Nutrition Expert Has A Warning About TikTok's Frozen Honey Trend

"TikTok and food trends go together like honey and a freezer," TikTok said in a not-at-all-biased statement on its community blog. They noted that "with the #frozenhoney trend, creators share a new delicious honey hack." This latest viral TikTok trend involves pouring honey into a bottle that can be squeezed (such as a plastic water bottle, as shown above), and then placing it in the freezer overnight. If your honey already comes in a squeezy-bottle, then you can skip the pouring and move right onto the freezing. In either case, what you'll find waiting for you in the freezer when morning comes is a gelatinously solidified bottle of honey that you can squeeze into your mouth like candy. 

But if you find the very notion of eating plain, partially-congealed honey kind of disgusting, then you'll be happy to learn that according to nutrition expert Kristen Carli of Camelback Nutrition Wellness, you're not wrong. Carli, a Registered Dietitian, feels that the TikTok frozen honey trend should maybe come with a warning label. 

When we learned about TikTok's frozen honey trend, we thought it sounded fun and maybe kind of yummy, but had a sneaking suspicion that it might not be the healthiest. To gain some clarity, we asked nutrition expert Kristen Carli about her thoughts on this seemingly wholesome homemade treat. What Carli told us is that while "frozen honey in small amounts may not be worrisome for most people," it's still not the best choice to make. 

First, if you plan to use raw honey, know that it should never be fed to infants. Carli notes that raw honey may contain "natural toxins" that cause the foodborne illness botulism, which could "severely affect" very young children. Second, eating honey as if it were candy likely involves "consuming larger than the recommended amounts of honey," which Carli pointed out can cause symptoms of intestinal distress, including "diarrhea, bloating, and stomach cramps." 

Furthermore, Carli added, "honey is still considered an added sugar," and "high intakes of sugar [are] associated with insulin resistance and obesity." When we inquired what would be considered a high intake, Carli advised us that for women, that's any daily sugar intake over 100 calories (or approximately six teaspoons), and for men, 150 calories (or approximately nine teaspoons)." So if you're going to treat yourself to some ice-cold honey, be sure to do it sparingly. After all, you can always put it back in the freezer for later.