🥛 Camel milk

Camel milk is the milk of the female camel, mostly the one-humped dromedary, the main dairy animal of the drylands of Africa and Asia. According to FAO, there are more than 41 million camels in the world, and Kenya, Somalia and Pakistan produce the most camel milk. On pastoral farms about 5 litres a day counts as a good yield; an African camel gives 1,000–2,700 litres per lactation, which lasts 8–18 months.

In basic nutrition it is close to cow's milk: 100 g contains on average 3.1 g of protein, 3.2 g of fat, 4.3 g of lactose and about 56 kcal. It tastes slightly salty. The difference lies in the proteins: there is no measurable β-lactoglobulin, but more lysozyme, lactoferrin and immunoglobulins. It has on average eight times more vitamin C than cow's milk — from 2.5 to 18.4 mg per 100 g depending on the breed — but pasteurisation takes away about 27%.

It makes poor cheese: instead of a firm curd it forms loose flakes, and lysozyme slows down yoghurt cultures. So camel milk is mostly drunk fresh or fermented — this is how Kazakh shubat is made, for example. There is no separate Codex Alimentarius standard for it yet: a draft standard for pasteurised camel milk is only under discussion.

Camel milk or cow's milk? On the label of nutrients they are close: roughly equal fat, protein and lactose. The difference lies in the proteins: no measurable β-lactoglobulin, but more lysozyme, lactoferrin and immunoglobulins, which also slows yoghurt cultures and spoils cheese. It tastes slightly salty and has about eight times more vitamin C, though pasteurisation takes away about 27% of it. As for goat's milk, in one study of 38 children allergic to cow's milk, a skin test was positive for camel milk in 7 and for goat's milk in 24.

Camel milk has no separate Codex standard yet, so the label matters. Look for the word “pasteurised” or a statement that the milk has been heat-treated, since WHO advises against raw camel milk. Fermented products may be named by their local names, such as shubat. It is a speciality item, found in health food shops, specialist delicatessens and online, usually chilled or as a powder. It is not lactose-free, whatever the pack suggests.

Why it matters to you. Buy pasteurised milk or boil it: WHO advises consuming camel milk only after heat treatment, because camels are the main source of the MERS virus. In 2016, 19 people in Israel caught brucellosis from raw camel milk of a single brand. It is not lactose-free, so it will not help with lactose intolerance. Benefits for diabetes or autism have not been proven: a meta-analysis of 14 studies on diabetes gave very inconsistent results, and no effect was found for autism.