FRANCE – OPINION ON THE HEALTH RISKS RELATED TO PASSIFLOWER FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

Following the severe adverse reactions and hospitalization of a 66 year old woman, the French food safety agency (ANSES) evaluated the potential adverse reactions from a food supplement by the name Passiflore Nat&Form®. The opinion evaluates the likelihood of allergenicity or other physiological risks related to the consumption of passiflower, often found in food supplements, and adopts a number of recommendations for comsumers as well as towards health professionals.

The scientific panel establishes that the reactions were very likely to have been resulted from the intake of the named passiflower food supplement. On the other hand, the scientific panel notes that there is no general knowledge of allergic reactions resulting from the consumption of passiflower in literature or from prior food safety alerts. However, it emphasises that allergens may generally be present in food ingredients or may result from cross-contamination. As the severity of contraindications is life threatening, the panel advises consumers to flag any undesirable physiological effects with health professionals, respect the manufacturer’s instructions, avoid long-term, combined and repeated use of food supplements without the advice of a doctor, to be cautious for unrealistic product claims and avoid buying products on non-conventional sales platforms.

It also calls for health care professionals to share the occurrence of adverse health effects which are likely related to the consumption of certain food supplements and test for allergenicity with patients using the appropriate tests.

Avis de l’Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail relatif à un cas d’anaphylaxie associée à la consommation d’un complément alimentaire contenant de la passiflore - link