Acute hypersensitivity to ingested processed pollen.

Ingestion of commercially processed honeybee-collected pollen produced potentially fatal consequences in a 19 year old asthmatic male. Symptoms of sore throat, facial itch and swelling, difficulty in breathing and stridor lasted for approximately two hours and was followed by clinical respiratory distress with widespread wheeze on auscultation of his chest. RAST and skin test data suggest that these complications appear to be mediated by IgE antibodies directed against the processed pollen, but not bee venom. Consumption of processed pollen by atopic individuals is, therefore, a potentially hazardous procedure with little therapeutic benefit.