Camel milk goes global as an eco-friendly, healthy alternative

Got camel milk? Now, more people do

You might see a new kind of milk on your grocery store shelves, and it’s not plant based. Humans can drink milk from cows, goats, sheep—and camels. And now, camel milk is growing in popularity because of its nutritional profile and environmental properties.

Nomadic societies in the Middle East, Africa, and central Asia have been drinking camel milk for millennia. In fact , some camel herders have been known to survive on camel milk alone for up to a month as they traverse long distances in the desert. In Africa today, you can buy fresh camel milk in plastic cups on the street.

But now, from Africa, to Europe, to North America, camel milk is going mainstream. You can find it professionally packaged in the refrigerated section of grocery stores in Kenya. You can order it by mail in Europe, Australia, and the United States. You can cool off with camel milk ice cream in sweltering Dubai. And you can buy camel milk powder around the world on Amazon. One thing you can’t do with camel milk? You can’t easily make it into cheese or yogurt.

Camel milk tastes like bovine milk, but it has a different nutritional profile. First, it has much lower levels of lactose, so many people find it easier to digest. Some people are allergic to certain chemicals in cows’ milk, but they can drink camel milk with no problem. Camel milk is also rich in iron, calcium, and vitamins C and B. It tends to have less fat than cows’ milk. Some studies suggest that it lowers blood sugar levels, which can help people manage . diabetes. And other research finds that it can boost your immune system.

Camel milk is more environmentally friendly than cows’ milk. If you think of dairy production, a cow—or a camel—has one job: turn energy from the sun into energy that humans can use. The sun powers the plants, the plants feed the animals, the animals feed the humans.

It turns out that camels are better at this than cows are. To produce the same amount of nutrition, camels require much less food and water. Camels also release less methane into the atmosphere—an important consideration, considering methane is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

Dairy cows need to be kept cool, sometimes with air conditioning. But camels are desert animals, so they’re comfortable in low or high temperatures—no AC or other cooling techniques needed.

There’s also less processing involved in the milk production. The fat in cows’ milk is not evenly . distributed throughout the liquid, so it needs to be homogenized. That’s an industrial compression process to make the liquid more consistent—or, homogenous. But camel milk is naturally homogenous, so it doesn’t need to go through this industrial process before it can be served.

So camel milk is healthy, efficient, and better for the environment than cows’ milk. Will we all be drinking camel milk soon? Not so fast. There are some challenges.

First, one camel produces much less milk than one cow does, not only on a daily basis, but also on a yearly basis. Camels have longer gestation periods—times in which milk can’t be produced. And camels only produce milk after they have given birth to calves; they can’t be induced to lactate like cows can. All that contributes to lower overall production per animal.

Second, cows are docile: they do what you tell them to do. Camels have a mind of their own. They can be aggressive, so it’s harder and more dangerous to control them in larger farms.

Camels are great at surviving in the desert, where there’s very little food. But to expand camel milk production, desert farmers need to put more camels in a small space. And that means importing food. Some farms in the Middle East feed their camels with alfalfa imported from California. Flying food halfway around the world partially offsets the environmental benefit of using camel milk.

But it does make sense in specific places. Swapping cows for camels in sub-Saharan Africa can save money and increase the food supply, in an area short of rainfall and animal feed. And it can remain a high-priced niche product for consumers in developed markets.

You might be able to find camel milk on the shelves of your local supermarket, but your best bet is to order it from a camel farm. They have them in Europe, the U.S., Canada, and Australia, among other places.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re going to order fresh camel milk. First, you can order it raw or pasteurized. Raw milk is minimally processed and can be stored at room temperature, but it lasts only four days. Alternatively, it can be pasteurized similarly to bovine milk: it’s heated to 72 degrees Celsius for 15 seconds to kill . harmful bacteria. Pasteurized camel milk can stay fresh for about ten days to two weeks.

Still can’t drink it that fast? You can freeze fresh camel milk and drink it later. The powdered version is even easier. Just mix it with water and drink. There are even camel milk capsules you can take if you just want the nutrition without the beverage. Who knew!

Jeff’s take

I read an article that quotes some people in Kenya saying that the pasteurized stuff on the grocery store shelves just isn’t the same as the fresh camel milk available on the roadside. And I don’t doubt it.

According to the articles I’ve read, camel milk tastes much like cows’ milk, but can be sweeter or saltier based on the time of year and the type of vegetation in the camel’s diet.

Here are some of the ways you can use camel milk, besides just drinking it in a glass. In Africa, it’s common to put camel milk in a stiff type of hot cereal.

Camel milk tea is common. To make camel milk tea, you boil the milk, tea leaves, and water together. Then, filter it and serve.

But if it’s too hot for camel milk tea, you can always have a camel milkshake. Strawberry and vanilla are popular flavors.