Allergenic activity of honey

Abstract

An allergy to honey is a rare symptom. It usually occurs when people are allergic to food components, pollen and bee venom. Most often an allergy to honey is manifested by disturbances of skin and digestive system. Anaphylaxis is seldom, pollen proteins are more often the cause of an allergy to honey than honeybee ones. In particular cases an allergy can be caused by moulds, yeasts and secretion of sapsucking insects. An allergy to honey is often caused by pollen of floral plants from Compositae family (e.g.: sunflower, mugwort, marguerite, dandelion, golden rod, ragweed). It is caused more rarely by grass pollen (timothy) and trees (birch, hazel, olive). The cross allergy between two kinds of pollen of the same family (dandelion and sunflower) and between pollen of different families (sunflower and celery) is well-known. On this basis one can consider that the allergy to one monofloral honey can cause the allergy to other monoflower ones.

Keywords

• honey
• allergy
• pollen