MargenA jar of honey more than three thousand years old was found in an Egyptian tomb. The archaeologists opened it expecting dust and found honey: thick, golden, perfectly edible.
Honey barely ages. Its secret is a relentless combination: it holds almost no water, it is highly acidic, and bees add an enzyme to it that releases small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. In that environment almost no bacteria can survive. Sealed off from air and damp, a jar of honey can wait for millennia without spoiling.
So next time you see the one at the back of the cupboard crystallising, remember: it is not going off. It is just taking its time, as it has done since flowers existed.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine