If you adhere to a kosher diet, you may be wondering whether or not you can eat the honey from Marshall’s Farm. After all, honey is an animal product derived from a non-kosher species, right? Well, sort of.
Although honey is made by bees, it’s not technically an animal secretion. Bees make honey by sucking the nectar out of flowers with their long, straw-like tongues and storing it in a special organ called the honey stomach. Once the foraging bees return to their hive, they pass their nectar on to other worker bees. Next, these worker bees “chew” the nectar, mixing it with enzymes in their saliva before depositing it in the hive’s honeycomb. Over time, these enzymes convert the complex sugars in the flower nectar into the simpler sugars found in honey.
At no point do the bees eat or digest the flower nectar. Instead, they simply chew it up, spit it out and provide an environment for it to mature into honey. The nectar is briefly stored in the bees’ bodies, but it is not a product of their bodies.
Because honey is made in this remarkable and unusual process, it is considered kosher!
It’s important to note that although natural, unadulterated honey is kosher, grocery store honeys sometimes contain extra additives and artificial flavors made from non-kosher ingredients. With this in mind, if you’re adhering to a kosher diet, it’s always best to buy all-natural honey from a local beekeeper or farmers market instead.
At Marshall’s Farm, we even offer our own line of “Honeykah” kosher honey that is perfect for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, Hanukkah celebrations and more. If you have any questions about our kosher honey products, feel free to give us a call or contact us online today!