Dubai: Dubai Municipality hopes to release an internationally approved standard for camel milk production, process and distribution by the end of the year.
The announcement was made at the fifth annual Dubai International Food Safety Conference taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre this week.
"The specifications for camel milk were prepared by Dubai Municipality in cooperation with the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, Emirates Industry for Camel Milk & Products, and the Emirates Standardisation and Metrology Authority," said Fatima Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Senior Food Microbiologist at Dubai Central Laboratory.
"Today camel milk is very important for the survival of millions of people in arid and semi-arid areas, and it has close cultural ties in the region," she said.
Camel milk is known to have unique nutritional properties, "Camel milk is high in iron and copper and has five times more vitamin C than cow's milk and a much lower fat content," Fatima told Gulf News.
"We have found that fresh pasteurised camel milk has a much longer shelf life than cow's milk, about eight days, but there are studies which show it can stay up to 14 days," she said.
"The natural evolution of camel milk, which may be due to the harsh climate, has caused it to have a more complex protein strain that makes it tougher to break down and hence it lasts longer."
"We are seeing a growing number of camel milk products being introduced in the market, and each of these companies follows their own standard. So it was imperative to come up with a unified approved standard," said Basheer Hassan Yousuf, Acting Head of Food Studies and Planning Section at the Municipality's Food Control Department.
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