Breast-Milk Cheese
Status: Hoax
Le Petit Singly (it's a French-language website, but here's a
translated version) claims to be a French farm that specializes in producing cheese out of "the mother's milk of woman." According to the blurb on their site, they've been doing this since 1947. They say that the breast-milk cheese has a caramel color and has a hint of hazelnut taste.
Of course, I think it would be technically possible to make cheese out of breast milk. (Although
this woman in Indonesia reports that she tried to use her own breast milk to make some cheese and failed. Link via
The Stranger. But she was doing it on her stove top. I think if a commercial producer really put their mind to it, they would have better success.)
I actually briefly discussed this question in
Hippo Eats Dwarf, in the context of debunking a site that claimed to produce
cheese from lactating rats. I wrote that, "The problem is that the cheese's flavor is influenced by whatever the milk producer eats. So you would want vegetarian milk donors, unless you like cheese that tastes like rotting milk."
The
Le Petit Singly site
mentions nothing, that I can find, about the diet of the female milk donors. This is one sign that it's a hoax. Another sign is the ads they have on their site, and the fact that it's hosted on a lycos account. A real company would presumably at least shell out the $20 to get their own domain name. (via
Why Travel To France)
Update: Looks like Le Petit Singly does discuss the diet of the milk donors. (Thanks, penny!) But I still think it's a hoax.
Posted By: Alex | Date:
Sat Jun 09, 2007 |
Permalink |
Total Comments: 18
Category:
Birth/Babies,
Food
Comments
Listed in chronological order. Newest comments at the end.
Page 1 of 1 pages
I believe this is the English translation of the section of the website that has the diet of the donors:
Here the strict diet to which the Cosma cheese dairy subjects the donneuses ones for a mother's milk of highest quality necessary to the manufacture of Small Singly, cheese-making speciality containing mother's milk of woman:
100 G of bread (or cereals equivalent) at a rate of 60g the morning, 40g the afternoon,
cooked starchy food 200g midday,
100 G the evening,
green vegetables at will,
2 X 100 G of meat or equivalent (fish, eggs…),
2 fruits and a fruit juice,
2 X 40g of cheese and 3 dairy products (of cow exclusively).
In addition we take care that the donneuses ones:
do not smoke,
do not drink alcohol in excessive quantity,
do not make use of narcotics or domestic products likely to pass in in milk
Posted by penny in US on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 10:01 AM
I do hope it´s pasteurized before use,considering the viruses and bacteria that may be passed on through breast milk.Yuck nevertheless...
Posted by Cecilia in sweden on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Recently someone (from blur -the band- i think) on the F word, said that breast milk isnt the same as cows milk and so its extremely hard to make cheese with it. I would guess it is more like goats cheese, if its possible. He said this while drinking a breast milk latte, so im guessing it was correct.
"Which difference T there it with cheese of cow has?
- There is only the taste which changes, the manufactoring process remains scrupulously identical to the process traditional of the cheese dairy."
This makes it quite obvious, because from what i know breast milk is like goats milk or yews milk, nothing like cows milk.
Posted by JP on Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 12:37 PM
it actually is a hoax from 2004.
Posted by Julien in France on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 06:02 AM
Er...If I ate garlic, my breastmilk would not taste like garlic. It's flavor may be slightly different than "normal", but not GARLIC flavored. So...even if I ate something rotten by accident, my milk would not TASTE rotten or spoiled. Eating lots of tomatoes would not suddenly give me tomato flavored milk. I think that is a misconception that happens a lot. Milk is produced the same, regardless of the things you are eating. Just like your sweat might smell slightly stronger or just "different" after a night of heavy drinking...if you happened to taste it, it would still taste like salty water.
Posted by Maegan in Tampa, FL - USA on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 08:07 AM
No matter what the outcome of this one (Forum Discussion), this is one NASTY concept. The things some people come up with (hoax or not)...
Posted by Christopher in Joplin, Missouri on Sun Jun 10, 2007 at 08:46 PM
I find it amusing that people are more likely to have an issue with the consumption of human milk than another species milk, like cow or goat. It's natural for humans to consume human milk! Just impractical to bottle and sell, but one day my visions of owning the first human milking plant will come to fruition.
Posted by derek on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 01:39 AM
*seconded* Derek...
Maegan... if you need a taste tester...
*grins*
Posted by oppiejoe in Haslett, Michigan - USA on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Joe...In bout 4 months...I'll HAVE a taste tester. :p
Posted by Maegan in Tampa, FL - USA on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 12:05 PM
hmm... spit shine, ear wax, toe jam, eye sand... "Soylent Green: It's made from People" (this measage brought to you by The Soylent Corp., a wholely owned subsidiary of The Fromunda Cheese Guild, in partnership with The National Mammicultural Advisory Board, made possible by a Chubb from the Grant Foundation. For more info go to:
http://www.liebfrausmilch.cup
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 01:02 PM
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 01:05 PM
okay, I'm sorry, I'm still messing with you, Neither of those links have anything to do with Breast Milk Cheese. There is a cool page on the second link that shows George W. Bush eating dead ra-, you know what, forget it. Go back to your lives citizens. Nothing to see here.
Posted by Hairy Houdini on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 01:10 PM
I remember reading about some of the practices working mothers used to provide their breast milk to their children. This included refridgeration for a short period. I think that human mile can be treated and used in the same way as cow's or sheep's or goat's milk. Milk is basically the same, there are differences, but these are minor. Otherwise, milk from the other species wouldn't be nutritious for us. It would be interesting to find out if human milk could really be used in this way. Would people put up with the hassles to produce enough milk to be commercially viable if it would work? Could human women produce milk forever after a pregnancy like cows do? It might be interesting. It's more fun to obtain at the source, but going to the store for human milk might be worthwhile.
Posted by Christopher Cole in Tucson, AZ on Mon Jun 11, 2007 at 03:16 PM
Cows cannot "produce milk forever" after a pregnancy. They have to have a calf about once/year in order to keep producing milk, and they can't keep doing that forever either because it wears them out. And the same is true for every other mammal, as far as I know -- certainly for all the domestic livestock, including goats.
The whole concept is, I'm sorry, just repulsive. I hope it is a hoax. My personal prejudice against consuming breast milk may indeed be mere prejudice, but my conviction that it's WRONG to use humans as milk cows is not.
Posted by Kathleen in Indiana, USA on Tue Jun 12, 2007 at 07:03 AM
Kathleen, I was going by what I was taught in biology class in high school. This was in the mid-60's at Clairemont High School in San Diego CA. I've never lived on a farm, or in a farming community so I have no first-hand knowledge. Although, if I had thought about it, I could have asked a friend of mine in Russiaville Indiana who is from a farming family. Oh well, that's life.
Posted by Christopher Cole in Tucson, AZ on Tue Jun 12, 2007 at 10:04 AM
Oh, no biggie -- you aren't the only one, that's for sure. I just thought you and others might like to know the facts. I worked for an agricultural newspaper for nine years, and have worked for a farm organization (both in Indiana, coincidentally) for more than 11 years, and I've been to lots and lots and lots of farms, so...that's how I know. I also know way more than any single person needs to know about the farm bill and the life cycle of corn, but that's my problem. Such a glamorous job.
Posted by Kathleen in Indiana, USA on Tue Jun 12, 2007 at 10:18 AM
Does this breast milk cheese come in cups and if they do, is it by weight or what? If I knew how to make cheese, it might be fun to try. I doubt the donor would be too pleased.
Posted by Sounds Hokey To Me in Midwest on Mon Sep 17, 2007 at 11:11 AM
A kid's magazine in France 'Science et Vie Junior' used it as part of their advertising campaign. The blog following that campaign points out that you can as a proof that ot is a hoax, try to order it. If you do test it, you are then taken to a page saying so (see below) and asking for your reaction to the hoax:
'Alors vous, on vous propose de manger du fromage confectionné à partir de lait maternel HUMAIN et ça vous branche ?
Une petite précision s'impose à ce stade : TOUT LES ELEMENTS, EVENEMENTS, NOMS, MARQUES, LIEUX et LABELS sont purement fictifs et/ou utilisés de façon détournée.
Par contre, nous serions fortement interessés d'avoir vos réactions "à chaud". N'hésitez-donc pas à nous les communiquer par e-mail.'
Posted by Verene in london on Sat May 24, 2008 at 04:16 AM
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