A box of Internet celebrity probiotics for a few hundred yuan, can it really be anti-allergic?

The weather is getting cooler, and many places have also entered the dispersal period of pollen from plants such as artemisia, ragweed, and humulus, which means that allergic symptoms such as red eyes, itchy eyes, sneezing, and runny nose have entered the peak period.

Sneezing and runny nose are the main symptoms of allergies.

Allergic diseases have become one of the main chronic diseases affecting human health around the world, and according to relevant studies, the prevalence of allergic diseases in China has increased in recent years, and the allergies of children, especially young children, are increasing. Some companies with a "keen" sense of smell in the market see the business opportunities.

The reporter found that some probiotic products are hyped up in online channels under the banner of "anti-allergy", and the price of these products is generally three or four hundred yuan per box, supplemented by a large number of pictures and texts related to allergy symptoms in the product introduction.

A number of experts and scholars told reporters that from the current research, it is difficult to say for sure which strain can play a role in alleviating allergic rhinitis, and there is no anti-allergy function among the 24 functions currently approved by health foods; According to the existing state regulation of functional claims, it is illegal for ordinary food to claim any function if it is not a health food.

1

The "business opportunity" of allergies

"My nose is itchy, I can wake up itchy at night, and I start to rub my nose unconsciously, and then the sneezing comes." Xiaomu (pseudonym) described to reporters the symptoms of the allergy season she is experiencing, and in her seasonal allergy group, everyone has different allergy symptoms, some people have itchy eyes, some people have uncomfortable nasal congestion, and some people have runny noses, swollen eyes, and sneezing. Whenever someone in the group sends out their own symptoms, there are always people who give kind advice, such as using sea salt water to flush the nasal passages, using eye drops to treat allergies, or wearing a mask, etc., every year, but this year someone mentioned nasal anti-allergy probiotics in the group.

At the same time, in a maternal and infant blogger's parenting exchange group, the blogger recently "opened" probiotics, among which the new product Shumin probiotics have both adult and children's models, which immediately attracted the attention of mothers in the group, many people reported that children have seasonal allergies, and some people said after placing an order, "Try it for a month, I want to see if it helps allergic rhinitis." ”

According to the Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis (2022, Revised Edition) (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines"), the incidence of allergic rhinitis in Chinese children is as high as 7.38%-28.5%. In 2023, the Chinese Journal of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery published the article "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis in Children (2022, Revised Edition)", which mentioned that the percentage of new cases of seasonal allergic rhinitis between the ages of 3 and 12 years is increasing at a constant rate of about 2% per year.

According to the guidelines, the first-line treatment of allergic rhinitis includes nasal glucocorticoids (referred to as nasal corticosteroids), second-generation oral and nasal antihistamines, and oral leukotriene receptor antagonists; Second-line therapies include oral corticosteroids, oral and nasal mast cell membrane stabilizers, nasal decongestants, and nasal anticholinergics.

However, due to the supply of allergy specialists and the concept of medical treatment for some patients, it is difficult for many patients with allergic rhinitis to receive formal diagnosis and treatment. Probiotics are considered by some people to be a way to alleviate allergy symptoms, and many bloggers have also appeared on some social media to "bring goods" of anti-allergy probiotics. The reporter saw on some large e-commerce websites that there are many kinds of probiotics that focus on anti-allergies, and some products directly write "good nose probiotics" "goodbye to allergic rhinitis, urticaria, eczema", "improve allergic rhinitis", "anti-allergic child and adult rhinitis" and so on, and even have "Shumin probiotics hot list" on the e-commerce platform.

On the e-commerce platform, the specifications of most anti-allergy probiotics are 2g per bag, 30 bags per box, and the specification of a box of probiotics is about 60g, and the price is generally 300 yuan-400 yuan. Most products have various types of buy and give discounts, such as buy three get one free, buy five get four free. According to the promotion of most products, you need to take two sachets a day, and if you want to achieve the effect of allergic rhinitis improvement, you need to take it for at least one or two months, which means about 1,000 yuan of consumption.

But that didn't stop the page from flooding with questions, "How long do I need to eat rhinitis?" "Can a baby sneeze and runny nose be cured?" "How long does it take to see the effect, I bought it for my child" "Frequent allergies, can it really improve allergies?" "Is it okay to take this probiotic directly for treatment, no medicine".

2

Can probiotics really be "anti-allergic"?

How do "anti-allergy" probiotics achieve "anti-allergic"? The reporter inquired about a number of hot-selling products on a platform "Shumin Probiotics Hot List" and found that different products gave different strains.

For example, in Organic Garden's overseas self-operated flagship store, a "New Zealand og Ojishu nasal anti-allergy probiotic" product claims to improve allergic rhinitis, regulate the stomach, adult and child allergies, urticaria, eczema, and enhance immunity, the product introduction says that it contains allergic bacteria, namely Bifidobacterium breve M-16V, Lactobacillus rhamnosus LRH10, and Lactobacillus paracasei LPC48.

In the overseas flagship store of Organic Garden, the customer service introduced that the "New Zealand Ojishu Nasal Anti-Allergy Probiotics" sold by it contains five patented strains, including allergic bacteria including Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. bidobacterium Bi-07.

The "Wanyilan WonderLab Child/Adult Comfort Probiotics" product mentions that the sensitive bacteria it contains are Lactobacillus paracasei GM080, Lactobacillus reuteri CCFM1040.

INNER HEALTH 茵澳斯儿童舒鼻益生菌胶囊则声称只含有一种菌-副干酪乳杆菌（LP-33）。

The product leaflet claims to contain "immune system savior - anti-allergy bacteria", including Weizmannia coagulans BCO1, rhamnosus caseinus NJ551, bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis HN019, and rhamnosus lactobacillus HN001.

“Nutrition Care澳洲NC舒鼻鼻炎抗过敏舒敏益生菌”宣称含有免疫菌鼠李糖乳杆菌MP108和K敏菌罗伊氏乳杆菌GL-104。

However, the reporter visited a number of offline pharmacies, and the pharmacy staff all said that "there are no anti-allergy probiotics", "probiotics cannot be anti-allergic", "anti-allergy can try to supplement some VC to improve immunity" and so on.

Different probiotic strains have different characteristics and functions, and even for the same species of probiotics, there may be significant functional differences between different strains. Each brand has a different description of anti-allergy strains, so which probiotic or which strain has been proven to have anti-allergy effects in studies?

"There are many studies on the relationship between probiotics and allergic diseases, but there is still a lack of sufficient evidence-based medical evidence to confirm the relationship between the two." Professor Wang Lianglu of the Department of Allergy of Peking Union Medical College Hospital told a reporter from CCTV, "For patients with allergic diseases, drugs have a clear therapeutic effect, and some of the current probiotics are health care products, and probiotics that have not yet obtained the approval number of health care products can only be regarded as food." ”

Professor Li Zhiming, director of the Department of Dermatology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, told reporters that at present, in clinical practice, probiotics are not routinely used to treat allergic diseases, and the relationship between probiotics and the immune system is still in the research stage. Studies have shown that some probiotic strains of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus may have the effect of preventing allergic diseases such as food allergy and allergic rhinitis in young children, and there are also many studies on the possible mechanisms of probiotics in the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases, such as regulating the expression of inflammatory factors and regulating the function of immune cells. However, there is no definitive research evidence that probiotics can prevent or treat allergic diseases, and there is no treatment plan for adding probiotics in domestic and foreign diagnosis and treatment guidelines for allergic diseases.

Ruan Guangfeng, deputy director of the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center, said that scientists have carried out a lot of research on probiotics and rhinitis, and some studies have achieved good results, but there are also many problems, such as although most studies show that probiotics are effective, but some test results show that they are ineffective, and the research results are inconsistent and unstable.

In addition, in Ruan Guangfeng's view, there are many types of probiotics and allergic diseases, and the connection between probiotics and specific allergic diseases is not very clear, and the difference in the population is also one of the reasons for the inconsistency of research results; The mechanism of action of probiotics on allergic diseases is still unclear, so the evaluation methods of treatment effect are also diversified, which increases the difficulty of evaluation of treatment effect. Therefore, from the current point of view, it is difficult to say which probiotic or which strain of probiotics can play a role in treating or relieving rhinitis.

3

Probiotic patents ≠ the efficacy of probiotic products

It is worth noting that in the product promotion of anti-allergy probiotics, the words "patent anti-allergy" often appear, for example, a product advertised as having "four major patents", and the product page reads "The patent indicates that it can inhibit the production of IGE in the body, and has the effect of slowing down and improving allergies such as allergic rhinitis and skin sensitivity". Does the patent equate to the effect of the product?

"Patent examiners perform the examination of invention patents in accordance with the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, the Guidelines for Patent Examination and other relevant laws and regulations. During the examination process, the novelty, inventiveness and practicability of the invention are mainly considered. Although the functionality of the product is taken into account when examining practicality and inventive step, the grant of patent rights does not imply that the product has the effect claimed in the advertisement. Li Huaizhou, a patent attorney at Beijing Wanjing Law Firm, said.

Li Huaizhou explained that meeting the beneficial effect criteria of practicality and inventiveness in the People's Republic of China Patent Law is evaluated in accordance with patent regulations, while judging whether a product meets the efficacy claimed in advertising is regulated by the Advertising Law and other relevant laws. In other words, the licensing of a patent does not directly equate to the advertised efficacy. The grant of a patent confirms the innovativeness and practicality of the invention within the legal framework, while the actual efficacy of the product is assessed in accordance with other relevant standards and regulations.

For consumers, when purchasing probiotics, they should rationally look at the "patent" effect in the publicity.

4

Ordinary food promotion functions may be subject to compliance risks

Compared with other probiotics, probiotics that claim "anti-allergy" are often supplemented by exaggerated pictures and words when introducing products, such as photos of children blowing their noses, multiple photos of allergy symptoms, big "rhinitis" fonts, etc., the reporter inquired about many of the above-mentioned hot-selling products, most of which are "non-food health words", in accordance with relevant domestic regulations, these can only be classified as solid drinks, do not belong to health care products, and do not have health care functions.

Dong Ying, a professor at the School of Food and Biological Engineering of Jiangsu University, told the reporter of the Central Radio Network that according to the provisions of the National Food Safety Law, if a probiotic product is an ordinary food, it cannot claim its function, and if it is a health food, it needs to be one of the current 24 functions, but there is no "anti-allergic" function.

Dong Ying explained that although some strains have been found to have certain health functions in research, according to laws and regulations, ordinary foods cannot claim their functions, otherwise it is illegal. If you want to develop a new functional health food other than the functions of 24 health foods, you can apply for new functions in accordance with the current regulations, but you need to have sufficient scientific research foundation, reliable scientific basis and relatively comprehensive accumulation of animal or clinical trials before you can apply for it, and you can claim the function only after approval.

Xu Hao, a lawyer at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, said that the mainland's advertising law stipulates that food advertisements must not use medical terms or terms that are easily confused with drugs. The Interim Provisions on the Publication of Food Advertisements also clearly stipulate that food advertisements shall not contain terms that are confused with drugs, shall not directly or indirectly promote the therapeutic effect, and shall not express or imply the therapeutic effect of the food by advertising the effect of certain ingredients. Only health foods are allowed to have claims involving efficacy, and ordinary foods are not allowed to advertise efficacy.

In addition, Xu Hao introduced that Article 8 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China points out that business operators shall not make false or misleading commercial promotions about the performance, function, quality, sales status, user evaluation, and honors of their goods, so as to deceive or mislead consumers. Business operators must not help other business operators carry out false or misleading commercial publicity through methods such as organizing false transactions.

It is worth noting that many probiotic products that claim to be anti-allergy have entered the Chinese market through cross-border e-commerce channels. On August 18, 2022, the National Health Commission issued an update announcement on the "List of Strains that Can Be Used in Food", which is based on the "List of Strains that Can Be Used in Food" (including 21 strains) released in 2010 to add 16 strains that can be used in food to the list, but probiotic products in cross-border e-commerce channels are not restricted by this list.

According to the consumption reminder issued by the China Consumers Association in June this year, the standards or technical specifications for the quality, safety, hygiene, environmental protection, labeling and other standards of the origin of cross-border e-commerce retail imported food may be different from the mainland standards, and consumers bear the relevant risks. In particular, imported food with functional claims is managed differently from that of the mainland, and consumers should be cautious when buying it. Some consumers reported to the reporter of the central broadcasting network that they purchased a New Zealand anti-allergy probiotic, and after consulting a number of New Zealand purchasing agents, they all reported that they had "never seen this brand", and when they checked the brand's official website, they found that the website was very simple and the information was limited, and they suspected that they had bought a fake foreign brand.

Dong Ying reminded that when consumers buy probiotic products, they should look at whether there is information such as the "blue hat" logo and approval number of health food and the manufacturer to ensure that the source is reliable, and also look at the suitable population and eating methods, etc., and comply with the requirements of labels and instructions. Dong Ying said that the number and variety of strains in the product are not always better. The formula compatibility or strain combination of any kind of health food needs to be supported by sufficient scientific evidence. In other words, the type and number of strains should not be used as a basis for choosing a probiotic product. For cross-border e-commerce products, consumers need to have enough understanding of the product, make sure that the source of the product is clear, and do not buy blindly.

For people who hope to take probiotics to relieve allergy symptoms, Wang Lianglu said that if they are willing to try, they can consider it as an auxiliary relief method at most, not as a substitute for drug treatment. Li Zhiming also suggested that patients with allergic diseases should give priority to regular medical institutions for treatment, and should not use "probiotics" as the main treatment.