Royal Jelly | Bee Pollen Blog

Archive for the ‘royal jelly suppliers’ Category

When I look through the search statistics on my websites I see very few indicators that people are interested in learning about the manufacturing processes we utilize when producing our supplements. This fact causes me some concerns. The vast majority of searches people make when finding our websites relate to the perceived benefits of our products and in some cases the actual product brand name. But why are more people not tuned into the fact that the processes involved in manufacturing supplements have a significant impact on any benefits the supplements might provide.

Let me give an example. We supply a product for a niche market – royal jelly. The benefits of royal jelly are said to include hormonal regulation, fertility aid, weight loss, energy, skin/hair/nails health and more. But not all royal jelly is created equal. Understanding the origin of this product will help you understand why this is the case. The product starts out as a liquid and is locked in the sanitary environment of the beehive. The beehive is sanitized naturally and propolis plays a role in this process with its natural anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-microbal properties. But remove royal jelly from the hive and it starts to behave like any other liquid product, it starts to go bad. The key to handling the substance is to get it from the hive into a frozen state in under 2 hours. Or in some instances, from the hive into the processing plant for lyophilization.
Once it’s in the processing facility it will generally be ‘lyophilized’ or ‘freeze dried’, whereupon the moisture is removed and the product is stabilized. Or it may be packaged and sealed in liquid form either in direct-to-consumer packaging or in larger containers for subsequent processing. If the substance is for export, it must generally be pasteurized in accordance with food safety regulations in the country of origin and destination.
Now many US suppliers of royal jelly and bee products obtain their raw materials from overseas, with Asia being the largest supplier by far. The format in which the ingredients arrive in the US will largely determine the processes required to treat the products prior to being shipped. In the case of royal jelly and other liquid products they will in most instances have been pasteurized.
So when our USA suppliers talk about ‘fresh’, and ‘nutritious’, and ‘live enzymes’, they’re referring to a product which may have been pasteurized at source. We all know what the pasteurization process does to live enzymes and nutrients.
So basically it is possible to stand two products side by side, from two different manufactures, each with the same label and ingredients, but one product has been neutered where the other product might still be effective as a vitamin supplement. And of course I’m not just talking about bee products like royal jelly, honey, bee pollen and propolis, I’m talking about any vitamin supplements where the ingredients originally contained some percentage of water.

The Internet provides people with a vast resource for diagnosing health problems and researching potential cures. Though I do not condone the usual type of self-diagnosis and treatment when it comes to medical conditions, it does happen nevertheless. But for our chosen herbal/vitamin remedy to have some chance of being effective, it must have been processed with integrity throughout all stages of collection, transportation and production. Otherwise you may be getting what it says on the label, but you might be just as well off without it as you are from taking it.

If you plan on long-term use of nutritional supplements, try to find a supplier with whom you can build some trust. Ask them to explain the processes they use and how they work to retain the nutritional integrity of the products they supply.
It pays to go the extra step to finding supplement products which might actually benefit your health.

Author Bio – The author is owner of The Natural Shopper, a company specializing in providing the real benefits of royal jelly products using processes designed to retain full nutritional integrity through all stages of supply and manufacture. Hruza operates various web blogs and focuses on raising awareness of all matters relating to natural health, organic foods and the protection of our food chain.

Clarification on royal jelly, its origins and how it is processed.
This is really a hot topic among royal jelly consumers. Despite having a good deal of clear information on its origins and the methods used to process it, I am still asked quite frequently about the differences between fresh liquid and lyophilized royal jelly.
The reason for the lack of clarity is that there is some extremely misleading information available, courtesy of the Internet. Unfortunately, in certain ‘high profile’ cases, it is intended to be misleading, so as to sell a particular type of product. One company, who shall remain nameless, make a big marketing shout on the ‘virtues’ of their supposedly “fresh, liquid royal jelly”. Apparently, it’s so much better than the freeze-dried alternative. Other companies, not so high-profile, wrap themselves up in the cozy blanket of being USA beekeepers. One assumes that their royal jelly came from their own beehives, a completely FALSE assumption.
Well, let’s explore some simple facts and then you can decide for yourself.
In simple terms, royal jelly can be removed from the hive and processed or it can be removed from the hive and pasteurized, then further processed. It’s important to know which version of royal jelly you are consuming, unfortunately, most companies will make no mention of any pasteurization having taken place, since we all know that it damages the live enzymes and affects the nutritional integrity of any product.
Back to those unscrupulous marketers and their claims about “liquid” royal jelly being the only choice – if your product is pasteurized then delivered to you in liquid form, marketed as “fresh, non-lyophilized royal jelly” – well, technically the marketing blurb is correct, but what about the pasteurization stage?…don’t you think that applying heat to the substance would do great harm? I do, and it does. But surely manufacturers/processors do not pasteurize a health supplement? Well they do, and in many cases the reasons for the pasteurization relate to exporting the product in liquid form from Asia to the USA, where it is further processed for resale to consumers. The pasteurization is required to remove/prevent harmful bacteria from liquids, as required by import regulations. Let me be clear. You could be consuming fresh, liquid royal jelly which is touted as being superior to ‘freeze-dried’ royal jelly, but it may have been pasteurized prior to shipping to this country.
Then, what about taking fresh, liquid royal jelly and lyophilizing it without any pasteurization? [read more on freeze-dried royal jelly here] So we take the fresh liquid and we pass cold air across it to evaporate the moisture (water). What is left is basically a concentrated powder that has had no heat exposure other than cold air – Now we have a potent powder with all the nutrients locked in.
Doesn’t that sound better than something which has been pasteurized and promoted as “Fresh liquid royal jelly”? Yes, and it should do, it is. Link to pasteurized royal jelly facts
Let me reiterate this important point. If I’m a supplier, selling ‘liquid’ royal jelly in the USA, then there’s a high chance that the product originated in Asia (where it is most abundant), was pasteurized in Asia, shipped to the USA in bulk and processed into smaller containers/jars/capsules, and marketed as ‘fresh liquid royal jelly’, without any mention of pasteurization having taken place.
On the other hand, if I’m a supplier selling ‘freeze-dried royal jelly powder’ here in the USA, then it will most likely have taken one of three routes before it arrives with you, the end user.
1 – The product was farmed in Asia, lyophilized (freeze-dried) in Asia, shipped in bulk as a powder for capsulating in the USA, without any need for pasteurization.
2 – The product was farmed in Asia, pasteurized and shipped to the USA in liquid form either for lyophilizing/capsulating or processing into smaller jars for sale to the end user.
3 – The product was farmed in the USA and was processed in the USA without a requirement for pasteurization. – This is quite rare, since domestic USA royal jelly is in very limited supply. If you see a small beekeeper offering royal jelly capsules, then firstly, he or she would not have the required number of hives from which to draw off this substance, since it’s available in such tiny quantities from each hive. Secondly, they wouldn’t have the manufacturing capacity to handle/process royal jelly on-site themselves. So, you guessed it, they use larger processors who source the royal jelly overseas and capsulate/bottle/label under contract to the small beekeepers.
So be extremely careful and try to research and understand exactly what it is that you are getting, not all of it is created equal.