Honey vs. Maple Syrup - Page 2

[crunchy_mama]

We use both here as well. I do know that dh has a friend whose father raises honey bees commercially and they are fed corn syrup- they buy it in huge 55 gallon drums. So, I wouldn't trust any of it from the regular store

[FairyRae]

Do you think it would be less likely for a supplier of local, raw honey to feed corn syrup to bees?

I'm going to ask about this from my bee lady next time I'm at the farmer's market...

[crunchy_mama]

I wasn't saying all of them did, just on the big commericial level I wouldn't trust just honey in a bear from WalMart for instance. But small local providers I would just talk to and see or from trustworthy bigger companies.

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by ishereal

I hear that honey reacts like refined sugar in the body...... I think I will look to raw honey.....

Only if it heated. You should look for raw unheated honey. Honey contains an insulin like substance which is very beneficial to the body. The enzymes in honey begin to degrade above hive temperature (93º F), by the time the honey is heated over 104º F it becomes refined sugar and dead food. Maple syrup, by the nature of its processing, organic or not, is heated and while it will have more nutrients than sugar, it is just that, sugar.

[ishereal]

Originally Posted by uccomama

Only if it heated. You should look for raw unheated honey. Honey contains an insulin like substance which is very beneficial to the body. The enzymes in honey begin to degrade above hive temperature (93º F), by the time the honey is heated over 104º F it becomes refined sugar and dead food. Maple syrup, by the nature of its processing, organic or not, is heated and while it will have more nutrients than sugar, it is just that, sugar.

Wow! Thanks for the info on maple syrup, hmmm decisions, decisions ......

[Rikki Jean]

OP, you may also want to look into Rapadura sugar. It's unrefined cane sugar; it's much healthier than white sugar, in small amounts. You still don't want to eat TONS of it, but it is waaay better for you, and is more nutrient dense (1T has 11% of the DV of Iron; obviously, you don't want to be getting all of your iron from sugar, but I'm pretty sure that refined sugar has a 0% DV).

Originally Posted by uccomama

Maple syrup, by the nature of its processing, organic or not, is heated and while it will have more nutrients than sugar, it is just that, sugar.

Do you have some sources for this? All sweeteners, essentially, are going to be sugars, especially if we're talking about use in baking. An apple has more nutrients than sugar, but it still has sugar in it, but we don't call it sugar, kwim? Sorry, I'm not trying to be snarky; I'm just trying to wrap my head around the concept that maple syrup=sugar (and it sounds like you're saying to avoid it).

[savithny]

Originally Posted by FairyRae

Do you think it would be less likely for a supplier of local, raw honey to feed corn syrup to bees?

I'm going to ask about this from my bee lady next time I'm at the farmer's market...

We visited a small local apiary this summer on the local farms tour.

He said he did have to feed his bees this summer because there were several plant failures that affected the pollen supply -- one kind of trees just did not bloom at all. The apiast's choice is to let bees die (so there won't be enough to collect the next pollen source) or to feed them. He also fees them because during "pollen dearth" they get fiesty and will attack. He feeds sugar water as needed.

He's really crunchy beekeeper too. He works (money job) in DH's building and so we know him outside of the tour -- he also is big on only warming his honey enough to get it to separate from the comb (but you do have to heat it somewhat - he's really firm on not heating over some temp point that I can't currently remember).

[crunchy_mama]

I use Turbinado for granular sugar. I looked into Rapadura for it's nutrition content but the info had on there that there could be traces of wheat, so not good for those with Celiac's or NCGI's.

[Rikki Jean]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I use Turbinado for granular sugar. I looked into Rapadura for it's nutrition content but the info had on there that there could be traces of wheat, so not good for those with Celiac's or NCGI's.

Now that you mention that, I see it on the label. It's not an issue for us, but it'll be good to remember if I'm recommending it to anyone else, or if we end up with wheat issues. Thanks!

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by Rikki Jean

Do you have some sources for this? All sweeteners, essentially, are going to be sugars, especially if we're talking about use in baking. An apple has more nutrients than sugar, but it still has sugar in it, but we don't call it sugar, kwim? Sorry, I'm not trying to be snarky; I'm just trying to wrap my head around the concept that maple syrup=sugar (and it sounds like you're saying to avoid it).

I am not saying avoid maple syrup, all I am saying is raw unheated honey has health benefits beyond its sweetness and in its raw state is way more than just sugar.

[blessedwithboys]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

Honestly when it comes to maple syrup, I do *NOT* worry about organic. Any syrup that says "pure 100% maple syrup" is not going to have artificial ingredients in it.

i respectfully disagree. any maple syrup that doesnt have ingredients added after tapping but before bottling can be labeled "100% pure maple syrup", thus advising you that it is the product of the maple tree and not "maple flavored pancake syrup". that doesnt mean it wont contain traces of formaldehyde.

i recommend going with og maple syrup if it is at all feasible money wise, and if you cant afford it or choose to buy conventional, just be aware that "100% pure maple syrup" does NOT mean free of bad stuff.

[Rikki Jean]

Just a thought- while maple syrup is pricey, it's important to note that when you use it for something like pancakes, you're not going to use tons of it, like you would the Aunt Jemima brand. You only use a small amount, and you can always stretch that with butter or something else (I *think* there is a thread around here about that, somewhere...).

[mamadelbosque]

... but if they add anything to the maple syrup they will HAVE to put it on the bottle in the ingredients, and it will no longer be PURE 100% MAPLe SYRUP by definition... When you insist on buying 'organic' maple syrup your just insiting that folks go through an extremely expensive certification process. There are dozens of small maple syrup producers who don't make enough money from it to even pay for certification, and by recommending that every insist on 'organic' certification your insuring that they buy from huge operations. Which makes no sense to me.

[Rico'sAlice]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

... but if they add anything to the maple syrup they will HAVE to put it on the bottle in the ingredients, and it will no longer be PURE 100% MAPLe SYRUP by definition... When you insist on buying 'organic' maple syrup your just insiting that folks go through an extremely expensive certification process. There are dozens of small maple syrup producers who don't make enough money from it to even pay for certification, and by recommending that every insist on 'organic' certification your insuring that they buy from huge operations. Which makes no sense to me.

It's not added like an adulterant. Rather it is used in the tapping and traces are left behind. So there is some in there, but it's not considered an ingredient, so it would be reflected in the labeling.
But certainly there are plenty of small syrup outfits that are not certified organic but still use non-toxic/sustainable ways of doing things. This can generally be ascertained by calling them, visiting, etc. I would absolutely buy maple syrup from a local place regardless of their label. However, I absolutely would not buy non-organic maple syrup from a big store/chain supermarket. [Unless, as mentioned, I was able to verify their practices some way.]
Isn't All Maple Syrup Organic?

[mamadelbosque]

As I'm sure you noticed even that site admits that using formaldehyde is illegal and has been for years now. Yes some people probably still use it - but to imply that most of the non-organic maple syrup out there is tainted with it is simply absurd. Yes that site implies that many folk still use it, but they have zero references for that fact and other sites online dispute it. Googling, the only sites I could find which agree all have one thing in common: They *are* certified organic and are trying to convince you to buy there syrup vs somebodie elses. So, whatever.