Honey – the most delicate floral nectar enriched with citrus and spice has been debated over the query, is honey vegan or not. The strict definition of veganism calls it non-vegan, but many vegans consume it as they don’t consider honey bees as animals.
Let’s break the mold today and discuss whether honey is vegan. To understand this, we will first explore how honey is made.
What is Honey?
Honey is a sweet floral nectar produced by millions of bees worldwide. Bees collect sugary secretions from plants and collect them in their combs to make honey.
Humans have been consuming honey for years due to its extraordinary taste and medical benefits. For instance, it can relieve your sore throat and boost your immunity. It acts as a natural antioxidant and is packed with various minerals, zinc, vitamins, and proteins.
How is Honey made?
Honey bees collect sweet secretions from flowers. This sweet nectar is digested in the stomach of bees, and it gets mixed with natural enzymes that convert it into simple sugars. Honeybees shift this nectar to honeycombs and other bees.
After the collection of nectar, honey bees use a fanning technique to evaporate extra water from the nectar. The nectar gets a thick and viscous texture after evaporation of extra water. In the end, honey bees seal the honeycomb to prevent honey leakage and use it in winter or harsh weather conditions.
Harvesters harvest honey from honeycombs. Then, they pack and seal it for commercial use. Honey bees have the potential to produce honey two to three times a year.
Is Honey Vegan?
Veganity of honey is controversial. According to the definition of veganism, vegans aim to stop animal exploitation. Strict vegans do not consider honey vegan. As they avoid other animal products like eggs, milk, butter, and cheese, similarly strict vegans prefer to avoid honey as well.
Some vegans use honey as they don’t think honey bees are animals, and honey bees produce more honey than they need. According to this point of view, there is no harm in using honey as a vegan. Moreover, these types of vegans consider honey to be entirely plant-based food, as it is made of floral nectars.
Ultimately, it is the personal choice of vegans to consume honey or not. Moreover, it also depends on the type of veganism and its extent. Some vegans do not find it offensive to use honey as a vegan, but strict vegans do.
Why Do Some Vegans Don’t Use Honey?
Strict vegans consider honey bee farming as an exploitation of bees and unethical. In these practices, farmers use various supplements like carbohydrates and protein supplements to increase honey production. Moreover, they can use antibiotics and chemicals for pathogen control. For strict vegans, it is against ethical practices.
Besides this, honey farming can be harmful to bee health. It deprives honey bees of essential nutrients like minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and antibiotics. However, harvesting honey deprives honey bees of food they have prepared for themselves. Strict vegans consider it cruelty, and they speak against the use of honey as a vegan food.
Vegan Alternatives of Honey:
As other animal-derived foods have vegan alternatives, you can enjoy vegan honey alternatives. For example, you can use vegan margarine as a substitute for butter, similarly, you can include the following vegan foods as a substitute for honey:
Maple Syrup:
Maple syrup is a good substitute for honey. You can use it in your vegan dishes, tea, snacks, and various foods. It is obtained from maple trees and is entirely plant-based. You can make it traditionally from the sap of maple trees by boiling the sap and concentrating the sugar.
Brown Rice Syrup:
Brown rice syrup is a good alternative to honey, especially for Asian foods.
Barley Malt Syrup:
This syrup contains extracts from sprouted barley. Barley malt syrup is totally vegan and a good substitute for honey.
Date Syrup:
This syrup is obtained from boiling dates with water. This is commercially available but you can also make it at home. You can also use vegan caramel as a substitute.
Blackstrap Molasses:
This is obtained from sugarcane juice and is entirely vegan and plant-based.
Agave Nectar:
This Agave plant-derived nectar is entirely vegan and an excellent substitute for non-vegan honey.
Fruit Derived Honey:
Some manufacturers make honey from fruit nectars. You can try the following honey substitutes:
- Coconut merchant (made of coconut nectar)
- Koro’s honey alternative (obtained from apple juice, sugar cane, and tanka beans)
Vegan Honey Brands to try:
Bonus tip: It would be a big miss if we do not inform you about vegan brands. As a vegan, you can try the following vegan honey brand:
- Original vegan Honea
- Organic coconut nectar honey alternative
- Organic Agave nectar honey flavour
- BlenditUp Bee free vegan honey
- MeliBio Vegan Unhoney
- Vegan Honee syrup
It is a wrap! Raw honey is not vegan. You can choose home-based vegan honey alternatives as mentioned above or prefer vegan honey brands. Don’t forget to check the labels and expiration dates before buying.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is honey mustard vegan?
Yes, honey mustard is vegan as it uses agave syrup as a replacement for honey. It is entirely plant-based and doesn’t contain oils. Moreover, it is free of dairy and gluten.
Is honey bunches of oats vegan?
Honey bunches of oats are not vegan. Due to non-vegan ingredients like honey, whey milk, vitamin A palmitate (obtained from animals), and Vitamin D, honey bunches of oats is not a vegan-friendly choice.
Is manuka honey vegan?
Manuka honey is not vegan for strict vegans. The reason is that although it uses manuka plants for floral extract, but it involves using honey bees to produce honey. Vegans can not include manuka honey in their meals as a vegan-friendly choice.
Is honey nut Cheerios vegan?
Honey nut Cheerios are not vegan as they have raw honey, which is not considered vegan-friendly by most vegans. Moreover, honey nut Cheerios contain vitamin D3, which is of animal origin.
Is Subway honey mustard vegan?
Subway honey mustard is not vegan. It contains renowned non-vegan ingredients like eggs, milk, mayo, and honey. Vegans would like to avoid all of them.
What is vegan honey made from?
Vegan honey is made from fruit juices (apple juice, beet root, sugar cane), agave, maple syrup, coconut water, molasses syrup, and dates syrup. It does not involve honey bees at any step of vegan honey production.
Is Clinique black honey vegan?
Clinique black honey is vegan. It is free of honey, paraffin, dairy, petroleum, silicone, and mineral oil. Clinque black honey is named as honey due to its shade and color which resembles black honey. It is an entirely plant-based product.
Is Clover Honey vegan?
Clover honey contains meat, eggs, and dairy products, and it is not vegan. Although it is plant-based, the production of clover honey involves honey bees farming and harvesting. However, strict vegans would like to avoid it.
Is wildflower honey vegan?
Although, Wildflower honey contains nectar from wildflowers, which are entirely plants but honey bees are used to produce honey. It is just like regular or raw honey. Vegans might prefer to avoid it.
Is honey wheat bread vegan?
No, honey wheat bread is not vegan. Eggs, gelatin, milk, butter, casein, honey, royal jelly, mono and triglycerides, and buttermilk make it unsuitable for vegans. All of these ingredients are animal-derived. Vegans should look for substitutes. You can consume vegan banana bread as a substitute.
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