Is it safe to add honey to hot tea: an expert's surprising answer

Tea is a drink that almost everyone drinks and loves. There are many types of tea to suit every taste. You can enhance the taste and flavor of the drink with spices, citrus fruits, and honey.

Hlib Repich, PhD in Chemistry, scientific expert, explained on Instagram whether it is harmful to add honey to hot tea and what happens to honey when it interacts with hot tea/water.

– Is it harmful to add honey to hot tea?

"There is a myth that when honey is added to hot tea, it produces "dangerous" oxymethyl furfural, which, according to a study, is allegedly a carcinogen, i.e. a poison. However, it is worth noting that oxymethyl furfural is an intermediate product of the chemical decomposition of sugars, which means that it is formed not only in honey, and not only when heated, but also in all food that has been heat-treated," the expert explained.

The "leaders" in the amount of oxymethyl furfural are: roasted coffee, toast, prunes, and pastries.

The expert noted that oxymethyl furfural is formed in all products that contain sugar, even without heating, such as wine, juices, and honey.

"The longer the product is stored, the more of this particular substance is there," added Glib.

The expert also noted that there is no cause for concern, as recent studies have shown that the formation of oxymethyl furfural in products is not toxic or dangerous.