Breast Milk Ice Cream? What The What??
I recently read this article about the London Ice Cream shop Icecreamists that is serving up breast milk ice cream starting this Friday.
Yeah, you read that right.
The fancy London store will mix human breast milk with Madagascar vanilla pods and lemon zest and then make it into ice cream. The ice cream is priced at ₤14 or $23 per serving.
My first thought was “Uh…why?”
My second thought was “I mean…why would you do that?”
My third thought was actually a repeat of what someone else said: “Just because you can eat anything, doesn’t mean you should.”
The article goes on to mention that fifteen women donated the breast milk required to make this ice cream, but it appears that the women got paid for it. I guess if you’re one of those people who has an extra freezer full of milk, donating to something like this could be lucrative in these tough times.
But there are more questions I have to the makers of human breast milk ice cream and to the milk donors as well:
1. Isn’t breast milk for babies?
2. Isn’t it best to donate your breast milk to babies that need it-like premature babies or for moms who have difficulty producing enough?
3. Is this really a delicacy or is this just ridiculous?
Please, I’d like to know.
Oh, and they’re calling it: Baby Gaga.
More like: Baby Gag Me With A Spoon.
What do you think? Do you agree that this is ridiculous and pompous? Am I the only one? Let’s hear it!
Photo Credit:Flickr/Jessicafm
Not every woman has the resources at her disposal tonget rid of her extra breast milk. I had over 200ounces that I just had to throw away because I had no local bank and the nearest one required for me to pay to ship it overnight, in a cooler with dry ice. And I had to pay for blood work to prove that I was disease free. That alone would have cost me at least $250. I offered it to several other nursing Moms and they preferred to supplement with formula. So eventually I had no choice but to throw it away. I would have been thrilled at the chance to get reimbursed for my time and expense that went into my breast milk.
Women can get abortions because it is their body, so they certainly should be able to do with their breast milk as they please. Perhaps every woman that wants an abortion first should search for a suitable home for the baby growing in her body to live at.
People can sell their blood for a profit as well.
@Sarah- true, I didn’t think of that.
Apparently once you get past the fact it’s breast milk it’s really nice, rich and creamy! :’)
I don’t think I’d even want to pay the £14 to find out.
On the plus side, if you’re not opposed to giving your children someone elses breast milk, it could be beneficial to them.
@Emma- Also true, thanks for the comments!
My baby just had palate surgery. I’ve often thought about how ice cream with mama’s milk would numb her mouth and help her heal. But, this is a bit extreme.
I’m with the author, here. The issue is not with the women’s lib’ishness of the women donating their milk. It’s with the yucky gross’ishness of the making this concoction in the first place. Especially for sale to the public. I mean really? Like for serious? No. And ewww.
I’m not saying I’d eat it. I’ve tasted my own breast milk. I swear it tasted like nothing. Perhaps I’d eat my own breastmilk ice cream, or at least make it for my stubborn baby that I had spent a lot of time pumping for who then decided to refuse to drink out of a cup.
There was some articles in the news a year or two ago I think, about a husband that used his wife’s breast milk to make cheese. I think he was a chef, but I’m a little fuzzy on the details.
There are always the weird people of the world out there, like the adults who seek out adult nursing relationship. Sometimes it’s sexual for them, other times it’s not. I think it’s completely weird however. Maybe the creamery that came up with this idea is targeting that audience. Something new to make a buck and get publicity.
The article I read also said the women and ice cream maker were interested in challenging people’s perceptions of what is normal or natural or icky. We think it is fine to eat breast milk from a cow, but not our own species? I work with teen parents, and very few of them breastfeed their babies. Many adult women I know are not comfortable breastfeeding, especially in public. There is plenty of evidence that it is the best for baby, not to mention convenient and cheaper, but the perception that it is icky still persists.
Sure, the ice cream shop did it for publicity and it probably hasn’t hurt sales any. But the conversation it is started may be valuable.
I’m not saying I’d buy or eat this.. EVER!
But, cow milk is ‘technically’ for baby calfs if you want to look at it that way. And humans are the only species that drink the milk of another species…
So, I’m not 100% sure what is or isn’t weird anymore!
Here’s what I think…
1. Isn’t breast milk for babies?
Yes, breast milk IS for babies… baby humans. and COW’S MILK is for cows… baby cows. MILK is a complete food produced by the mammal that it’s meant to feed! And yeah, it does taste good. So we make lots of foods from it. Why not breast milk? It might actually be a HEALTHY dessert.
2. Isn’t it best to donate your breast milk to babies that need it-like premature babies or for moms who have difficulty producing enough?
Donating breast milk is difficult to do. IF you have a bank nearby, they do intensive screening processes and THEN it can be costly and complicated. Wish there was an online group that could collect and distribute mama milk but it would still be costly. It makes me so angry that low income mamas in need would have a tough time securing breast milk. Did you know that even after you donate your milk to the banks, people STILL have to pay for it? On average $3/oz. AND they need a prescription!
3. Is this really a delicacy or is this just ridiculous?
I’m gonna say it’s a delicacy! You can only taste breast milk for a brief time if you know a mama, and it is delicately sweet and very creamy (fat builds baby’s brain, baby cow’s brain too if you’re drinking whole milk). $23 a serving at the London Creamery? Whew! If I were on vacation and nearby, I’d spring for it! Once!
@Poppy- Yes, I do agree, now that I’ve breastfed two babies that the idea of drinking cow’s milk (as a healthy drink) is totally bizarre. In regards to it tasting good, I’ve tasted my own and I can’t say that I agree. Sweet, yes, but not for me.
As far as the donating thing, I do think the bank situation is difficult, however there are other networks where people donate milk to needy women that are free, also maybe not so regulated and tested, but available. Did you read the article about the woman who breastfed 3 babies (not her own)? It was really inspiring.
http://www.babble.com/baby/baby-feeding-nutrition/breastfed-babies-wet-nurse-milk-sharing/
This is nasty!!!! thats all i can say….
@Sarah. Er, time and expense?
@Alyssa: Oh, give it a rest. I get SO tired of that glib and facile argument. NO, humans are not the only species that drink the milk of another species. Give it some actual thought, and while you are doing so, put a big bowl of milk down in front of a dog, a cat, a horse, a monkey, a lion, or any other mammal you happen to encounter. Then watch what happens.
Humans are the only species who have the ability to collect milk from another species. Ability and desire are two quite different things.
yeah, to make a long argument short I think it’s disgusting. I have tasted my own. If I had extra to donate to a child that needed it, yes I’d be open to doing that. However going to pay for ice cream to eat that is from another woman, does not sound appealing what so ever. It just sounds repulsive. Are they going to start offering breast milk in restaurants?
My girlfriend did nurse her sisters baby while the mother was too sick after birth, What does everyone think about that? would you nurse your friends baby or someone elses baby if they couldn’t? I don’t even know, probably for my sister or someone close to me.
1. Isn’t breast milk for babies?
Yes. And no. If you do research on who can benefit from breastmilk, just spend some time on Google (and no, I’m not talking about fetishes but people with certain medical conditions).
2. Isn’t it best to donate your breast milk to babies that need it-like premature babies or for moms who have difficulty producing enough?
Oh, and in 2002…his milk was $3.50 per ounce. I’m pretty sure the price has gone up as it went up $.50 (from $3) about 6 months after he began donor milk. And we are barely in the middle of middle class! Our insurance wouldn’t cover it, WIC wouldn’t cover it, and we applied for Medicaid to help cover medical costs above what our private insurance would pay for and they wouldn’t pay for it. Still, it is worth having him here with us today! 
Sure, if the milk bank is willing to accept your milk. For one thing, any already stored milk is out of the question usually. You have to log EVERY medication, vitamin capsule, etc that you took the day the milk was pumped as well as if you were ill that day. It’s extremely difficult to donate milk unless you happen to live close enough to the milk bank to drive the milk over and have a baby under 6 months of age (which I never had a stockpile during the first 6 months anyway). Unfortunately, most of society looks at ‘wet-nursing’ as icky. Personally, my youngest was prescribed donor milk after my milk dried up (and I tried everything from pumping, supplemental nursing system, reglan, herbs, and an imported NON FDA approved medication from Australia that was supposed to make a rock lactate). He was born with Hirschsprung’s Disease and had 11 bowel surgeries his first year, and he was not allowed to be fed for up to 7 days at a time each time…and my breasts don’t like pumps. He was unable to digest formula and the feedings through his IV line straight into his bloodstream was beginning to affect his liver. He ended up on donor breastmilk for over 2 years. Long enough for his bowels to heal, with a healthy intestinal flora, and for him to surpass the life expectancy his doctors felt he had (2 yrs). He’s now 9. Still has Hirschsprung’s, but other than needing extra fluids, diapers (he has no feeling until he’s already started to go #2) and a daily laxative for the rest of his life…you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at him. Breastmilk helped save his life…and you’d better believe I’d be serving this ice cream to him in a heartbeat! Much healthier on intestines than cow or soy milk. Especially his.
3. Is this really a delicacy or is this just ridiculous?
Both. There are going to be people that are too ick’ed out and that’s ok. There are people that are going to want to try this, and hey, that’s fine too. But, this would be a great ice cream for people that are unable to digest ‘regular’ milk as human milk tends to be ok for most people. I’d have to see what they are adding to the recipe. If it has no other milk products, people who are typically unable to have any milk products could probably have this and suffer no ill effects. I think it’s a great idea and I’d love to see more and more breastmilk products. Maybe kits for moms to turn their own milk into various concoctions for their babies, toddlers or even older children. I’ve heard of cheeses and yogurt but this is the first I’ve heard of ice cream.
Besides, regardless of “ability and desire”…when you look at the actual breakdown of what makes up cows milk and human milk…they are nowhere near the same and human milk would be much better for us than a milk meant for another creature. Milk, Money and Madness is a great book to read. From what I recall, they actually compare different milks.
Wow @ Amanda, thanks for sharing your story.