The Kashrus Status of Royal Jelly

I have seen royal jelly being sold in health food stores blended into honey, with the claim that it contributes to overall health and rejuvenation. Is it kosher?

Royal jelly is a substance that is secreted by honeybees. It is fed to the larvae that are being raised to become queen bees. Fresh royal jelly is quite bitter and has an unpleasant taste. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l (Minchas Shlomo Tinyana 64) writes that it is not kosher. Royal jelly is not the same as honey, since it is an actual secretion of the bee. Some poskim argued that since royal jelly has an unpleasant taste, it should be permitted, just like items which are nifsal mei’achila (unfit for human consumption). However, Rav Auerbach questions this assertion. He shows that not every food that has a bad taste is considered nifsal mei’achila. He cites many examples of items that we would all refrain from eating, that Chazal did not consider to have reached the threshold of nifsal mei’achila. (For more elaboration on this topic, please see the Teshuva from Rav Schachter, Shlita and an article written by Rabbi Yerachmiel Morrison, reprinted from the OU’s Daf HaKashrus.)

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.