what kind of food is honey?

its not a vegetable or a fruit, its not a mineral, its not dairy, its not exactly meat but its made by animals ... so what food group does it belong in?

a sugar?

Commercially it is a sweetener, taxonomically it is an animal product like, eggs, milk, cheese and the rest.

it belongs with marmite and caramel in the 'viscous plant extract' cabal

yeast is not a plant, of course

does it have to be in a kind? a spreadable maybe?

Fats, Oils, and Sweets (use sparingly)?

"Honey is a sweet aliment produced by honey bees"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliment

wait that's not right

honey is bee poop, thus it is poop food like marmite (koala poop) and gravy (turkey poop)

'plant extract'?!?

It's an animal secretion.

...made exclusively from nectar!

...and digestive enzymes

...the enzymes don't add anything of any significance to the actual honey, they just alter the state of the nectar...so, a naturally processed plant extract

Oh yeah, and my piss is spring water.

honey is regurgitated, not pooped

if it was just a plant extract why do we bother using bees to harvest it - wouldn't we just be grabbing it straight from the plant? (in which case its essentially a vegetable, right...?)

we extract maple syrup directly from trees but that's not a vegetable

bee watersports

piss contains natural bodily impurities such as urea...honey contains nothing but altered nectar...and the bees both organise it into one easily-collectable space (in the cells) and process it into a slightly more easily-digestible substance

vegetable implies cellulose or at least fibrous organic matter

So how can people get botulism from honey if it's such a pure plant extract?

a ~delicious~ kind of food iirc

honey: you drink too much and then lay on your living room floor, drunk, and pretend to be Archie Bunker and drizzle honey into your mouth (I am told this is what my grandpa did)

into bee watersports because u can't get AIDS tbh

you can get colony collapse disorder!!!

CAN you get botulism from honey? I didn't know that. Honey contains potassium, for some reason, and is therefore basically naturally antiseptic/antimicrobial. So I'm surprised.

iirc babies can, not adults

Yeah you can, that's why you shouldn't give honey to babies.

x-post

Yeah you can get botulism from honey, but only when it has been contaminated with, y'know, botulism bacteria. Ain't the honey's fault (or the bees').

i've always wanted to give honey to an infant in spite of the warning on the back label. good idea? it seems like something babies would like

― harbl, Monday, December 8, 2008 10:27 AM (7 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yes it is OK but please be sure to microwave it first. Infants don't like honey unless it's piping hot.

― ⅅ∊ȴℹҁℹσᴗᔔ Ӎℹȴⱪℹȵʛ (libcrypt), Monday, December 8, 2008 10:32 AM (7 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

NHS recommendations:

http://www.cks.nhs.uk/patient_information_leaflet/babies_weaning/recommendations

Honey mostly KILLS other bacteria and molds and stuff, though, is what I'm saying. I guess the botulism is just too bad-ass for it.

Yeah you can get botulism from honey, but only when it has been contaminated with, y'know, botulism bacteria. Ain't the honey's fault (or the bees').

It's the bees that put the spores in the honey surely?

bees hate babby

Y' can't give bees t' baby <------------ UK TV reference alert

it's nice, so it's meat.

Huh well now that I think about it, perhaps it is just the botulism toxin (i.e., botox) that gets in the honey during the packaging process? Maybe not the buggies themselves? I dunno this is why I prefer to stick to viruses. BacT u r 2 complicated.

OK wtf NHS why won't u give us 'mericans access to your shite without registering, huh?

Coz our lovely free healthcare system is paid for by our taxes, so go get yr own!

Huh well now that I think about it, perhaps it is just the botulism toxin (i.e., botox) that gets in the honey during the packaging process?

So why would honey be any different from syrup or any other sugary goop as far as health warnings go?

So honey belongs to the sugary goop group of foodstuffs?

No no I just read up on this. The botulism bacteria is in the soil and dust, it's just in such minute quantities that adults are totally unbothered by it. Unpasteurized honey is the problem -- I think if it's pasteurized, the bacteria are killed dead. BTW corn syrup is ALSO unpasteurized so it is similarly a danger.

So does the category "edible snot" contain entries other than honey?

what about boogers?

Honey that's crystallized is edible boogers.

Delicious, nutricious boogers.

I read that it should be replaced by agave nectar.

No no I just read up on this. The botulism bacteria is in the soil and dust, it's just in such minute quantities that adults are totally unbothered by it. Unpasteurized honey is the problem -- I think if it's pasteurized, the bacteria are killed dead. BTW corn syrup is ALSO unpasteurized so it is similarly a danger

There is a hypothesis that the bacteria multiply rapidly on dead bees, so all the little bee corpses inside a hive are a possible source of contamination in honey. Hadn't heard that there was a problem with corn syrup.

Wait - didn't David Sylvian have an album called 'Dead Bees On A Cake'? Seriously, don't eat that cake people.

So does the category "edible snot" contain entries other than honey?

Well, milk is the excretion of a cow (or a ewe, or a nanny goat)....

There is a hypothesis that the bacteria multiply rapidly on dead bees

Was thinking about this before falling asleep last night and I realized that bees clear out their own dead really quickly -- they put the bodies outside the hive entrance as soon as bees die.

But then I just googled "bee dead" and I guess in cold climates where they have to seal up hives in winter, the bees leave their dead on the floor until spring thaw. But then, if it's far below freezing, bacteria shouldn't be doing much anyway?

It's possible that I think too much.

You worry 'bout the wrong things, wrong things

so it seems that it's not live botulism bacteria that are found in raw honey, but rather dormant endospores which can develop into live bacteria after ingestion

Yeah, it seems more likely that the spores are just in the soil & dirt & atmosphere along w every other allergen & thing that we breathe all the time. It's just that babies are more susceptible. Also apparently babies can have the infection w/o dying and w/o anyone even recognizing it -- symptoms are basically flu-like at low levels.

God I hope I never have a fucking baby.

I'll be a worried wreck X 1000, 100% of all the time

babies are not strong enough to survive in this environment, it's a wonder they have not gone extinct