used a bucket. Have only had crops of about 600 lbs max though!

 

[Jonnyl]

Your honey is very high in fructose, that is why it is not crystallising, if it was higher in glucose then it would crystallise. @Jonnyl

Yes Anduril, I've read that when i was getting frustrated trying to make soft set however the main thrust of my point is that I've never had to heat honey. In fact im dreading the day OSR turns up as i dont know how to cope with it.