In some children the ingestion of cow milk can trigger the body into launching an inappropriate immune response to the proteins in cow milk, resulting in an allergic reaction that is the Cow Milk Allergy.

Cow Milk Allergy is the most common food allergy, affecting somewhere between 2% and 3% of infants. Around 0.5% of exclusively breast fed infants react to cow milk protein in human milk.

Cow Milk Allergy generally affects children less than three years of age. Approximately 85% of children lose clinical reactivity to milk once they surpass 3 years of age.
The mean age of onset is reported as between 3 months and 5 months. Children with immediate reaction following milk ingestion usually present earlier.

Principal Cow Milk Allergy symptoms are gastrointestinal, dermatological and respiratory. Cow Milk Allergy is associated with the following symptoms: skin rash, wheezing, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation and distress.The symptoms may occur within a few minutes after exposure (immediate reactions) or after 1 hour and in some cases after several days (delayed reactions).

The clinical spectrum of the Cow milk allergy extends to diverse disorders: acute anaphylactic reactions, atopic dermatitis, wheeze, infantile colic, gastroesophageal reflux (GER), oesophagitis, allergic colitis and constipation.

Parents should consult a healthcare professional if presumed milk allergy is suspected and request referral for a paediatrician, if appropriate.

Currently the only treatment for Cow Milk Allergy is total avoidance of cow milk proteins. But most infants formulas and baby milks are based on cow's milk. Initially, if the infants are breastfed the lactating mothers are given an elimination diet. If symptoms do not resolve or the infants are bottlefed, cow milk substitute formulas are used to provide the infant with a complete source of nutrition, which does not provoke immune mediated symptoms.