Guardian article on sale of mare's milk

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/editor/story/0,12900,1388080,00.html

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The end is neigh for cow's milk

Wednesday January 12, 2005

The Guardian

A pint of horse milk could be coming to a doorstep near you as demand

for the more nutritious alternative to cow's milk surges across

mainland Europe.

" Popular in France and in other continental countries, horse's milk is

richer in vitamins, is said to be more digestible and tastes a little

sweeter than cow's milk, " reported Doyle in the Irish

Independent.

It is also beneficial for people with gastrointestinal and liver

problems, an allergy to cow's milk, stress, skin problems, stiff

joints, or for those who just like to keep fit and well, said the

Draft Horse Journal. " Horse milk strengthens the body, boosts the

immune system and increases a person's energy and vitality. "

It is also lower in fat than cow's milk. " With only a 1.5% fat

content, compared to cow's milk which is 3.7%, pundits reckon it's the

new foodstuff for 2005, " said Niki Hill on Farming Life online.

Horse milk was popular in Germany, with doorstep deliveries during the

first world war, explained Clare Chapman in the Sunday Telegraph. But

its popularity waned, until it was only produced in isolated

smallholdings a decade ago. " Now there are dozens of large-scale

operations in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, in addition to

Germany and Austria. "

More people are opting for mare's milk because horses eat a natural

diet, Gogel, a German farm owner, told Chapman. " Health scares

such as BSE, and the addition of antibiotics and hormones to fodder,

mean that more people are looking for organic alternatives. "

Horse milk has been the national beverage in Mongolia since time

immemorial, and its use in traditional Mongolian medicine can be

traced back 1,000 years. It " helped Genghis Khan conquer high and low

in the Asian-Euro continent " , reckoned China Daily.

But there may be one drawback. " Since horse's milk costs around €7.50

[£5] a litre as opposed to around €2 [£1.40] a litre for soya or

goat's milk and €1.19 [83p] for a litre of cow's milk, the public

might be dissuaded from buying it by their purses rather than their

palate, " reckoned the Irish Independent.

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