Camel Milk : a miracle food or a risky food
The practice of drinking fresh camel milk originated from Qatar tradition. Drinking fresh camel milk is practiced in semi-arid and arid areas of African and Asian countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and any other regions you can imagine people riding on camels.
Camel milk got famous for its nutritious content along with its therapeutic effects in diabetes, autism, and allergies. The nutrient profile of camel milk is pretty impressive that it is actually more nutritious than cow’s milk. Camel milk is low in fat, high in iron and other anti-oxidants. What is more, camel milk resembles the milk of human, which might indicate that it could be more suitable for our nutritional needs. For such benefits, the demand for camel milk is increasing, as it is to be introduced in European market in the future.
The bad news is, that consuming fresh camel milk can lead us to be infected with Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni), a leading foodborne pathogen around the world. Infection by C.jejuni can manifest a variety of symptoms including diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and even inflammatory bowel disease. The cause of the infection can be tracked back to the fact that the milk is consumed in the raw state.
Since the regions where people have the tradition of fresh camel milk consumption are developing or semi-developed countries, they do not have proper refrigeration facilities during the milking process and transportation. Moreover, milk is often kept in high ambient temperature, increasing the risks of C.jejuni growth. The bacteria can get into the milk by cross contamination through feces or directly from the udder of the camel into the milk during milking. A study estimating the illness from the consumption of C.jejuni-containing milk showed that the more you drink, the more you are likely to get sick (obvious). However, one interesting finding was that men are more vulnerable of getting the illness from the bacteria than women.
Despite of poor hygienic measures in camel milk production, no outbreak has been reported in Saudi Arabia area. A study notes that the survival of Campylobacter bacteria is low in the intestinal tracts of camels due to high concentration of hydrogen gas present in the rumen. Thus, camel milk may not be a major source of Campylobacter bacteria infections. Instead, pathogens like Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were detected in larger numbers.
Nonetheless, the fecal samples collected from the camels did contain Campylobacter, even though it was a very small number. Poor handling of the camel milk would result in higher chances of the bacteria growth. Pasteurization processes or acid fermentation are recommended as preventative measures.
As people’s interest is growing in camel milk, more studies are to be done in the future to figure out the exact benefits of the food and the methods to prevent any foodborne pathogens including Campylobacter. For now, establishing a formal microbiological standards regarding camel milk should be prioritized, since there are none.
Some interesting videos:
Curious about the taste?
Camel milk cures Autism!?
Kathy Kim
csontani 12:44 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
This is actually very interesting. I didn’t know that people would consume camel’s milk. If the nutrition content is similar to human’s milk, I wonder if the taste is similar as well? If businesses started processing camel milk and adding flavours to it, I think that it would become a big thing especially that it helps with diabetes, autism and allergies (what allergies though?).
Lauren Rappaport 6:33 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
I was not aware that camel milk had such a high nutritional content and even had some therapeutic benefit as well. However, consuming raw milk is a huge issue because of the risk of food borne illness associated with bacterial contamination of the milk. I wonder if camels milk were to be pasteurized if it would lose some of its nutritional value due to heat sensitive nutrients and thus its appeal?
Yi Chen Teh 11:00 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
I personally think that it is fine to consume camel’s milk as cow’s milk is not easily accessible everywhere especially in the Qatar and Saudi Arabia regions. However, people should be well educated in regard to the potential health consequences of consuming raw milk and effective intervention strategies should be introduced and enforced to combat against the growth of Campylobacter in camel’s milk. This can potentially be achieved by investing in more refrigeration facilities and also making it mandatory for all milk products to be pasteurized. In addition, I am just wondering besides acid fermentation, are there any other ways to prolong the shelf life of milk without the use of refrigeration facilities (since they do not have proper refrigeration facilities)?
Yi Chen Teh 11:11 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
I personally think that it is fine to consume camel’s milk as cow’s milk is not easily accessible everywhere especially in the Qatar and Saudi Arabia regions. However, people should be well educated about the potential consequences of consuming raw milk and effective intervention strategies should be introduced to combat against the possible growth of food borne pathogens in camel’s milk. This can be done by investing in more refrigeration facilities and making it mandatory to pasteurize all milk products before they reach the consumers.On another note, I am just wondering besides acid fermentation, are there any other ways to prolong the shelf-life of milk while adhering to the food safe standards without the use of refrigeration facilities (since most household residents couldn’t afford to buy a refrigerator)?
yichen25 11:12 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
I personally think that it is fine to consume camel’s milk as cow’s milk is not easily accessible everywhere especially in the Qatar and Saudi Arabia regions. However, people should be well educated about the potential consequences of consuming raw milk and effective intervention strategies should be enforced to combat against the possible growth of food borne pathogens in camel’s milk. This can be done by investing in more refrigeration facilities and making it mandatory to pasteurize all milk products before they reach the consumers. Lastly, I am just wondering besides acid fermentation, are there any other ways to prolong the shelf-life of milk while adhering to the food safe standards without the use of refrigeration facilities (since most household residents couldn’t afford to buy a refrigerator)?
jas900 11:50 pm on October 9, 2015 Permalink |
Despite the health claims above, I am unconvinced that camel milk is a superfood. Management of diabetes depends on both physical activity and obtaining nutrients from a variety of food sources. With unregulated commercialization, there are many avenues along the food supply chain where pathogens, other than Campylobacter spp., could be introduced to raw milk. Health costs would greatly outweigh the nutritional benefits, which ultimately defeat the therapeutic purpose of camel milk. However, camel milk has the potential to be marketed as a nutritious alternative to cow milk after the fresh milk has been treated, e.g. pasteurization. Fortification could also be employed to compensate for the nutrients lost during processing.
It was interesting that Kathy noted no reported Campylobacter spp. outbreaks in Saudi Arabia from camel milk. This could be due to poor surveillance programs or the lack of reporting. Since locals use camel milk as a nutritious and traditional food source, would they have a higher concentration of antibodies and appear asymptomatic to foodborne diseases?
Jasmine Lee
amreenj 4:14 pm on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
Really interesting post, Kathy! I have heard about the use of raw camel milk in some Middle Eastern countries for the treatment of many ailments including cancer. After doing some further reading into this topic, I found a few more articles which reported benefits from the consumption of raw camel milk. As we have learned, having no kill step (ie. no pasteurization) can allow for the growth of microbes that when consumed can cause sickness. I wonder if camel milk is also consumed by young children? Since children don’t have a fully established natural microflora, the microbes in camel milk may be able to establish and outcompete the natural bacteria present in the the GI, making the child severely ill. Are there any regulations surrounding this?
I have to agree with Jasmine, it seems as though the potential harm that could be done, outweighs the benefits that may be seen as a result of the consumption of the milk. I am also wondering if the people who regularly consume this milk have some sort of resistance towards the bacteria preventing them from getting sick, perhaps a potential explanation for the low occurrence of FBI in Saudi Arabia.
SilviaLow 11:59 pm on October 10, 2015 Permalink |
Interesting blog! Personally, i think camel milk would be a successful dairy alternative in the developed world (if we don’t make it a taboo product!) since it is lower in fat, higher in iron, etc. than cow’s milk. Also, developed nations have more resources to process, pasteurize, store, market, etc. this product. On the other hand, perhaps the lower fat content is not as desirable for the health of the greater population of a less developed nation. This is especially true for infants who require higher fat content and not to mention that these potential bacterial contamination are most harmful to young children. I guess it’s true with the saying that “we want what we can’t get/don’t have.”
NorrisHuang 10:44 pm on October 12, 2015 Permalink |
Very interesting. I haven’t heard about camel milk consumption before. I agree with Silvia that developed countries are better able to handle/process camel milk but I also wonder how that can be transported, for example, from Saudi Arabia to North America. I also read from another article that camel milk is low in lactose (compared to cow milk), which could make it popular among consumers who are lactose intolerant.
wen liao 2:30 pm on October 16, 2015 Permalink |
This is actually a vert interesting article. I have never thought of drinking camel milk nor have I known camel as a potential reservoir for C. jejuni. I have tried goat milk before, and the taste was not very pleasing, so I wonder what does camel milk taste like? Like Norris said, if camel milk in low in lactose, it would be a really good source of nutrient for those that are lactose intolerant. However, I just have a question: in your article, you have only mentioned that C. jejuni was isolated from camel feces and that due to the presence of H2 in the camel gut, the concentration of Campylobacter is actually not too high. So what is actually the concentration of Campylobacter in camel milk and will it actually pose a threat to human? Besides, we know that Campylobacter is fragile when it is not in the animal gut.
KristinaRichmond 6:48 pm on October 16, 2015 Permalink |
Interesting article! I was also not aware of the proposed therapeutic effects of camel milk, but I think this is an important factor to think about in terms of food safety because of the people who will be attracted to consuming it for these reasons. In our lecture we learned that most fatal infections occur in infants, the elderly or immune-suppressed people, so I think it’s highly likely that people looking for the therapeutic effects could also be among this vulnerable group of individuals. In that case, it would be important to have better food safety procedures or clear warnings of the risks of drinking the milk. It wouldn’t be good for people to drink the milk looking to help one disease only to get really sick from Campylobacter.
EmilyLi 12:37 am on October 17, 2015 Permalink |
I found this to be a very interesting article. I wonder if camel milk can be a good nutritious food source if it is handled and processed adequately. Since it was mentioned that camel milk is similar to human milk in term of nutrients content, for the people who live in the Asian area may be unable to obtain cow’s milk for consumption, this may provide a good alternative. Campylobacter (jejuni) was consider a more “fragile” bacteria. I think processing intervention can easily get rid of the bacteria for safe consumption. However we still need to deal with the other bacteria related to foodborne illness in the camel milk.
shinnie 4:20 pm on November 20, 2015 Permalink |
They should really consider importing these milk to Canada! I’m sure health-focused Canadians would be interested in giving camel’s milk a taste. It has actually been reported that camels are a carrier of the coronavirus that is known to cause Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). As a fun fact, people actually also drink camel urine (can you imagine how it will taste?!) and the WHO is greatly against it and has been warning people not to do that. Camel milk is also a carrier of the Brucella bacterium and these bacteria can cause Brucellosis in humans. People are taking quite a risk drinking camel milk raw. To go back to our topic of Camypobacter, it’s best for young children, elderly, immunocompromised indivuduals to stay away from drinking raw camel milk because complications from campylobacteriosis can occur.
AngeliMalimban 9:42 pm on December 14, 2015 Permalink |
My thinking is that it is probably cheaper to have camel’s milk than cow’s milk in those regions considering there are likely more camels around. I wonder why the governments there have not considered actually pasteurizing the milk considering it’s popularity.
I also read another article about someone who ended up drinking camel milk for a month (https://au.news.yahoo.com/sunday-night/features/a/25468433/i-drank-camel-milk-for-a-month-heres-what-happened/). Like you mentioned in the article, this is popularly consumed raw, and the woman who did this challenge also mentioned that she was sold this raw. People believe that the effects are so much better if so – that could be why pasteurization has not been thought of [in terms of these two countries]. In the end, the woman claims that her digestion is a lot better and that it even shrunk her stomach appearance. Placebo effect or is it real? I guess we will never know unless we specifically study the science behind it.
EmilyChow 4:15 am on December 15, 2015 Permalink |
Interesting topic! In countries where camel’s milk is popular, such as Qatar, pasteurization may not be a priority because this milk is traditionally consumed raw and the people in these regions have perhaps developed immunity to possible infection of Campylobacter. In addition, pasteurization is costly and time consuming so this processing may not be feasible in these regions. I think camel’s milk would spark interest in consumers in North America since there are many nutritional benefits and it also serves as an alternative to cow’s milk! I have never seen camel’s milk sold in Canada but I assume that if the products were to be imported and sold in local grocery stores, there would be regulations to ensure that this milk is pasteurized. On the other hand, I wonder if the nutritional value of camel’s milk would change after pasteurization?
JorgeMadrigalPons 11:34 am on December 15, 2015 Permalink |
Interesting, I didn’t know camel milk was that popular. Although, consuming unpasteurized products is a a serious issue, contamination with pathogens is very likely to occur. In my opinion, it is better to consume less nutritious products, but safe, than consuming products that will cause diseases, like the milk with campylobacter.