The first adverse reactions to cow’s milk were already described 2000 years ago. However, it was only
50 years ago that several groups started with the analysis of cow’s milk allergens. Meanwhile the spectrum
of allergy eliciting proteins within cow’s milk is identified and several cow’s milk allergens have
been characterized regarding their biochemical properties, fold and IgE binding epitopes. The diagnosis
of cow’s milk allergy is diverse ranging from fast and cheap in vitro assays to elaborate in vivo assays. Considerable
effort was spent to improve the diagnosis from an extract-based into a component resolved
concept. There is still no suitable therapy available against cow’s milk allergy except avoidance. Therefore
research needs to focus on the development of suitable and safe immunotherapies that do not elicit
severe side effect.