So basically the big secret is putting it inside an airtight container?
Wow. That wouldn't work with any other kind of food!
To downvoters: please read the article. all of it
Wow. That wouldn't work with any other kind of food!
To downvoters: please read the article. all of it
First, it seems like you are conflating airtight and vacuum sealed. For most foods, simply putting it in a sealed container won't do much good. Honey will stay good for centuries. Second, even with vacuum sealing, almost all other foods will spoil eventually, especially if not refrigerated.
The container is key for storing it in terrible conditions.
The risk is that infants in the first few months of life have not fully developed their gut defences, so the spores can colonise within the intestine and release the toxin.
In older children and adults, any spores will be annihilated during passage through the digestive system, so it is safe for them to consume honey.
I would also not recommend pasteurized honey - it destroys a lot of what makes honey good when you heat it so high.
And you will get extra water in the form of air moisture into it by not storing it in an airtight container.
> The container is key for storing it in terrible conditions.
Terrible conditions such as pretty much everywhere except a desert.
The point of the article is that there were multiple factors involved in Honey's "magical" properties.
From TFA:
A jar of honey’s seal, it turns out, is the final factor that’s key to honey’s long shelf life, as exemplified by the storied millennia-old Egyptian specimens. While honey is certainly a super-food, it isn’t supernatural–if you leave it out, unsealed in a humid environment, it will spoil.
That points to the big secret being the chemical makeup, plus keeping moisture away.
Or a hamburger.
Or a banana.
Or just about any other food.
Really, a lot of completely dehydrated foods would keep in an airtight container in the desert. From your list, I wouldn't be surprised if completely dehydrated banana chips kept OK.