Yes it says “expiration date 2027” not just “best before”. There is only one ingredient which is pure honey so it has no additives. Is it even possible for honey to expire and under what circumstances? It is famous for being a food that supposedly doesn’t expire ever.
In: Chemistry
If your honey is in a plastic container, that might be the date they expect the plastic to break down and/or leech into your honey.
It is true that pure honey does not expire but it might be local labelling regulation that all food products should show expiry date.
It might not expire but it does crystallise over time, also there may be natural extras like small pieces of pollen that weren’t filtered out
Is it a “best before” or expiry date?
Food labelling laws can be complicated. So don’t expect “absolutely true, verified by much scientific research down to the atomic level” labels. Guidelines are provided by the relevant authorities, food companies follow the guidelines and put the appropriate labels. The meaning of the expiry date is probably something like “We’re 99.9% sure that the food contained will not expire by this date but it probably lasts a lot longer. But we don’t know how long because who the heck has time to test things this long anyway”
Depending on your country’s laws, food significantly changing its organoleptic properties may count as spoiling.
Honey and jam will crystallize over time, turning into a thick sugary substance which is perfectly fine for consumption, but no longer flows like fresh ones.
Most supermarket honey isn’t honey. It’s honey flavoured rice syrup.
Honey, like some other foods (like orange juice and milk) isn’t required to list ingredients, so the bigger corporates take full advantage.
Food labeling laws and not wanting to have any legal risks basically.
And on honey it’s usually a best before date not a use by date so not an expiry date as such.
The container may play a part if its plastic but typically pure honey is stored in glass jars.
There are a few different possible explanations.
Is the container plastic? Because plastic containers expire and leech micro plastics and chemicals from the aging plastic into the food. If it’s food that doesn’t go off like salt or honey putting it into a glass container will make it last for as long as it takes you to use it up.
Is it definitely a use by/expiry date, or is it a best before date? Those are not the same thing and both do as the name implies. If it’s best before a certain date it will still be safe to eat after that date, it might just not be as good as it was fresh. Honey can crystallize over time and the company would print the best before date to indicate when they think it might start to crystallize. But it’s still safe to use, you can put the sealed container of honey in a bowl of warm water until it looks back to normal. An expiry date or a use by date is when the company making the food expects it to no longer be safe to eat.
Do you live in a country where all foods are legally required to have an expiry date? If so the company making the honey would have to print an expiry date even though it doesn’t expire.
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