Honey, often considered a natural and wholesome sweetener, occupies a curious space in the vegan world. While it was described as the ‘food of the Gods’ in ancient Greece, and classified as a medicine in China, its place in a vegan diet is debated. This article explores the reasons why most vegans avoid honey, the ethical considerations surrounding its production, and the numerous plant-based alternatives available.
What is Honey?
Honey is a sweet, viscous food substance made by bees. Bees collect nectar from flowering plants, which they then transform into honey and store in honeycombs within the beehive. This honey serves as a vital food source for the bee colony, particularly during the winter months when flowers are scarce and foraging opportunities are limited. Honey makes the perfect store-cupboard staple in the hive, supplying the colony with nutrients and energy.
In its raw form, honey comprises amino acids, antioxidants, micronutrients, and sugars. Although it has a high fructose content, it has a relatively low glycaemic index (GI), making it a useful sugar alternative when consumed in moderation. Commercial honeys undergo a filtration process and are heat-treated to both prevent the sugars from crystallising and to kill microbes, including yeasts, before storage. This extends the shelf life and makes the honey look more attractive in the jar, but negatively impacts the honey’s antioxidant content and its potential health benefits.
Why Most Vegans Avoid Honey
Veganism is a way of living that aims to minimize animal exploitation and cruelty. Therefore, vegans avoid eating animal products like meat, eggs, and dairy, as well as foods made from them. Because honey is made by living bees, it is technically not vegan, so most vegans exclude it from their diet. Vegans try to avoid or minimize all forms of animal exploitation, including that of bees. As a result, most vegans exclude honey from their diets. Some vegans also avoid honey to take a stand against conventional beekeeping practices that can harm bee health.
For many vegans, the consumption of honey boils down to the principle of avoiding animal exploitation. They see no difference between bee farming and other forms of animal farming. Harvesting honey is seen as detrimental to the bees who have worked hard to manufacture it for the purpose of supporting their own survival through the colder months.
Read also: Can You Eat Honey on a Ketogenic Diet?
Ethical Concerns in Honey Production
To optimize profits, many commercial bee farmers employ practices that are unethical by vegan standards. These include frequent queen replacement, using protein and carbohydrate supplements to feed the bees, and using antibiotics and synthetic chemicals for pest and pathogen control. Vegans opt to take a stand against these exploitative practices by avoiding honey and other bee products, including honeycomb, bee pollen, royal jelly, or propolis.
Conventional beekeepers aim to harvest the maximum amount of honey, with high honey yields being viewed as a mark of success. In conventional beekeeping, honey bees are specifically bred to increase productivity. This selective breeding narrows the population gene pool and increases susceptibility to disease and large-scale die-offs. In addition, hives can be culled post-harvest to keep farmer costs down.
Honey’s main function is to provide bees with carbohydrates and other essential nutrients like amino acids, antioxidants, and natural antibiotics. Bees store honey and consume it over the winter months when honey production dwindles. It provides them with energy, helping them stay healthy and survive during cold weather. Honey is the energy source of bees; without it they would starve. Honey also provides essential nutrients during poorer weather and the winter months.
However, in commercial beekeeping, honey is often replaced with sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). These supplemental carbs are meant to prevent the bees from starving during the colder months and sometimes given in the spring to encourage colony growth and stimulate the flow of nectar. However, sucrose and HFCS don’t provide bees the many beneficial nutrients found in honey. What’s more, there’s evidence that these sweeteners harm the bees’ immune systems and can cause genetic changes that reduce their defenses against pesticides. Both of these effects can ultimately damage a beehive.
Mass breeding of honeybees affects the populations of other competing nectar-foraging insects, including other bees. The importing of honey into the UK also increases our carbon footprint through the emissions associated with transport.
Read also: Homemade Honey Facial
Honey: Not for Everyone
Although most of us can enjoy honey, it’s not acceptable to all. For diabetics or those trying to manage their blood sugar levels, there is no real advantage to substituting sugar for honey, as both will ultimately affect blood sugar levels. In addition to this, infants under the age of 12 months should not eat raw or commercially produced honey. This is because they may be at risk of a type of food poisoning called botulism.
Vegan Alternatives to Honey
Luckily, there are a whole host of readily-available vegan alternatives for those with a sweet tooth. Several plant-based options can replace honey. You can try plant-based alternatives like agave, maple syrup, and date syrup.
The most common vegan alternatives are:
- Date syrup: A paste or syrup made by blending dates. The resulting syrup has a low GI and a lower fructose content than most sweeteners. Date syrup is rich in protective plant compounds called polyphenols, and like honey has natural anti-microbial properties. It contributes some micronutrients, including potassium. You can also make it at home by blending boiled dates with water.
- Maple syrup: Made from the sap of the maple tree, maple syrup contains several vitamins and minerals and up to 24 protective antioxidants. The syrup is graded based on colour and flavour - grade B is the darkest and strongest. Variations in colour are due to the length of the season and the concentration of protective phytochemicals.
- Blackstrap molasses: A thick, dark-brown liquid obtained from boiling sugar cane juice three times. Blackstrap molasses is rich in iron and calcium.
- Barley malt syrup: A sweetener made from sprouted barley. This syrup has a golden color and flavor similar to that of blackstrap molasses.
- Brown rice syrup: Also known as rice or malt syrup, brown rice syrup is made by exposing brown rice to enzymes that break down the starch found in rice to produce a thick, dark-colored syrup. Being predominantly glucose, rice syrup has a high GI and a low fructose content. It contributes little in the way of nutrients.
- Agave syrup: Made from the juice of the leaves of the agave plant. This syrup is thinner in consistency than honey, with a lower GI. However, it does have a high fructose content and for this reason it is not one of the healthiest alternatives and best avoided by those with diabetes.
- Inulin syrup: Typically made from chicory root. This syrup is actually a prebiotic fibre which fuels microbes. It has a low GI and a mild sweet flavour, but if eaten in large quantities, may have a laxative effect for some people.
- Bee Free Honee: A branded sweetener made from apples, sugar, and fresh lemon juice. It’s advertised as a vegan alternative that looks and feels like honey.
- Molasses, butterscotch syrup, golden syrup are all viable options, whether you need a product for baking, cooking, as a sweetener for drinks, or to eat a spoon of out of the jar at the end of a long day.
It’s worth bearing in mind that, just like honey, these syrups are classed as 'free’ sugars, the type we are advised to cut back on. Like honey, all of these vegan sweeteners are high in sugar. It’s best to consume them in moderation, as too much added sugar can harm your health.
Read also: Keto Honey Substitute Options