# does honey last forever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753 "2004-12-08T15:52:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jmunster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@Jmunster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jmunster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/1 "2004-12-08T15:52:17Z")
I heard somewhere that honey is the only food (or even thing?) that never perishes. Apparently honey found in Egyptian tombs was still edible… Is this true?? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/2 "2004-12-08T15:58:06Z")
Yes, according to the [honey association](http://www.honeyassociation.com/honeytrv.htm). There are a couple of beekeeper Dopers who should be along shortly to confirm or deny. ---
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/3 "2004-12-08T16:22:42Z")
But **WhyNot** , the question is Why? I couldn’t resist. 🙂 What’s in honey that makes it last forever? ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/4 "2004-12-08T16:42:28Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Yes, according to the [honey association](http://www.honeyassociation.com/honeytrv.htm). > There are a couple of beekeeper Dopers who should be along shortly to confirm or deny. Wouldn’t 2000+ year old honey have most likely have turned into a sugar like solid. This might be a factor in honey preserving itself. ---
**Author:** ![country\_hacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@country\_hacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/country_hacker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/5 "2004-12-08T16:48:13Z")
Seems like I’ve also heard that popcorn (unpopped of course) can also be stored indefinitely. Anyone care to comment? ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/6 "2004-12-08T16:52:06Z")
> [@jgroub](#): > > What’s in honey that makes it last forever? Fructose and glucose. A sufficiently concentrated solution of these compounds is “inedible” to bacteria. If you dilute honey with water it will become inedible in a matter of days. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/7 "2004-12-08T17:50:54Z")
While it may be perfectly edible, honey does alter over time. I remember my grandmother used to have a many-years-old jar of honey in her larder, which had separated out with a crusty layer of sugar crystals and a watery runny layer. Edible, yes. Appealing, no. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/8 "2004-12-08T17:53:57Z")
The key here is water activity, which is defined as the partial pressure of water vapor over your substance divided by the pressure over pure water. Microbes (bacteria, fungi, yeasts) require a water activity of at least about 0.6. Honey has so much sugar in it that it binds to all the water, making it unavailable for metabolism. There are a few unusually tough strains of yeasts that can grow in honey, but generally it’s not a good growth medium. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/9 "2004-12-08T17:58:08Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > While it may be perfectly edible, honey does alter over time. I remember my grandmother used to have a many-years-old jar of honey in her larder, which had separated out with a crusty layer of sugar crystals and a watery runny layer. Edible, yes. Appealing, no. You surrender too quickly, **Colophon**. Just submerge that honey jar in some warm water for about ten minutes, then stir. Ta-da! Good as new. (About ten seconds in a microwave will do it, too. I _knowed_ dem t’ings was good fer somet’in’.) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/10 "2004-12-08T18:06:47Z")
> [@country\_hacker](#): > > Seems like I’ve also heard that popcorn (unpopped of course) can also be stored indefinitely. Anyone care to comment? That is not very true at all unless you administer some life-saving techniques to the kernels. Popcorn depends on hot water (steam) to pop and its internal reserves of water needed to do that deplete over a few years. If you have old popcorn kernels, you might be able to pop it by soaking it in water for a few minutes before you try to pop it and there is a good chance that many will pop. However, I seriously doubt that popcorn several decades old is going to pop into anything resembling popcorn even if you soak it in water first. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/11 "2004-12-08T18:43:30Z")
What about sugar? Does that deteriorate/ decay over time? ---
**Author:** ![Sharky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Sharky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharky)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/12 "2004-12-09T05:56:47Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > While it may be perfectly edible, honey does alter over time. I remember my grandmother used to have a many-years-old jar of honey in her larder, which had separated out with a crusty layer of sugar crystals and a watery runny layer. Edible, yes. Appealing, no. Tupelo honey does not granulate. And it is incredibly sweet. There is only one place on Earth where it is produced commercially - Wewahitchka, Florida (just east of Panama City). Known around here as simply “Wewa”. The movie _Ulee’s Gold_ was filmed there. [Florida Tupelo Honey](http://www.floridatupelohoney.com/tupelofacts.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/13 "2004-12-09T06:53:11Z")
Great! So that’s why [Bobby Goldsboro’s](http://www.bobbygoldsboro.com/) _Honey_ will never disappear! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/14 "2004-12-09T07:31:09Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > What about sugar? Does that deteriorate/ decay over time? If exposed to the elements, yes. 🙂 Just visited the unearthed paddle boat _Arabia_ in Kansas City. Largest collection of pre-civil war artifacts in the US because the boat went down with all its cargo, including several jars of pickles. The excavators said the pickles were still sweet. So, 140 years for cucumbers. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/15 "2004-12-09T07:48:21Z")
> [@InvidiousCourgette](#): > > Fructose and glucose. A sufficiently concentrated solution of these compounds is “inedible” to bacteria. If you dilute honey with water it will become inedible in a matter of days. According to the [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey) article on honey: > [@](#): > > Honey does not spoil. Because of its high sugar concentration, it kills bacteria by osmotically lysing them. Natural airborne yeasts can not become active in it because the moisture content is too low. Natural, raw, honey varies from 14% to 18% moisture content. As long as the moisture content remains under 18%, virtually no organism can successfully multiply to significant amounts in honey. However: > [@](#): > > Honey (as well as other sweeteners) is also potentially extremely dangerous for infants. This is because, when mixed with the non-acidic digestive juices of an infant it creates an ideal medium for botulinum spores to grow and produce toxin. Botulinum spores are among the few bacteria that survive in honey, but also are widely present in the environment. While these spores are harmless to adults, because of stomach acidity, an infant’s digestive system is not yet developed enough to destroy them, and the spores could potentially cause infant botulism. For this reason, it is advised that neither honey, nor any other sweetener, should be given to children under the age of 18 months. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/16 "2004-12-09T14:55:28Z")
My impression is that all syrups are self-preserving. I never refrigerate molasses, or sorghum syrup or honey or even pancake syrup. No need to, because of the high sugar content. The stuff keeps indefinitely, in my experience. (Pancake syrup might be a little iffy, as it seems watered down.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/17 "2004-12-09T16:14:57Z")
> [@Sharky](#): > > Tupelo honey does not granulate. Neither does fireweed honey. Or it takes a very long time to do so. Light and sweet…yummmm. ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/18 "2004-12-09T17:41:25Z")
Gee, I _like_ granulated honey. Purposefully set it aside for a few months… ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/19 "2004-12-09T17:59:47Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > My impression is that all syrups are self-preserving. I never refrigerate molasses, or sorghum syrup or honey or even pancake syrup. No need to, because of the high sugar content. The stuff keeps indefinitely, in my experience. (Pancake syrup might be a little iffy, as it seems watered down.) How 'bout Ketchup? Seems to have an infinite life-span alstoo. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753/20 "2004-12-09T18:27:53Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > How 'bout Ketchup? Seems to have an infinite life-span alstoo. I dunno about “infinite” with ketchup. Put it this way: If you offer me a taste of 1000-year-old ketchup from some forgotten tomb, I think I’ll pass. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-honey-last-forever/278753.md?page=2)