Can someone explain this cheese allergy please?

[55Sainz]

On holiday recently and a woman sat beside us at the breakfast table had said to the waiter that she is allergic to cheese, but then asked for half and half for her tea?!

Please can someone educate me here - I'm not bashing her in any way, and I didn't want to disrupt her holiday by asking about her allergy, but DH and I couldn't understand how someone can be allergic to cheese but not other dairy products?

What is half and half?

there is a specific chemical involved in the manufacture of cheese which gives me migraines if I consume it. Am fine with dairy though.

Yes this is possible as the proteins in cheese are a bit different from those in milk. For a couple of decades I was allergic to milk, cream and yoghurt but could eat cheese just fine, so a reverse of this woman.

Sorry, half and half seems quite big in America (where we were). It's half milk and half cream

Thanks for the quick replies and thanks for explaining - that makes sense :)

I can drink dairy in tea and coffee but cheese can make me feel unwell.

My father would get awful headaches/migraine type with some cheeses but could eat/drink his body weight in yoghurts/milk.

I think it is some intolerance to cheese.

Is it the rennet, rather than the milk?

I have a histamine intolerance and cheese is a big one for me. It's aged which means it's high in histamine and causes me to have non-immune allergic reactions which have put me into anaphylaxis before. Other aged or heavily processed foods also cause me to have a similar reaction. It's a lot to explain so if needed I would just say I'm allergic to what ever food I have to avoid to prevent a reaction.

That is indeed a fact and we have a DiL like that

What I've noted in recent years more and more people especially children are allergic to x/y and z. Not sure if its the stuff that goes into the ground/food etc