Ultra Cleanse Smoothie Greens: Contains Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly and Barley Malt

Ultra Cleanse Smoothie Greens — $42.90, 250 g. Around forty ingredients. Three of them need flagging before anything else.

1. It contains bee pollen and royal jelly

Both are in the Herbal Blend: Bee Pollen Powder and Royal Jelly Powder.

This matters more than most allergen notes. Bee pollen and royal jelly can cause severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, in people who are allergic to bees, bee stings or pollen. Reactions to royal jelly in particular are well documented, including in people with asthma.

Do not take this product if you have a bee sting allergy, a pollen allergy, or asthma without talking to your doctor first. Nothing in the name "Ultra Cleanse Smoothie Greens" would make you look for bee products, which is exactly why this is the first line.

2. It contains barley malt powder — that is gluten

The Great Grains Blend includes Barley Malt Powder.

Barley is one of the three gluten-containing grains. Barley malt is not a cross-contamination risk — it is a gluten-containing ingredient.

The product also contains organic wheat grass, kamut grass, rye grass, barley grass and oat grass. The young grasses are not themselves gluten sources, but kamut is a wheat variety, and the cross-contamination question in cereal grasses is real.

If you have coeliac disease or a gluten sensitivity, this product is not suitable. Note that it carries no gluten-free badge — only vegetarian and lactose-free. Our Greens Superfood has the same cereal-grass question and also lacks the badge.

3. "Discontinue use two weeks before surgery"

That instruction is on our own label, and it is there for a reason — several, in fact:

• Ginkgo biloba — associated with effects on bleeding
• Siberian ginseng — may affect blood sugar and blood pressure
• Licorice powder — can raise blood pressure and lower potassium
• Milk thistle, schisandra, astragalus — several have medication-interaction considerations

If you have surgery or a dental procedure coming up, tell your surgeon what you take and follow that two-week instruction.

What is actually in it

Great Grains Blend: brown rice bran, organic flax, barley malt.
Herbal Blend: organic alfalfa, parsley, bee pollen, Siberian ginseng, aloe vera, astragalus, bilberry, ginger, ginkgo biloba, green tea, licorice, milk thistle, peppermint, royal jelly, schisandra, stevia.
Sea Vegetable Powder: spirulina, chlorella, sea whistle.
Fruit Blend: apple pectin, pineapple, grape skin, acerola.
Green Grass Blend: organic barley, kamut, oat, rye and wheat grasses.
Vegetable Blend: beet juice, broccoli, rhubarb juice, spinach.
Plus fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and silica.

No individual amounts are disclosed for any ingredient. With roughly forty ingredients across six blends, many are necessarily present in very small quantities.

Two more notes: green tea contains caffeine, amount unstated. FOS is a prebiotic fibre and a FODMAP — a common cause of gas and bloating if you have IBS.

On "immune-boosting"

Our own product description uses the phrase "immune-boosting herbs". We are retiring that language.

"Boosting" the immune system is not a meaningful or desirable claim — a healthy immune system is balanced, not boosted — and it is not something this label supports. What the product is: a broad blend of plant powders. That is all we will say for it.

It is also not a cleanse or a detox. Your liver and kidneys do that. The name is a category convention, not a description of a mechanism.

How to use it

Two teaspoons into 8 oz of apple juice or another liquid. Our label suggests apple juice specifically, which is a quiet admission that a forty-ingredient green powder does not taste good in water. That is fair, and we would rather you knew.

Store cool, dry and away from direct light.

Who should not take it

• Anyone with a bee, bee sting or pollen allergy, or asthma
• Anyone with coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity
• Anyone pregnant or nursing, taking medication, or with a medical condition, without consulting a physician
• Anyone with surgery within two weeks
• Anyone with IBS may find the FOS difficult

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. All ingredients quoted are taken from the product label. This article is general information, not medical advice.