# Coffee flavored breastmilk cheese **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955 "2005-02-08T06:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/1 "2005-02-08T06:44:47Z")
Would it be possible to make cheese derived from a woman’s breastmilk? And if it were possible, and she happened to be drinking a lot of coffee at the time, would the cheese kind of have a coffee taste to it? ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/2 "2005-02-08T06:46:46Z")
Dude, time to go to bed… ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/3 "2005-02-08T08:10:27Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Would it be possible to make cheese derived from a woman’s breastmilk? It’s possible, but it’s not very efficient. Human milk contains about half as much proteins as cow milk, and the protein composition is different. In cow milk two thirds of the protein are casein, whereas in human milk it’s about one third. Altogether that means that to make a specific amount of cheese, you’d need four times as much human milk as it would take if you were using cows milk. Add this to the fact that humans don’t produce as much milk as cows. A Friesian cow can pump out around 30 litres per day all year round, whereas a woman would rarely go above 1litre/day, and only for a limited time. So, if you want to set up a human cheese factory, youll clearly need an inordinate amount of lactating females. Thus I think it’s clear that human cheese production will most likely never be able to compete economically with cows milk cheese. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/4 "2005-02-08T08:36:20Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > Thus I think it’s clear that human cheese production will most likely never be able to compete economically with cows milk cheese. I think I can speak for everyone in expressing appreciation for sharing one more thing in this crazy world that we can be thankful for. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/5 "2005-02-08T09:11:25Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > Thus I think it’s clear that human cheese production will most likely never be able to compete economically with cows milk cheese. Not for mass production, but undoubtedly there would be a niche market for it, if somebody wanted to start up a production. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2702123.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2702123.stm) ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/6 "2005-02-08T09:18:31Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > So, if you want to set up a human cheese factory, youll clearly need an inordinate amount of lactating females. And this is a bad concept for what reason? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/7 "2005-02-08T14:36:35Z")
> [@Lamar Mundane](#): > > Dude, time to go to bed… Aactually it is half past time! ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/8 "2005-02-08T15:20:37Z")
Dan Savage did a column about this a couple years ago: [http://www.thestranger.com/2002-02-21/savage.html](http://www.thestranger.com/2002-02-21/savage.html) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/9 "2005-02-08T15:23:33Z")
Sounds like it would be more efficient to give the coffee to the cows. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/10 "2005-02-08T16:10:38Z")
Does “Cheese Macchiato” really sound that good to you? ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/11 "2005-02-09T02:01:48Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > A Friesian cow can pump out around 30 litres per day all year round, whereas a woman would rarely go above 1litre/day, and only for a limited time. > > So, if you want to set up a human cheese factory, youll clearly need an inordinate amount of lactating females. Pardon my lactating, but that ain’t necessarily so. My son, at daycare, drank 20 oz a day. Which I (usually) pumped, daily. Add to that a morning, evening, and overnight feeding - I’m sure I got a least a litre a day from month 3 through month 12 (when I stopped pumping). This was done with some small help of heavy though healthy eating (I am still above my pre-pregnancy weight because any _thought_ of dieting makes my milk slow, though I am nearly happily weaned) and some addition of the herb fenugreek to my diet. I have known several women who pumped and stored in excess of 30 litres of milk (in addition to full time breast feeding of their children) over the course of a year. Additionally, there are some off-lable uses of several medications that will promote lactation - in **men and women**. As to the OP, I haven’t tried making cheese, but I do know you can make breastmilk yoghurt, and right after I dumped my “too old to feed the kid” stash, someone sent me a recipe for bread that included the use of “soured milk” - too late for me to try, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/12 "2005-02-09T02:18:12Z")
Ahh, the power of cheese! ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/13 "2005-02-09T06:50:33Z")
Got breast milk? ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/14 "2005-02-09T10:19:10Z")
> [@Mynn](#): > > Pardon my lactating, but that ain’t necessarily so. > … > I’m sure I got a least a litre a day from month 3 through month 12 (when I stopped pumping). And there are cows who produce **84** litres per day ([cite](http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1279/is_2002_Feb-March/ai_83040236)). I might have been off with my one-litre estimation, but the whole point was that milk cows have been bread for millenia to increase milk production, whereas human female breasts have been selected for ‘other purposes’[sup]1[/sup]. And those three months still constitute a ‘limited time’ . Cow milk production is measured as a yearly average. [sup]1[/sup]cf Darwin _The descent of Man_, Ch 8, “Principles of Sexual Selection”, or the lastest issue of _Playboy_ ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/15 "2005-02-09T13:39:56Z")
So, we find some volunteers … No, I agree that cows are more cost efficient, and probably make a better cheese (though I could vary it by eating spicy food some months and sweeter ones others), it might be mostly the ‘unusual’ factor that ‘creates’ a market. Hell, I’d put my kid through college selling breast milk cheese! And have a web cam for the fetishists who wanted to watch the pumping process ;). I’m gonna be RICH! My point was that it might take less than you think to get a production market going. I was getting over a litre a day, and barely keeping up. I’m sure there are some who get much more. So I’ll run the web cams and the buisness office, and hire milching people for the production side. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/16 "2005-02-09T17:32:18Z")
Great. _Another_ thing on the list of things to do before I die. ---
**Author:** ![Boldface\_Type](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@Boldface\_Type](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boldface_Type)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/17 "2005-02-09T18:06:32Z")
> [@Popup](#): > > but the whole point was that milk cows have been bread for millenia Yes. This is so that when their useful milk-producing life is over, they can be thinly sliced, toasted and spread with their own butter, thus completing the cycle of life. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/18 "2005-02-09T20:47:14Z")
So how much milk would it take to make a stick of butter? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/19 "2005-02-09T20:51:06Z")
Or a quart of ice cream? What other dairy products might have marketing potential? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-flavored-breastmilk-cheese/288955/20 "2005-02-09T21:34:35Z")
While I am certain this is possible, I think you’d need a whole whack of lactating women. My breast milk is pretty darned thin. Don’t judge by mine, though - it’s pretty much skim.