Milk protein variants - relationships with health and disease

There is some unproven evidence that the consumption of the Al and similar variants of the milk protein beta -casein can lead to the development of in sulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and heart disease. In this paper w e review the basis of such claims. Although claims have been made that both IDDM and heart disease are highly correlated with the per capita consumpti on of beta -casein Al, the data used to support these claims is based on a number of approximations and assumptions, and contains a high degree of unc ertainty. In the case of IDDM, some animal feeding experiments have shown a n effect of beta -casein variants on disease development, whereas other exp eriments have been unable to demonstrate such an effect. Although there is currently not enough evidence to conclude that the consumption of beta -cas ein Al variants promotes the development of specific diseases or to justify eliminating beta -casein Al variant producing cows from the milk supply, w e believe that it is prudent to continue to perform research in this area.