> Or then again, if milk protein affects a person he/she  may not have a milk
> allergy but an autoimmune reaction. I have an autoimmune reaction to the
> casein in milk. It shows up in antbody  IgA , not IgE which would be an
> allergic response. The mechanism is different the mast cells are not
> involved.

This is what is usually referred to in the literature today as a protein
hypersensitivity. You're right that it is not a classic allergy, but it is far
more closely related to allergies than to intolerance, which has nothing to do
with proteins. I try to sort out the differences on my web site:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/stevecarper/livallg.htm

Steve Carper