Goat Milk Allergy and a Potential Role for Goat Milk in Cow’s Milk Allergy

Olga Benjamin-van Aalst, Christophe Dupont, Lucie van der Zee, Johan Garssen, Karen Knipping*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

In many parts of the world, goat milk has been part of the human diet for millennia. Allergy to goat’s milk, not associated with allergy to cow’s milk, is a rare disorder, although some cases have been described. Goat milk proteins have substantial homology with cow’s milk proteins and even show cross-reactivity; therefore, they are not advised as an alternative to cow’s milk for infants with IgE-mediated cow’s milk allergies. However, there are indications that, due to the composition of the goat milk proteins, goat milk proteins show lower allergenicity than cow’s milk due to a lower αS1-casein content. For this reason, goat milk might be a better choice over cow’s milk as a first source of protein when breastfeeding is not possible or after the breastfeeding period. Additionally, some studies show that goat milk could play a role in specific types of non-IgE-mediated cow milk allergy or even in the prevention of sensitization to cow’s milk proteins. This review discusses a possible role of goat milk in non-IgE mediated allergy and the prevention or oral tolerance induction of milk allergy.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2402
Number of pages9
JournalNutrients
Volume16
Issue number15
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 by the authors.

Keywords

  • cow milk allergy
  • goat milk
  • infant formula

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