Ice Cream Made from Human Milk - Opinions?

[susiestar]

An ice cream store in London is now selling ice cream made from 75% human breastmilk and 25%cow milk, with lemon zest and vanilla for flavoring.

They are selling a scoop for $22 and are running out of product. They get the human milk from women who provide it to mothers who are having trouble supplying their own milk to their children. The restaurant is paying them $1.61 per oz and is supposed to be using the same tests on the breastmilk that is used on donated blood.

So far many of the purchasers are mothers who are curious about the taste, according to the article online (http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/24/london-ice-cream-parlor-creates-baby-gaga-flavor-from-human-br/ )


What do you think about this? Is it a good idea? Would you have chosen the name "Baby Gaga" for this "flavor" of ice cream?

Would you eat it or let your kids eat it? Would you be concerned about infection? Would you sell breastmilk to be made into a commercial product like ice cream?

 

[AnnieO]

Is this stuff pasteurized like most milk made into ice cream?

Unfortunately, I cannot get to the link from work. But my initial reaction - without knowing details - is horror and disgust. Breast milk is supposed to be for babies.

I suppose, going on that note, that cow milk is supposed to be for calves. But... Ugh!

Would I? No. Would I let the kids? Um, no. I wouldn't be too worried about infection, though... because it wouldn't make it past my lips. And not a chance would I sell it! Donate extra to a mother who needed it? Sure! But sell? NO.

 

[JJJ]

eeeewwww

 

[Fran]

It doesn't seem like something I would try but anonymous breast milk donors can't be any worse than anonymous cow milk donors.
It's just not something our society would be comfortable with yet.

I had a friend whose baby was fussing. Her friend who was English offered to nurse the baby. I found it shocking that a mother would let another mother nurse her child. I'm not sure why except I always felt it was private and personal between mother and child. I wasn't repelled just surprised.
Probably if it was a common flavor of ice cream we wouldn't think much about it.
It's the newness that has to wear off. Considering that we are a country that eats cheetos, I wonder why something as natural as breast milk would make us have some discomfort.

 

[Mamaof5]

It's not pasturized I don't think, no. It doesn't bother me at all. I breastfed for 18 months with the youngest. As for donated breastmilk or milk banks, mothers still have to pay per ounce to get from a breastmilk bank (did you know that) unless the mother is receiving privately donated milk...Or has a wet nurse.

I'd try it but not for 22 bucks a crack.

 

[Fran]

The price is a little off putting.

 

[susiestar]

Back when Jess was born they asked for donations from moms who had extra so that the addicted babies and preemies could have it if their mothers couldn't or didn't have enough, but they did not pay for it, maybe for the testing, etc... but not for the milk. It is like blood in the US, or was at that time, and cannot be sold. The theory behind this is that mothers would deprive their kids of it and sell it if they could - and I know moms who would give their own kids formula and sell the milk if it was an option. I don't understand it, but ....

Cows do not choose to use substances like alcohol and illegal drugs, all of which can be excreted in breastmilk. They also do not have the same diseases that we have, and pasteurization takes care of that. There is NO mention of pasteurization of the breast milk and it would negate some, if not many, of the benefits of breast milk so I am not at all sure this is a pasteurized product.

I cannot help but remember a scene in the movie "Look Who's Talking" where Travolta's character is with the baby while the mother is dressing. He cannot find milk for his coffee so he squeezes some from the baby's bottle into his cup - then learns it is breast milk.

I sure wouldn't pay that for it - the price is nuts but if you can get it???

 

[HaoZi]

I'm not sure what to think of that. I would worry about things carried in the milk, not just infections but also medications. But I wouldn't object to other people doing it if it was proven to be totally safe.

 

[witzend]

That grosses me out. And, practically speaking, there are enough human babies that need breast milk that we should be selling it as a novelty to adults.

 

[Lothlorien]

It grosses me out too. I'd be worried about diseases. I think that hospitals and donor banks are testing, but doubt a restaraunt would test like a lab would. It is disturbing that they are making ice cream instead of giving it to children who would otherwise need it.

 

[shellyd67]

No I would not try it nor let the kids. I am all for breast feeding and also for mother's providing it for babies whose mother's cannot produce though.

 

[DaisyFace]

Hmmm...

But on the other hand - If you think about it too hard....why in the world would you be willing to drink any mammal's breast milk? The milk in our grocery stores is baby cow food. It contains everything baby cows need to grow up strong and healthy COWS. And before it goes through all that processing and watering down...it comes from the cow thick and fatty and rich and frothy - not to mention nice and warm for the baby.

Goat milk, horse milk, llama milk, human milk - it's all baby food.

Process it enough and you never know the difference...

 

[TerryJ2]

$22 ?????Wow. I have to agree with-Fran on this one: "Considering that we are a country that eats cheetos, I wonder why something as natural as breast milk would make us have some discomfort." It's VERY cultural.I also worry because it is not pasteurized. One kid gets sick, it's all over. For $22, I'll got out and buy a bunch of Ghiradelli 60% dark chocolate, which is on the Feingold Diet.

 

[Marguerite]

It is odd that we find this a reason to be squeamish.

I've known women who fed each other's babies, although usually it's within family or very close friends.

When easy child was born, any spare breast milk was gratefully accepted by the hospital for premmie babies. But thanks to HIV concerns, by the time difficult child 1 was born I had to pour all my excess milk down the sink. I just expressed it down the drain. Very sad. I had enough to feed an orphanage.

After easy child was born, I had to plan for my return to work. I wanted to keep breastfeeding which meant I had to get her used to taking expressed milk form a bottle. I had frozen my breast milk in ice cube trays but found the cubes were too big to fit in the baby bottle. husband had to cut the ice cubes up, which of course meant he got it on his fingers, all over the knife, all over the board - and of course at some point he licked his fingers. Said it tasted like a caramel ice cream.

I do think making ice cream commercially from human milk is socially offensive - turning it into an expensive luxury when there are babies in the world dying for lack of access to breast milk - very sad. Why can't they make a powdered baby formula from the human milk?

But then - as humans, we do some weird stuff in the name of culinary experimentation. There is a bloke I've heard of who collected his own blood to make a blood sausage, then served it at a dinner party to his friends. He said it was the ultimate in self-sacrifice, a gesture of love. They all knew what they were eating, he did not hide it. And somehow, it was legal (perhaps because it was all done in full knowledge and consent). But still - ooky.

Marg

 

[Star*]

I can't see where Cold Stone Creamery, Baskin Robbins or Dairy Queen have anything to worry about. But you know - having worked on a dairy farm - I gotta tell ya - the way they sanitize udders with that flame thrower is gonna be a real eye opener in mass production for some women!

And Marg - that guy you talked about is so Hannibal Lechter!

 

[HaoZi]

No, Lechter wasn't too big on sharing himself - he'd have had a friend for a lunch.

 

[Star*]

Thats right Clarice.......

 

[susiestar]

I am glad i am not the only one with these feelings and concerns. While it is entirely natural and I would NOT have minded being a wet nurse for someone's child that I loved, it just seems like a huge symbol of our excesses and waste to make this precious item, that can make a real difference in the life of a premature or addicted baby especially, into ice cream.

maybe if they were making it into something that doesn't seem as frivolous as ice cream it wouldn't bother me, but really, ice cream??

Don't we have some other way to show the world how extravagant and wealthy we are???

 

[svengandhi]

I don't drink milk very much as it gives me a stomach ache. My H and kids do.

I breastfed all of my kids and if I had extra, I'd have donated it. I would never physically breastfeed another woman's baby but I would have pumped and given it to them if there was a need. I'd give my own kids formula before allowing another woman to nurse them, but if it was someone I knew and trusted, I'd feed them her milk in a bottle.

As for the ice cream, it sounds gross.

There was a restaurant here in NYC where the chef was making something with his wife's breast milk and I think the health dept. shut it down.

 

[HaoZi]

Was browsing on cnn.com and ran across this article. The ice cream was pulled as not fit for human consumption (due to risk of disease) and Lady Gaga threatened to sue them as well:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/0...a-human-breast-milk-ice-cream/?iref=obnetwork