Allergic to pollen, avoid food supplements based on products from the hive

Allergic to pollen should avoid food supplements based on products of the hive, namely royal jelly and propolis, recommended Wednesday, July 25, 2018 the National Agency of Sanitary Security (ANSES). The Agency reported three cases of serious allergic reactions, leading, among other things, to severe breathing difficulties. A 29-year-old woman had to go to the emergency room. Another 49-year-old solved the crisis with the help of her doctor and antihistamines. And a last 65 years also took an antihistamine.

"Consumption of food supplements is not trivial"

"It is advisable to people allergic to pollen but also to people predisposed to allergies or asthma to avoid consuming these products " wrote ANSES in a statement. The case of honey, another product of the hive, is less clear. "In one of the dietary supplements in question there is honey, but we dismissed it as a responsible allergenic agent.In this case, it was rather propolis" explained to the AFP the director of risk badessment nutrition ANSES, Irène Margaritis. The agency therefore does not recommend honey to pollen allergies.

Royal jelly is a substance with which bees feed the larvae and the queen of a colony. Propolis is a resinous substance derived from trees and transformed by bees to build the cells in their hives. Manufacturers of dietary supplements praise their benefits against aging, stress, viruses or digestive disorders. But ANSES especially calls for vigilance. "Consuming dietary supplements is not trivial, it is said, it is repeated: they are concentrates of substances.It is a health professional who, if interest is there, must evaluate the interest of 'to take some' said Margaritis. In the case of royal jelly and / or propolis supplements, the incidents reached "the highest level of severity in our scale [hors décès] .This level means health hazard, with in some cases life-threatening case " she added.