Common millet is a food which may result in allergy symptoms in sensitised individuals.

Common Millet Allergy Test: Allergen Exposure

The term millet covers the seeds of a broad range of taxonomically distinct species of grass.

Common millet (and the other plants bearing the name millet) are not close relatives of wheat or other cereals, and tend to be cultivated in areas where more popular cereal crops are unable to flourish. They are also ideal where a swift yield is more desirable than a large one, for example in nomadic communities, as the plant matures quickly.

Common millet remains an important source of food for humans and animals in some regions, however in developed countries, with the exception of natural food stores, millet is sold mainly as bird feed.

Common Millet Allergy Test: Allergen Description

No allergens present in common millet have yet been characterised.

Common Millet Allergy Test: Potential Cross-Reactivity

Studies have not reported cross-reactivity between millet and barley, maize, oats, wheat, or grass pollen.

Cross-allergenicity among rice, wheat, maize, japanese millet and foxtail millet has been shown, however, common millet was not assessed.

Common Millet Allergy Test: Clinical Experience

Hypersensitivity to cereals may occur via inhalation or ingestion. However in spite of common millet being regarded as a potent allergen, allergy is uncommon, with reports generally confined to case studies.

With the increasing popularity of “natural foods”, millet is more frequently included in various dishes, which might raise the incidence of millet-related allergic reactions. Patients with adverse effects to gluten may substitute millet for gluten-containing cereals.

Case reports of asthma and/or anaphylaxis after ingestion of food containing Millet have been documented.

The first report of an adverse reaction to common millet was described in a 25-year old patient who developed anaphylaxis after the ingestion of millet seed. Symptoms developed approximately 30 minutes after a “natural food” dinner, which included a date-millet pudding. The symptoms included periorbital angioedema, ocular injection, tightness of the throat, shortness of breath, wheezing, intense generalised pruritus, and lower abdominal distress.

A few minutes after ingestion of a cookie containing Millet, a 32-year-old woman developed laryngeal pruritus and oedema with stridor, tightness of the throat, pruritus of the palms and soles, conjunctivitis, facial swelling, and, a few minutes later, bronchospasm and hypotension. She had previously complained of laryngeal itching after ingestion of a pastry containing Millet, as well as of an episode of swelling of the tongue in her childhood related to ingestion of a particular but unidentified cereal. No adverse effects were reported to other common cereals.

Anaphylaxis after ingestion of food containing Millet was reported in a 51-year-old woman who, after ingesting a Millet dumpling, immediately developed generalised urticaria, mucosal swelling, shortness of breath, and “hypotonic” reactions.

Allergic reactions have been described after ingestion of millet, and after inhalation of bird seed dust by people who keep caged birds.

Anaphylaxis was described in a bird-keeper sensitised to Millet via inhalation; the anaphylaxis occurred after oral ingestion.

Other reactions

Crude extracts of Millet may contain aflatoxins.

Some varieties of Millet appear to contain cyanide.

Jimson weed poisoning due to contamination of Millet porridge with this seed has been reported.