Why is Madhava Honey Different? It’s Certified Pure, Honey.

Madhava organic unfiltered honey has been certified pure by the Clean Label Project. What exactly does that mean for all you honey lovers?

Our obsession with pure, simple ingredients all started with honey. We were fascinated by the everyday magic that bees perform, flying near and far to gather pollen and turn it into something so deliciously sweet. The fact that bees complete this transformation without machines, chemical additives, or anything artificial captured our wonder most of all. Why would anyone ever want to interfere with that process?

Bees: Nature’s Little Miracle Workers Find out why bees are so crucial to the health of the planet and to our food supply. 

Sweet Nothings What many consumers don’t know is that some companies cut their honey with lower cost cane or corn sugars, making what was once a healthy sweetener alternative into just another version of table sugar. Additionally, honey, as defined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (a set of food standards adopted by the United Nations and the World Health Organization in 1963 to ensure fair practices in the food trade) “shall not have added to any food ingredient, including food additives, nor shall any other additions be made other than honey.” The standard goes on to say that “no pollen or constituent particular to honey may be removed except where this is unavoidable in the removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter.” What does that mean? Honey should just be honey. Pure and simple.

What’s so great about bee pollen?

Bee pollen has been shown to help fight inflammation in the body and help improve liver function, as well as improve cardiovascular health. It contains over 250 naturally occurring vitamins, amino acids, essential fatty acids, micronutrients and antioxidants.

Filtration is the main way that beneficial bee pollen is removed from honey. By removing hive debris and air bubbles, filtration creates a clearer, smoother honey texture that some consumers may find more appealing. Some companies over-filter their honey however, removing not only all of the pollen, but important enzymes and antioxidants along with it. Madhava honey is unfiltered so that the natural goodness stays in every jar.

Pasteurization is another process that breaks down the integrity of honey by using high heat that destroys naturally occurring yeast in order to extend shelf life and give the honey a smoother consistency.

What is Creamed Honey?

Over time, honey naturally begins to crystalize. This isn’t a bad thing and is easily remedied by warming and stirring. In fact, some crystallization is needed to make what’s called “creamed honey”–essentially whipped honey. Because creamed honey actually contains a large number of smaller crystals that have been whipped throughout, it resists further crystallization. Creamed honey is thicker and smoother, and better suited for spreading. 

Why we’re different. We’ve gone to great lengths to produce the purest honey, just as nature intended. We strategically partnered with farmers and producers throughout Argentina, Brazil and Mexico who share our core values of pure and simple ingredients, whose hives are miles away from any potential industrial pollutants, herbicides or pesticides. And to make sure that each jar of golden, amber or creamed honey is as pure as possible, we partnered with the Clean Label Project to rigorously test our honey for purity.

Purity

The widespread use of pesticides and herbicides makes its way into honey production if companies aren’t careful about the source of their honey. Because bees can fly quite far from the hive to gather pollen, it’s important to factor hive location into the equation. Madhava honey has been awarded Pesticide Free and Purity Superiority by the Clean Label Project. 

Because we don’t ultrafilter or heat-treat our honey, it’s full of beneficial bee pollen and antioxidants. So much so, that the Clean Label Project bestowed our honey products with an Antioxidant Superiority Award. We want you to feel as confident opening a jar of our pure, delicious honey as we do. That’s why we put our Clean Label Project award certifications on every bottle. (Read more about the Clean Label Project.)

Just like bees, we think the simplest, natural ingredients are the best for us, you and the planet. Find out more about the full line of Madhava honey.