HONEY ALLERGY IS RARE IN PATIENTS SENSITIVE TO POLLENS

We challenged in a double-blind manner 46 pollen-allergic patients wit h 30 g of honey and another 32 patients with a placebo (30 g of syrup) . Minor, mostly subjective, symptoms were seen in or reported by 26% o f those challenged with honey and 41% of those challenged with placebo . In no case could the symptoms with certainty be related to the chall enge. Eight commercially available honeys were examined for allergen a ctivity by RAST inhibition and immunospot methods. Both pollen and ins ect allergen activity was found in all honeys, and they could cause al lergic reactions. However, no serious or even obvious reaction occurre d in pollen-allergic patients challenged with honey.