Allergic to pollen, it is better to avoid royal jelly and propolis

Pollen-allergic people should avoid food supplements made from hive products, namely royal jelly and propolis, the health security agency (ANSES) recommended on Wednesday.

Three cases of serious reactions . The National Food Safety Agency has reported three cases of severe 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 one last 65 years also took an antihistamine. "It is advisable to people allergic to pollen but also to those people prone to allergies or asthma to avoid consuming these products," ANSES wrote in a statement.

Honey not inadvisable. 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 which case it was more like propolis," explained the director of evaluation of nutrition risks to ANSES, Irene Margaritis. The agency does not recommend honey to allergic to pollen. 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.

Stay alert to dietary supplements. But ANSES especially calls for vigilance. "Consuming food supplements is not trivial, it is said, it is said again: these are concentrates of substances.It is a health professional who, if interest is there, must evaluate the interest of taking ", said Irene 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 represents a health hazard, with in some cases a threat to health. life-threatening, "she added.