Wine lovers who suffer from alcohol flush reaction may soon be able to drink to their hearts’ content thanks to a strain of yeast that would allow winemakers to create a hypoallergenic product.

Alcohol flush reaction, a condition particularly common among people of East Asian descent, is marked by an inability to properly metabolise alcohol that can cause people to turn bright red, induce migraines, head-aches and nausea, have heart palpitations and break out in rashes.

According to re- searchers at the University of British Columbia’s Wine Research Centre, up to 30 per cent of consumers are allergic or intolerant to wine.

But a group of Canadian researchers claims to have created a genetically-modified yeast that eliminates the culprits of these allergic reactions called bioamines, neurotoxins that are produced during a fermentation process that’s used within the industry to render wine microbiologically stable.

Their yeast, malolactic yeast, or ML01, allows wineries to add sulphites at an earlier stage of fermentation to prevent the growth of spoilage bacteria.

Switzerland is the first country to ban the sale of wine containing bio- amines that ex-ceed a certain concentration.

The yeast is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as well as both Health Canada and Environment Canada.

But not everyone is convinced. The use of genetically- modified yeast is banned in South Africa.

The yeast is now being used in wines produced in Canada and the US. Further details on brands were not available.