A reaction to a gluten-free porridge, or a tight chest every time you clean the budgie's cage? Millet is a small grain found in health-food aisles and in most bird seed mixes. Our test checks your blood for IgE to whole millet, as part of 300 allergens and allergen components, next to wheat, oats and the other grains.
Millet is a cereal grass. The millet on this panel is common or proso millet, the kind sold as hulled grain and flakes in European shops and found in bird seed. It is gluten-free, which is why it appears in so many gluten-free products.
Millet allergy is rare, but the reactions that have been reported have often been strong. One route stands out: research from Vienna found millet IgE in most atopic bird keepers tested, likely from breathing in dust from bird seed. Some of them later reacted when they ate millet.
Reactions people describe after eating millet include itching in the mouth, hives, swollen lips, stomach cramps and wheezing. They usually start within minutes to two hours.
Bird keepers sometimes describe sneezing, itchy eyes or wheezing when they fill feeders or clean cages. Those symptoms can come from the seed, from the birds themselves or from other things in the room.
Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, trouble breathing or feeling faint after eating is an emergency. Call 112 (EU) or your local emergency number. Do not wait for a test.
Millet is a grass, and whole cereal extracts share proteins with grass pollen. People with summer hay fever can show low IgE to millet and eat it without trouble.
So a positive millet result shows sensitisation. It does not tell you that you will react. If you have reacted to millet, or have breathing symptoms around bird seed, take your result to a doctor, who can put it next to your history.
The lab measures IgE to one whole millet extract, which covers the full mix of millet proteins rather than single components. Your lab report gives it a measured value and class, from Negative to Very high, alongside the other grains and grass pollen on the same panel.
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One finger-prick sample checks IgE to 300 allergens and allergen components, from birch and peanut to cat and house dust mite. Post it to the lab, and about 5 days after it arrives you get a value for every one. Our plain-English guide shows you how to read them. €399 in total, €1.33 per allergen.
Yes, though it is rare. Reported reactions range from hives to severe reactions after eating it. Our test measures IgE to whole millet, which shows whether you are sensitised. A doctor puts that together with your reactions.
Possibly. Studies have found millet IgE in many atopic bird keepers, likely from inhaling seed dust, and some later reacted when eating millet. Bird feathers and droppings can also cause symptoms. A doctor can help sort out which applies to you.
Millet is gluten-free and a different grain, so many people with wheat allergy eat it. Cereals can still share some proteins. The test shows millet and wheat separately, and a doctor can read them together.
