I was using "spit" facetiously, but I didn't know whether the enzymes were
added along with a liquid of some sort, created the same way royal jelly is,
for instance.

I also want to clarify that he and I were having a general discussion; he
wasn't questioning the kosher status of honey, but rather was questioning
what bees add to it, and in what quantity. Yes indeed, honey is in the Bible
(and it may or may not have been "date" honey rather than what our bees
make), but the bee-made stuff has always been considered kosher.

As for the 1/60th, here's the explanation given by Star-K, one of the kosher
certifiers: http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-palate-honey.htm#footnotes. I
got the info from them, and since they certify, I figure they know what
they're doing!

I'm not Jewish, by the way, but my understanding is that there really is no
practical reason for many of the dietary rules. We can speculate
about trichinosis, but there's no good reason not to eat honey bee larvae,
for instance. Yet, that is forbidden by the dietary laws, as is eating a
cheeseburger or any meat from the hind quarter of a cow.

On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 8:39 PM, andrea young <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Researching 'spittle' and honey, it appears that a) bees don't excrete
> 'spit' and b) honey is a product of enzyamatic interaction with nectar,
> i.e.
> the bees release enzymes and the nectar is transformed into honey without
> saliva at all...

*****************************
Lesli Sagan
[log in to unmask]

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