Water is the enemy, and not for the reason you expect

What seizing is

A small amount of water introduced into a fat-continuous system makes the solids clump together rather than stay dispersed. The result is thick, grainy and dull, and no amount of stirring reverses it. A wet spoon, a washed container that was not dried, or condensation into a warm jar will all do it.

Why it matters commercially

Because the usual cause is a jar or a utensil that was not dry, which is an operations problem rather than a formulation one. It also means a customer who keeps a wet knife in the jar is causing a change they will read as the product having gone wrong.

The same dryness is the shelf stability

Water activity low enough to seize the product is also water activity too low for anything to grow in it. The two facts are the same fact, which is why this page sits next to the safety section rather than inside it.

Added water is a formulation decision with consequences

Anything that brings water with it, such as honey, fruit or a syrup, raises the water activity. Enough of it and the product is no longer in the low-moisture category at all, which changes the preservation question entirely and may change what you are allowed to call it.

Keep water out of the process

Dry jars, dry utensils, dry hands and a product that is not filled so warm that it condenses under its own lid. Each of those is unglamorous and together they prevent the most common texture failure in the craft.

Tell the customer, in one line

Use a clean dry knife, on the label. It prevents the most common in-use failure, it costs almost no panel area, and it is the kind of detail that reads as a maker who knows their product rather than as a disclaimer.

References