Honey has been used for centuries to add sweetness to our lives, the healthy way. Traditional medicine has also acknowledged its healing capacity. As more and more people recognize the health benefits of honey, it is one ingredient that is present in most kitchens. But how do you decide which one to buy? We reviewed 8 popular Honey brands in the country to arrive at our Top Picks.
But how do you decide which one to buy? The most common question which arises is “Which is the best honey in India?” “Which are pure honey brands in India?” “Which is the best organic honey without sugar?” “Healthiest Honey Brand” To ease your work, we reviewed 8 popular and best Honey brands in India to arrive at our Top Picks of pure honey brands in India.
Sugary secretions of plants, also called floral nectar, are converted to Honey by the bees. Honey is a sweet viscous fluid and is found across the world. With a resurgence of demand for honey, both for commercial and individual needs, we have a large number to choose from. To find out if the honey is pure with no added sugar, starch or any other additive and to ensure that your honey isn’t synthetic, a few standards are advised by FSSAI, in line with international norms. As we all acknowledge that honey has medicinal benefits. To get its effects, it should be the best organic honey without sugar and in its purest form. To find out if the honey is pure with no added sugar, starch, or any other additive and to ensure that your honey isn’t synthetic, a few standards are advised by FSSAI, in line with international norms.
The brands we picked were easily available and among the most popular. They did not contain additives like artificial color or other contaminants. All the reviewed brands were “pure” or organic or natural Honey.
Before Reviewing the products and coming to your answer on the best honey brands in India, here are the details of our process. • How do we pick our brands? • Who do we do this for? • What were we looking for?
Table of Contents
Best Honey – Top Pick: Zandu Pure Honey
Best Honey Top Pick: Zandu Pure Honey
We chose to test moisture content, added sugar and HMF (Hydroxymethyl furfural ) to see how pure the honey is. On all these parameters, Zandu Pure Honey came out with impressive results making it our Best Honey: Top Pick.
According to the results of our review and testing, Zandu Pure Honey contained no traces of added sugar. It also contained controlled and low amounts of moisture and HMF – both well below permissible limits. We also like the glass bottle packaging of Zandu Pure Honey. The product label gives you several details about the honey, along with a link where users can check the purity of each batch.
Best Honey – Value For Money Pick: Dabur Honey
Best Honey Value For Money: Dabur Honey
Our review and analysis showed no added sugar, controlled moisture and HMF levels. Dabur Honey is also the most economically priced across all the brands reviewed. All these factors collectively make it our Best Honey: Value For Money Pick.
Dabur is amongst the oldest, most well-known brands in India for Honey. Dabur Honey contains no added sugar, revealed our lab test results. (The review process is mentioned in detail below). The moisture content and HMF were found to be well within permissible levels. These three factors, and also being the most inexpensive brand makes Dabur Honey our Value For Money Pick. Additionally, the product information is displayed on the packaging. While reviewing the best honey brands in India, we also reviewed organic and pure honey brands in India.
We Also Reviewed Organic Honey
In addition to our two Top Picks (Dabur Honey and Zandu Pure Honey), we found two other brands to contain no traces of added sugar. Both these brands happened to be Certified Organic brands of honey – Organica Organic Forest Honey and Organic India Wild Forest Honey. While both these kinds of honey showed high levels of HMF, neither contained any traces of added sugar and displayed low levels of moisture content too. All other brands showed added sugar content, and hence do not feature in our recommendations. We only recommend organic honey without added sugar.
As far as the Organic Honeys are concerned, there is a growing demand for raw, natural honey across the world, and being Certified Organic, both by Indian and American authorities does give Organica Organic Forest Honey and Organic India Wild Forest Honey credibility. While studies on what exactly high levels of HMF signify are still ongoing, experts agree that higher levels of HMF are indicative of the handling and processing the honey goes through. Honey is called ‘organic’ when the flowers from which bees get the nectar are free from any chemicals and the bees are not given antibiotics. Raw/Forest Honey would typically be honey that has not been extracted as a result of bee farming, or bee cultivation.
Both these brands are free of added sugar and low in moisture, which means they will keep well. Their certifications (FSSAI and Organic) indicate they are safe to use.
Best Organic Honey: Organic India Wild Forest Honey
Organic India Wild Forest Honey
High levels of moisture indicate a higher possibility of fermentation, thereby degradation of honey. Organic India Wild Forest Honey showed well-under permissible levels of moisture and no traces of added sugar. The main and the essential indicator of pure honey no added sugar, hence Organic India Wild Forest Honey be the best and pure organic honey brand.
Best Organic Honey – Value For Money: Organica Organic Forest Honey
Pure Honey should not just be sweet but also flavorful, and added sugar may be an indication of honey which is not fresh. Our tests revealed no traces of added sugar in Organica Organic Forest Honey. Being this, Organica Organic Forest Honey does not compromise with its quality and taste of the honey.
Our Review Process
Honey is known for its antioxidant value, and for the many health benefits it provides, thanks to these very anti-oxidants. While honey is amongst the most commonly used ingredients always available in our kitchens, it is also one of the most adulterated products out there. And not just that, Honey is also something consumers find tough to make a decision about. How do you know the brand does not add sugar to improve the taste? What about the moisture content? For picking out the Best Honey brand in India and pure honey brands in India, we decided to get a range of commonly available brands tested in an authorized lab. We know its important for you to know which brand to trust and which to not. We want you to have the best honey brand in India, so you can get its all-medicinal properties. As an end user, you surely need to know some important points like:
- How much moisture content your honey is of?
- Is the honey without added sugar?
- Does your honey crystallize?
- Is it safe to have the crystallized honey?
To answer all the above question which we know our readers and end consumer’s needs for their proper health and to gain the most benefits from having honey, we got brilliant insights from the Nutritionist.
We sought the guidance of Rupali Datta for this review, (Consultant Nutritionist, Fortis Escorts), a clinical nutritionist with nearly two decades of hands-on experience in the field of dietetics and nutrition. Ms. Datta helped us determine the parameters of the review and we developed the process in consultation with her. She is also the lead author of this review. With the help of her, we wrote this detailed review to make you all aware on how essential it is to know what are we consuming. And do the honey brands satisfy what they claim on their products.
We bought the Honey from store shelves and sent the sealed packets to FICCI- FRACS, a NABL accredited lab that follows very strict norms of blind testing, wherein the brands being tested are not even known by the lab assistants conducting these tests. They maintain a chain of processes so that there is no chance of subjective or personal bias in their results. They also maintain the records of their processes which can be audited. Once done, they assure that the top honey brands provide the quality honey product.
In the case of honey, we chose to test for three markers – Added Sugars, Moisture, and HMF, as one indicator alone does cannot define the purity of the sample. These three parameters can be considered as the mark to remember while buying pure honey or organic honey.
Brands We Reviewed
Patanjali Honey (Buy on Amazon)
True Elements Raw Honey
Organica Honey (Buy on Amazon)
Dabur Honey (Buy on Amazon)
Organic India Organic Honey (Wild Forest) (Buy on Amazon)
Sri Sri Tattva Honey (Buy on Amazon)
Apis Himalayan Honey (Buy on Amazon)
Zandu pure Honey
How We Picked Our Brands
Here’s how we pick our brand in process of finding best, pure and organic honey brands in India.
We chose a list of bulk processed and some organic brands. Most of these are easily available. These were amongst the most popular brands and easily available both online and in stores. We mean to help consumers make an informed choice for what is best for your health. We mean to help consumers make an informed choice for what is best for their and their dear ones’ health.
Who Did We Do This For?
Honey has been used for its medicinal properties and its healing powers are well documented in ancient medical literature, honey is known for its anti-microbial properties and immunity enhancing powers. Honey is associated with providing protection against a number of health disorders in humans. Because of its antimicrobial properties, it provides protection against infections, Manuka honey is known to protect against the pathogenic bacteria like H.Pylori and Staphylococcus aureus taking it to the realms of functional foods – foods that provide benefits beyond nutrition. Raw Unfiltered Honey is the one in which pollens are found and is minimally heated to remove crystallization and foreign elements. It is in the rawer form.
Also Read: What is Raw Unfiltered Honey?
What Were We Looking For?
To assess the purity of Honey, which determines its health quotient, we chose to test moisture content, added sugar and Hydroxy methyl furfural HMF to see how pure the honey is.
- Moisture content advised by FSSAI standards should not be more than 25% which is in keeping with international standards for temperate countries. High levels of moisture indicate a higher possibility of fermentation, thereby degradation of honey. To maintain purity of honey in unadulterated form, its moisture content should be less than 25%.
- Added sugars indicate an intent by the manufacturer to enhance sweetness. Pure Honey should not just be sweet but also flavorful, added sugar may be an indication of honey which is not fresh. FSSAI does not define any acceptable value for this. As it tempers with the original flavour of the honey, hence degrading the pure honey.
- HMF is an indicator of improper handling of honey i.e. prolonged storage at high temperature or overheating of the sample. So a high level may be an indication of old honey or maybe synthetic honey too. FSSAI has laid down 80mg/kg as an acceptable level and one of the indicators of pure grade honey
- None of the samples were found to be synthetic.
Now after knowing what to and how to look for when buying the pure or raw or organic form of honey. Here we have listed the brands’ reviews based on which is the best honey brand in India and which is the best brand in value for money.
Related Reading: 8 Natural Benefits Of Honey 6 Side-Effects Of Honey That You Must Consider Looking Into
Results Of Our Review
Best Honey – Top Pick: Zandu Pure Honey
According to the results of our review and testing, Zandu contained no traces of added sugar. It also contained controlled and low amounts of moisture and HMF – both well below permissible limits.
Best Honey – Value For Money Pick: Dabur Honey
It has no added sugar, HMF levels were well within the prescribed levels and so was the moisture. These three markers together give us a better indication of the purity of honey.
Best Organic Honey: Organic India Wild Forest Honey
Organic India Wild Forest Honey showed well-under permissible levels of moisture and no traces of added sugar.
Best Organic Honey – Value For Money: Organica Organic Forest Honey
Pure Honey should not just be sweet but also flavorful, and added sugar may be an indication of honey which is not fresh. Our tests revealed no traces of added sugar in Organica Organic Forest Honey.
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* Our reviews are unbiased and all samples used during the reviews were paid for by us. Read our entire ethics statement here.
* No part of this review is sponsored by any brand. All expenses were borne by us.
