Camel milk on the rise in Australia, bringing ‘huge health benefits’

Cows may be the world’s main source of milk, but it wasn’t always the case. People have been milking camels for more than 6,000 years and now, the humped-back animals could be about to dramatically change Australia’s milk industry, experts say.

An increased demand for camel milk is driving the expansion of existing camel dairies, as well as pushing the development of new farms in Victoria and Queensland, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) has found.

In fact, according to the corporation’s Managing Director John Harvey, it could bring with it huge health benefits. He said last year: “Some of these include the capacity to alleviate food and seasonal allergies, usefulness in reducing insulin dependency, ease of digestion and assistance with gut allergies associated with the autism spectrum, Crohn’s Disease, ADD and ADHD.”

Indeed, organicfacts.net states that camel milk has been found to benefit diabetes sufferers, as well as improving the immune system, stimulating circulation, treating autism, and lessening allergic reactions. The site even claims it could play a part in improving heart health.

However, Harvey stated: “No doubt more research is required to validate some of these claims.”

Former Sunday Night presenter PJ Madam previously tried it out for herself in 2014, drinking camel’s milk for a month to see if she noticed a difference. She explained that while tests have shown she should be okay to eat wheat, gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts, she often reacts badly to them.

“For the past 10 years, I’ve had a sensitive and weak constitution. I get cramps, sharp pain, bloating followed by the bathroom dramas,” she told 7 News at the time.

She began with one glass a day, and noticing no difference, increased it to two – which “flushed out everything in her system”, and meant she needed the loo regularly.

However, having then lowered her dosage again, she said: “After a month, my stomach symptoms didn’t stop entirely, but they weren’t as severe. Very little cramping, and the bloating disappeared.”

As it stands, demand for camel milk in Australia outweighs supply, and the corporation hopes to see a major increase in production over the next five years.

Former sailor Warwick Hill and his wife TJ set up South Australia’s first functioning camel dairy, Humpalicious, a few years ago and told The Adelaide Advertiser in 2016 that they had come up with the idea for the “drome-dairy” while travelling in the remote indigenous APY Lands.

Read more: A big change to milk is coming… but will we stomach it?

Now, according to The Australian, they’re hoping to move their camel herd from the north of South Australia to the state’s southeast – to tap into the growing market.

“The industry here is in its infancy, but has been very successful in the US,” Ms Hill told the publication. “There are certainly more and more camel dairies popping up in every state.”

Harvey hopes the industry will also expand and transform, brining its milk to popular coffee houses and cafes within the next 10 years.

He said, while the global production and consumption of camel milk is dominated by countries in North and East Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, he believes it is changing as more communities of people from these countries grow here in Australia.

“The fact that camels are so well suited to Australian conditions and we have a large population of wild camels is also assisting with the growth of the industry,” he concluded.

Have you tried camel milk? Would you give it a go if you saw it at the supermarket?