Hi All/Kathy/Andy
 
Kathy thanks for your mention of the oil droplets in honey. That is
interesting as it brings up the effectiveness of honey pasteurization
to remove 'bee diseases' and human pathogens.
 
The way I understand it most pasteurization regimes used on honey
tend to be in areas where it is either against the law to import
honey that has not been pasteurized to protect bees and humans, or
within an area to extend shelf life for dodgy water content products.
 
Commercial pasteurization and sterilization procedures for products
such as milk have to take into consideration the effect of oils and
fats as agents which raise the temperature required to kill a spore
of certain bacteria (mainly bacillus species - therefore possibly
AFB).
 
Hence in the production of normal pasteurized milk a lot of muck gets
through and will survive afterwards. In industrial production of
inccoculum in for instance lysine plants it is essential that media
be exposed to temperatures of over 140C for ten minutes to remove all
spores.That is almost one and a half times boiling point. This is
also at very high pressure (600Mpa I remember hearing).
 
If we did that to honey we would have caramel at the end.
 
Does anybody know what the normal pasteurization proccess is on
honey?
 
I know that some countries (I think mine is included here) have
resorted to gamma irraditiation of honey - a better alternative.
 
Keep well
 
Garth
 
Garth Cambray           Camdini Apiaries
15 Park Road
Grahamstown             Apis mellifera capensis
6139
South Africa
 
Time = Honey
 
If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space!!