A Meat and Dairy Article from All-Creatures.org

Horse Milk Ice Cream Is Now A Thing – Here's Why It Can Never Be Ethical

From Claire Hamlett, PlantBasedNews.org
August 2024

Polish scientists have run tests to discover whether milk from horses would be good for making ice cream. They found that the ice cream had the right kind of texture and appearance, as well as being half as fatty as cow's milk ice cream. The experiment was motivated by the “growing interest” in using mare’s milk to make food.

Media Credit: Adobe Stock

In response to this study, journalists from several newspapers have gone out to determine whether horse’s milk ice cream tastes any good. They visited the UK’s only horse milk farmer, Frank Shellard, to obtain some milk. They then either turned it into ice cream themselves or asked an ice cream company to do it. Journalists have discussed the potential ick factor people might feel about it. They have also explored the milk’s purported health benefits — Shellard claims a glass a day has cut his cholesterol by half.

But not one article has stopped to ask whether we should even be looking for new animals to bring into the dairy farming industry.

The wrong kind of diversity

Why would anyone need to drink mare’s milk? The Polish study explains that people are becoming more health-conscious and are looking for foods with high nutritional content. Horse’s milk could fill that role, the study suggests. But why look for yet another animal to exploit for this purpose when we could be using plant foods we already have? Fortified soy milk, for example, is considered to be a healthy alternative to dairy. It’s comparable to cow’s milk for protein content while being low in saturated fat and containing no cholesterol.

Several companies are also developing new alternatives using plant-based ingredients. One New Zealand company is working on “functional” legume-based dairy alternatives that could replace dairy in food manufacturing. Another based in Sweden is using fermentation to make cheese from legumes that is similar to dairy cheese in texture.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

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Posted on All-Creatures.org: August 27, 2024
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