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Ceylon and cassia come from different cinnamon species. Cassia usually tastes stronger and contains far more coumarin, while Ceylon is more delicate and has only low or trace amounts. Either can work for occasional culinary use, but people who consume gram-level amounts of cinnamon every day have a practical reason to favor Ceylon.
Honey contains water plus fructose, glucose and smaller amounts of other sugars; table sugar is almost entirely sucrose. Per 100 g, honey has about 304 calories and 82 g of sugars versus roughly 387 calories and 100 g for sugar, but a tablespoon of honey weighs more: about 64 calories versus about 49 calories in a tablespoon of granulated sugar. Amount used matters more than the small nutritional differences.
Heating or pasteurizing honey can lower enzyme activity, raise HMF when treatment is intense, and delay crystallization by helping filtration and controlling yeasts. That does not make raw honey a radically different source of nutrition, and pasteurized honey is still not safe for children under one year because ordinary processing does not reliably destroy botulism spores.
Honey is made mostly of fructose and glucose. In a broad USDA analysis of honeys, averages were about 38.4% fructose and 30.3% glucose, with roughly 17.2% water plus smaller amounts of maltose, sucrose and other sugars. Total sugars in typical honey are around 82 g per 100 g, so it is not pure sugar but it is a very concentrated source of simple sugars.
Honey crystallizes when some of its glucose, which is less soluble than fructose, comes out of solution and forms crystals. It is a normal physical process and does not by itself mean honey is spoiled or adulterated. Crystallized honey is still usable; if you prefer it liquid, gentle warming in a water bath can dissolve the crystals without boiling it.
Tightly sealed honey is one of the most shelf-stable foods in the pantry: high sugar, low available water and acidity make growth difficult for many microorganisms. That does not make a jar indestructible. Honey can crystallize, darken or lose aroma over time, and added moisture or contamination can allow fermentation. A best-by date is mainly about expected quality, not a switch that makes honey unsafe the next day.
For cooked sliced ham or luncheon meat, a conservative refrigerator window is about 3–5 days after opening at 40 °F (4 °C) or below. Dry-cured ham such as Serrano can have a different storage window, so the package's after-opening instructions matter most.
A slightly soft or wrinkled potato may simply have lost water during storage and is not automatically spoiled. If it is very limp, wet, slimy, foul-smelling, extensively rotten, heavily green or bitter, discarding it is the better choice.
Rancid olive oil usually loses much of its fresh aroma and develops stale, old or waxy notes. The International Olive Council defines rancid as the flavor of oils that have undergone intense oxidation. Bitterness and throat pungency, by contrast, can be positive attributes of extra-virgin olive oil rather than signs of spoilage.
Potatoes are relatively low in calories when cooked without much added fat. Per 100 g raw, they provide about 77 kcal, 17.5 g carbohydrate, 2.2 g fiber, 2 g protein and roughly 425 mg potassium; frying changes the picture mainly because the potato absorbs oil.
Black areas that develop on shrimp shells, heads or legs are often melanosis, an enzymatic browning process that occurs after harvest. Melanosis mainly affects appearance and does not by itself prove spoilage, but it also cannot certify that shrimp are fresh or safe.
Spoiled Serrano ham may develop a persistent sour, rotten or strongly rancid odor, slimy texture or abnormal mold, especially in sliced packaged ham. Surface darkening, yellowing fat or small hard white crystals can occur through oxidation or curing and are not enough by themselves to diagnose spoilage.