Food allergy recently has received considerable attention in the medical and lay press. There are clearly defined instances where ingestion of a particular food provokes an unmistakable allergic response in certain persons; such reactions usually are recognized without difficulty. On the other hand, atypical signs, such as unexplained headache, fatigue, muscle pains, depressed spirits and slight changes in the leukopenic index, sometimes have been regarded as allergic responses to some constituent of the diet. While such symptoms are not generally considered to constitute a reliable basis for a diagnosis of allergy, nevertheless some have been interpreted as such and, as a result, the idea has been advanced that cereals, notably wheat and corn, are major causes of food allergy. In fact, not only has the crude, protein-containing flour been implicated but its refined products as well.
Corn starch and corn sugar have been pointed out as particularly menacing because of