Dubai: According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, camel milk is "valuable food for people" as it is a rich source of Vitamin C.
"It is an important source of vitamin C for desert people who are unable to get this vital vitamin from fruits and vegetables," it states in its manual for primary animal health care worker.
Pasteurised camel milk can also last longer than cow milk if stored at 4 degrees Celsius, for more than ten days, according to research.
"It's shelf life is longer. Camel milk can remain unchanged for up to two weeks if stored at 4 degrees Celsius. The reason we keep an expiry date of five days on our products is because that is a municipal requirement," said Dr Peter Nagy, farm manager at Emirates Industries for Camel Milk and Products.
According to research, camel milk is high in iron and has anti-bacterial effects. It is also said to be a good substitute for children allergic to bovine milk because it has a similar protein percentages as human milk.
Easy to process
It is also easier for the human body to process because, unlike cow milk, it does not curdle. According to Dr Nagy, some benefits of camel milk have been proven while others remain theories.
"A few benefits have already been proven. For example, it has lower fat content [than cow milk], as well as higher Vitamin C content. We know from Russian literature that they used camel milk successfully in chronic hepatitis cases. We know that it could be beneficial in diabetes 1 cases," he said.
