Does Honey Expire? Not Really—But We’re Revealing Its “Best By” Date

With all of the sweet and savory culinary uses of honey, you might not have a hard time making it through your jar or bottle in no time. Still, those containers can be big, and despite the fact that our parents and teachers told us “honey never goes bad,” it’s often stamped with an expiration date. So does honey expire?

How Is Honey Made?

Since it was millennia before history books or the internet existed, it’s tough to pinpoint the exact time honey was first discovered and used as a food. But it’s safe to say that humans have been beekeeping since at least 7000 BC.

You probably know how you like to use it and where to find it at the supermarket or farmers market, but when was the last time you thought about what honey is, exactly?

“Adult forager honey bees make honey by collecting nectar from plants in bloom. This nectar is brought back to the hive and passed along to waiting worker bees who add an enzyme to it called ‘invertase.’ This helps the bees to break it down into glucose and fructose,” explains Jay Williams, pollination program manager at Southall Farm & Inn in Franklin, Tennessee. (He should know: Williams oversees more than 4 million bees that call the Southall grounds home.)

At first, this nectar has a fairly high water content; around 70% to 80%. But as the colony of bees flap their wings, it dehydrates to less than 18% water. The bees then plug the cell with a wax cap so it can be preserved for later use. (That pretty honeycomb you might add to your cheese board is several of these cells, scooped from the hive.)

Does Honey Expire?

True, supermarket honey labels often list an expiration date or best-by date based on honey, based on when the bottler thinks they might retain their optimal level of freshness and flavor. But there are three qualities that make honey strong at resisting spoilage:

• Hydration levels. Since honey is made up of less than 18% water, it is a very inhospitable environment for bacteria and mold. 
• Consistency. The thick, viscous texture does a great job acting as “armor” against oxygen penetration, which any present bacteria would need to survive.
• Acidity. Honey has a pH between 3.2 and 4.5, making it quite acidic; another factor that impedes microbial growth.

As long as honey is stored properly in a container or beeswax-capped cell, it should never spoil, Williams confirms. In fact, he adds that if you wanted to, “you can still eat honey from ancient Egypt!”

While it will remain safe to consume for long after, for best quality, though, the USDA suggests using honey within 12 months of harvesting. The 5-year mark is when honey begins to taste “bland” and noticeably loses some of its aroma and flavor, Williams says. 

“Another sign that honey has been mishandled or overheated is a stratification in the crystallization that kind of looks like distinct layers of hazy clouds at sunset,” he adds. “If your honey is liquid at the bottom and rock hard crystals at the top of the jar, your fructose and glucose molecules have separated from the water and cannot be effectively reunited. Sadly, it’s time to move on.”

As for the crystallization (aka granulation) that is spread throughout the honey, causing honey to harden, this is totally normal and natural, Williams and the National Honey Board agree.

“This can easily be reversed by placing your jar in a bowl of warm water to bring it back to liquid state,” Williams advises. Try to resist the temptation to turn to the microwave to speed up the task, as “this will kill all the beneficial enzymes inside that make raw honey so healthy,” he adds.

How to Store Honey to Keep it as Fresh as Possible

Williams recommends purchasing raw honey locally, as this has been shown to potentially reduce the risk for seasonal allergies. Seek out raw, unheated, and untreated honey, and ask about where it was produced (or look for this detail on the label).

Once you have your pantry staple in stock, that’s where you should store it: The pantry, or any cupboard that’s not exposed to a lot of heat, temperature fluctuations, light, or moisture. Room temperature, or around 70° F, is ideal.

An airtight sealed glass jar is the perfect vessel, Williams says. If you purchase honey in a plastic container, it’s wise to transfer it to a Mason jar (twist on the cap after doing so) to make it easy to pop into a bowl of warm water to loosen up those crystals, if they arise.

"All honey naturally wants to crystallize as the bonds between fructose and glucose break down over time,” Williams says. “The trick to extending your time in liquid state is to store it as far away from extreme temperatures as possible. Never store your honey above 100° F, as the high temperature will begin to give it a burned taste over time.”

When you dip into the honey, always use clean utensils so you don’t potentially introduce any bacteria, mold, or other foreign invaders.

 How to Use Honey

Does honey expire? Nope, as long as you store it properly, honey shouldn’t spoil for years. Still, it’s best to shoot for using it within its first year post-harvest, as this will be when honey is most flavorful and aromatic. To help you polish off that jar in no time, we asked Williams for his personal favorite ways to use honey. 

"In our household, we substitute honey for sugar whenever possible. This could be in coffee or tea or baking. We love hot honey on savory meats or pizza, creamed honey on yogurt or grilled sourdough, and liquid honey on biscuits or even on a carrot and fennel salad,” he says. At work at Southall, “our current obsession is finding new and creative ways to pair honey with fine wines, tequila, and even bourbon.” (They offer a drink and honey pairing class as an activity “to educate and create future honey sommeliers,” Williams says.)

Speaking of drinks, honey also incredible as a sweetener in cocktails and spirit-free mixed drinks!

Here at the BHG Test Kitchen, we’re wild about incorporating into breakfast creations like Honey-Lemon Cottage Cheese Pancakes and Oatmeal with Goat Cheese, Dates, Walnuts and Honey. Come snacktime, Ricotta, Gorgonzola, and Honey Spread and Pressure Cooker Honey-Chipotle Riblets always fly off the spread quickly.

And when the dinner bell rings, we love to infuse a pleasant hint of sweetness into main dishes like Honey-Garlic Grilled Chicken with Pickled Chiles and Peaches, Honey-Glazed Pork Roast, and Honey-Glazed Roast Turkey—which you can pair with Honey-Roasted Air-Fryer Butternut Squash or Honey-Soaked Quinoa Salad with Cherries and Cashews if you really want to make a beeline to the bottom of the jar!