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Breast Milk Cheese Update

06/11/07, by Kate Hopkins Email 5878 views • Categories: Food News, Cheese

A few days ago, Meg over at Megnut talked about the woman attempting to make "human cheese" with her own supply of frozen breast milk. Her attempt failed, but fret not, human cheese fans...Slog has directed me to this page, which has the opening paragraph:

Fondée en 1947, la fromagerie Cosma a su retrouver la richesse d'une tradition fermière ancestrale Ardennaise oubliée jusqu'alors. En effet, le Petit Singly, le seul fromage au lait maternel de femme, est longtemps resté dans l'ombre des spécialités fromagères plus ordinaires à base de lait de vache, de chèvre, ou de brebis.

Which, once thrown into babelfish, turns out thusly:

Founded in 1947, the Cosma cheese dairy knew to find the richness of a farm tradition ancestral Ardennaise forgotten hitherto. Indeed, Small Singly, the only cheese with the mother's milk of woman, remained a long time in the shade of the more ordinary cheese-making specialities containing ewe or goat, cow's milk.

(emphasis mine, btw)

Okay, two things - one, would those of you who have far more experience with the French language verify the translation. And two - I personally didn't think it was chemically possible.

Finally, before I eat any breast milk cheese, I have a few questions. Did all the milk come from one woman or did several contribute to the process. And I want to know exactly what the woman/women ate before hand. Did they eat a lot of salads? Or did they subsist off of pickles and saurkraut?


Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: Simon [Visitor] Email · http://grubnoise.wordpress.com
The translation is accurate enough to get the point across. The rest of the page is saying that breast milk cheese has been around since the 19th century.

In the FAQ they are saying that the women providing the milk are between 25-45 years old and are post birth for at least 3 weeks. Apparently they are from varied backgrounds. The milk is sterilized and they perform medical controls on the women. It is all a bit vague but they seem to perform due dilligence.
PermalinkPermalink 06/11/07 @ 06:13
Comment from: Jane [Visitor] Email · http://www.saveursdefamille.canalblog.com
The translation gets the point across. I breastfed all my kids for 12 mths but the idea of making cheeses pretty much grosses me OUT! And you're absolutely right, I only want cheese from animals eating perfectly healthy greens.
PermalinkPermalink 06/11/07 @ 08:06
Comment from: Janet [Visitor] Email · http://foodperson.com
One question: WHY?
PermalinkPermalink 06/11/07 @ 16:54
Comment from: Dentists [Visitor] Email · http://www.Eminders.com
Reminds me of the scene in the movie BORAT! Haha!
PermalinkPermalink 06/11/07 @ 17:31
Comment from: chefjp [Visitor] Email · http://www.hellchef.com/foodblog
Does it taste like venison? (I mean gamey)...chefjp
PermalinkPermalink 06/11/07 @ 17:35
Comment from: jes [Visitor] Email
Isn't the real question which wine to pair with Mother's Milk Cheese?
PermalinkPermalink 06/12/07 @ 19:03
Comment from: Dr. AC [Visitor] Email · http://www.southbaytotalhealth.com
why do people find it "gross" to consider the possibility of eating cheese made from human breast milk, yet find it perfectly acceptable to eat cheese from cows, goats or sheep? Would you suckle at the breast of those other animals? Would you let your infant suckle directly from the breast of other animals? I further find it enlightening that the first comment people have when even hearing of this possibility is to be concerned about what the women are eating, yet we as a society seem to have no qualms or concerns about what the dairy cows are eating and being injected with! Unless your dairy products are (a) 100% organic and (b) completely raw and unpasteurized, the cows you are getting your supermarket cheese from have been fed all sorts of horrid, abnormal food, and are full of drugs and hormones. If the protein content of human breast milk could be fortified enough with a clean source of protein to allow the milk to curdle, human cheese would be the most normal and natural cheese we could eat.
PermalinkPermalink 12/22/07 @ 07:41
Comment from: J Emannuel [Visitor] Email · http://www.hotmail.com
I'm with Dr. AC on this one. Human bodies are constructed to digest breast milk not cows milk, hence the increasing prevalence of lactose intolerance. Just because you are not used to the idea does not make it gross. In some ways consuming cows milk is more gross thinking about it logically. Would you consume deer milk? The image of a deer is quite similar to a cow. Many people drink camels milk, they have done for centuries, does this make them wierd?
PermalinkPermalink 05/23/08 @ 06:56
Comment from: mona [Visitor] Email
honestly, if you feed breast milk to your child, why can't you eat it yourself (made into cheese)? Unusual, but not disgusting by any means. I would try it if I had the chance.
PermalinkPermalink 08/06/08 @ 22:42
Comment from: blumunster [Visitor] Email
"Being grossed out by human cheese makes sense because there is no species barrier between humans and humans"

I am not sure I understand this comment. How can you find human milk product gross? It is nature's perfect food, nutritionally sound and reccomended by doctors for all babies. It is the optimal nutrition for a human child and genetically formulated to evolve as a babies nutritional needs mature. I was breast fed and I am alive and well. Those children drinking cows milk develop Lactose intolerance and all sorts of digestive problems....You must have been a cows milk based formula fed baby....but I digress...
I don't think Dr AC was advocating; h/she was just making a valid point that cow's milk in the supermarket form has all sorts of chemicals and hormones that could not be as healthy as some would like to believe, besides, cow milk was meant to be drunk by a calf, not a human.
PermalinkPermalink 09/24/08 @ 14:46
Comment from: smma [Visitor] Email
There is nothing abnormal about human milk. Goats do not line up for human milk. Humans need to be eating human milk - it is the way your body is physiologically created. That aside all those who are up in arms about disease and the like should read that most of the milk products - including milk donated to infants - is pasteurized. Don't know if you realize it but that kills bacteria...and other organisms in milk. Anyone who is uncomfortable with eating human milk products is uncomfortable with themselves. Think about what you eat in processed foods. You would rather eat known cancer causing agents than a food that is chemically and physiologically made for humans?
PermalinkPermalink 12/01/08 @ 15:05

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