THE "DONKEY" CHEESE-A RARE COMMODITY!

How about drinking a cup of Donkey's milk? Whether one likes it or not, its availability is a big question mark since there is no organized production of this obscure milk any where in the world. It appears that the only Donkey farm reported to be functioning in Serbia has become a captive one for serving in an exclusive restaurant chain owned by a reputed tennis player. What makes donkey milk so unique is a mystery and the cheese made from this milk commands a ridiculously high price making it beyond the reach of many customers. The only advantage donkey milk enjoys seems to be its similarity to human milk in terms of composition though it is claimed that it has 60 times the concentration of vitamin C compared to other milk varieties. Here is a take on this new product now being promoted in Serbia.

"If you were considering shelling out $500 for a pound of donkey cheese, we're sorry. The world's supply has dried up and Novak Djokovic is to blame. Djokovic, the number-one ranked singles tennis player in the world, has purchased the entire global supply of Pule, a rare cheese produced from donkey milk that can cost over $500 per pound, ABC News reports. Djokovic reportedly bought the annual output of Pule from the world's sole producer, a donkey farm 50 miles west of the Serbian capital Belgrade. Djokovic plans to use the white, crumbly cheese, which recently set the record for the world's most expensive cheese, in a chain of restaurants he's opening. The Serbian farm also produces donkey soap and bottled donkey milk, which is said to contain 60 times more vitamin C than cow's milk, according to the Daily Mail. Cleopatra was rumored to have maintained her beauty by bathing in donkey's milk, the British newspaper notes. To make Pule, farmers must milk donkeys by hand up to three times a day".

Whether donkey milk has any distinct taste or flavor is not clear but since cheese is made after precipitating the protein fraction, most flavor might have been lost in the whey fraction. Also not known is whether one can make specialty cheeses like blue vein cheese and others from this milk. One of the USPs of donkey milk is that composition wise it resembles human milk and there are reports that this was used for infant feeding in some communities during early years. Interestingly this milk has very low fat content, about 0.3 to 1.8% compared to 3.3-3.9 in cow's milk. High content of lactose makes it a more energy yielding milk and those allergic to cow milk proteins can tolerate donkey milk much better. Probably low protein content in donkey milk is the reason for the high cost as cheese yield will be significantly lower. Besides milk yield from an average donkey is no more than 0.2-0.3 liter a day to be milked three times a day adding to the cost of production. If there is a distinct advantage for donkey milk over other varieties of milk, more scientific efforts are needed to improve the quality of the animal stock through breeding.  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

HOW ABOUT "HUMAN" MILK FROM ANIMALS? ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO BREAST FEEDING

The slogan that "breast milk is the best milk" has to day become synonymous with bringing up healthy children and more or less almost all potential mothers are sensitized to this reality through countless campaigns, educational programs and investment of vast resources by national and international bodies. But there has always been danger from the powerful baby food industry to sabotage this situation in order to regain their lost business in terms of peddling manufactured infant foods with doubtful credentials. Now comes the frontal assault from this lobby with the help of some "motivated" scientists through a sustained campaign to promote a new product claiming it to be as good as the mother's milk, if not superior! Here is the story.

"The scientists have successfully introduced human genes into 300 dairy cows to produce milk with the same properties as human breast milk. Human milk contains high quantities of key nutrients that can help to boost the immune system of babies and reduce the risk of infections. The scientists behind the research believe milk from herds of genetically modified cows could provide an alternative to human breast milk and formula milk for babies, which is often criticised as being an inferior substitute. They hope genetically modified dairy products from herds of similar cows could be sold in supermarkets. The research has the backing of a major biotechnology company. The work is likely to inflame opposition to GM foods. Critics of the technology and animal welfare groups reacted angrily to the research, questioning the safety of milk from genetically modified animals and its effect on the cattle's health".

It is shocking that when GM foods are still at the center of a fierce controversy regarding their safety to adult humans, here is an attempt to expose the tender children to the potential hazards posed by GM milk. While no one has any quarrel regarding the excellence of GM technology and appreciation regarding human ingenuity in evolving these "unnatural" technologies, tinkering with food under various excuses, is not acceptable to any decent citizen who values all that is natural. There is only one country in the world which is reckless enough to expose its citizens to more than 30 different genetically manipulated agricultural crops with out the latter being aware of its presence in the market. With long term consequences from ingesting GM foods, especially as part of the staple diet, not exactly known, one can only wonder as to the intention of the US government in colluding with the GM lobby in the back door entry of these "unnatural" crops into the food system. While touting the new technology for producing human milk-like material from cows through GM techniques, the protagonists are forgetting that mother,s milk is much more than a chemical entity to be replicated through human intervention and the love, bondage, kinship, mother,s warmth etc can never be provided by any 4-legged animal, no matter how excellent the technology may be.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com