Like any food, it is possible to develop an allergy to barley.
There may be a correlation between a wheat allergy and a barley allergy. If you are allergic to wheat, be sure to test for a barley allergy also. There is no need to assume you are allergic to barley in this case as it is not universal.
You may know you have a barley allergy because you have had an allergy test, or because you have used an elimination diet to determine this.
If you have not used one of the the methods above, why do you think you might have a barely allergy?
If it is because you are tired after drinking beer (or because you have other symptoms caused by drinking beer, besides the obvious ones caused by alcohol) there is another, more likely causes of your symptoms.
Yeast is a common culprit. Many people are allergic to yeast. Suspect yeast before barley as the source of your problem, but do verify if barley is or is not a problem.
For information about avoiding barely, see Barely Allergy – Avoiding Barely.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
I found allergy when when eating barley flour . What really side effect on allergic reaction in human body ? Please clarify me .
I’m having a problem understanding my malt allergy, maybe one of you have answers… At this point I’ve gone gluten free, just b/c I don’t know what it’s hidden in. I know it’s in a lot of brewed drinks like beer. Luckily, I’ve always hated beer & now I know why.
I just found out I am allergic to barley. i am NOT allergic to wheat, is there a bread/bagels/pasta/cereal that does not contain barley??? And what are all the different names for it? Is all malt, barley?? so confused!
Many people have complained that barely flour is in most breads. Since I myself avoid all gluten, I have not researched this myself. I do suggest however that while you are looking into it, eat gluten-free bread because it won’t have barely in it.
Amy,
I have found out I was allergic to barley, but not wheat, over a year ago. I must say you have to be VERY careful as some ingredient lists only have “unbleached flour” and they include barley malt in them. I will tell you a few things I have found. I live in Utah and there are a couple of bread manufactures that do not use the barley malt, they use a potato starch instead I have reached out to them to ask as they are in state. As for a national brand SOME of the Nature’s Pride Wheat bread/buns are without malt, you just have to read the fine print. I have the habit to check it each time I purchase it as some Sara Lee that was safe started adding the barley malt. So my personal rule is if I don’t know, I avoid it. I have found if it the product as malt anywhere in the ingredient list avoid it as 99% of malt is barley. Not to get that confused with maltodextrin. If the product was made in the US it has to say “maltodextin from wheat/barley” if it is not made from corn as from a FDA ruling. But be aware if it is an imported product. The final thing I would recommend is if it says Gluten Free it is not nessarly barley free. Some manufactures (expecally in beer) remove the gluten and leave other parts of the barley (that I am allergic to) in the product. If you have any other questions please let me know I try to monitor this site often or email me at jareay[at symbol]msn.com.
Jerad: thanks for your comment, I liked it so much I turned it into an article. If you would like to follow it for comments, go to http://www.allergy-details.com/food-allergy/barely-allergy-avoiding-barely/ and leave a comment.
Yeah, I’m allergic to barley, but I’ve been eating crunch bars recently and I never realized they had barley malt in them, but I haven’t gotten an allergic reaction, which is just a cold sore.
Hey Diana,
A true cold sore isn’t an allergic reaction, it is a herpes virus outbreak. Don’t be alarmed, the WHO says 2/3 of the world wide population has the virus. It is possible that the stress of an allergic reaction to barley could trigger a virus outbreak. Or it could be that you don’t have a true cold sore.
The same thing happened to me. I’m not sure if it was from barley but when I started my elimination diet I got cold sores back to back. That’s when I made the allergy association. It’s real!