Beer allergy: when malt is the culprit

Beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage in the world and beer allergy is rare1-3. The fundamental ingredients of beer according to the Bavarian Purity Law include barley malt, hops, yeast and water but each individual beer may differ in malt content and brewing procedures4. Malt is obtained by roasting germinated cereal and is essential to beer flavouring3. In beer-allergic subjects the most frequent allergenic sources involved are cereals, particularly barley malt2 and wheat3. Pan-allergens, namely lipid transfer proteins (LTP) have been also involved5.
Source: Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Letters Source Type: research