I just bought a jar of “100% pure honey” with an expiration date of 2027. What gives? I thought honey never expires.

Question

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

Answer 1

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”