🥛 Alpaca milk

Alpaca milk is the milk of the alpaca, a small domestic animal of the Andes belonging to the camel family. The alpaca is a small domestic animal of the camel family, raised in the Andes for its soft fleece. Like the llama, it was historically not kept for milk, so very little is known about its milk.

According to the FAO, alpaca milk is richer in protein and minerals than the milk of other camelids and cow’s milk: it has about 5–6% protein with fairly moderate fat (about 2.6–3.8%). As of 2013, the FAO reported, there had been no studies of the fatty acid profile of alpaca milk.

Alpaca milk or cow's milk? According to the FAO, alpaca milk has about 5–6% protein and more minerals, against fairly moderate fat of 2.6–3.8%, so it is richer in protein and minerals than cow's milk. Alpaca milk or llama milk? Both animals were historically not kept for milk, which is why so little is known about either; the FAO says the alpaca's is richer in protein and minerals than that of other camelids. As of 2013 no study of its fatty acids existed.

Do not look for alpaca milk on a shelf: alpacas are kept in the Andes for their soft fleece, only their young drink the milk, and there is no practical production of it yet. If a product is offered under this name, read the ingredients list to see what it really contains. Ordinary drinking milk, whole or semi-skimmed, pasteurised or UHT, is cow's milk and carries the usual labels at supermarkets and dairies.

Only the young drink alpaca milk; it is occasionally collected for research or for hand-rearing. Interest in it is mostly scientific: comparing the milk of alpacas, llamas, dromedaries and Bactrian camels helps show how milk composition relates to lifestyle and climate. For people in the Andean highlands, the FAO says, llama and alpaca milk remains an underused food resource, but there is no practical production of it yet.