Could fish milk be the next food trend?

Should we be milking the fish? Photo / 123RF
Almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk … fish milk? It could be cod on your corn flakes and sardines in your smoothie if food innovators in Indonesia have their way.
A shortage of dairy cows in some regions of the country has seen scientists suggest a novel source of protein: fish milk.
The Wall Street Journal reports that fishermen off the coast of Indramayu are taking boatloads of the local ponyfish to a factory to be deboned and ground down to powder.
The protein-rich product is then mixed with either or chocolate or strawberry to make it palatable.
“It just tastes like normal milk, at least to me,” Mafatihul Khoiri told the WSJ.
Khoiri works for Berikan Protein Initiative, the company that “milks” the fish.
Quite apart from the nutritional value of the fishy drink, Indonesian experts believe that fish milking could become a $7.6 billion industry that employs 200,000 people, the WSJ reports.
The Jakarta Post was not as impressed, using its editorial pages to tell readers that the milk “appears to be innovation for innovation’s sake”.
“While fish ‘milk’ may be high in protein, its micronutrient profile, bioavailability and ability to meet the nutritional needs of children compared with traditional dairy or other nutrient-dense foods are still questionable,” the Post added.
Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Indonesia’s health minister, told the WSJ that other options to deal with declining dairy cow stocks should be pursued first.
“We can grow cows … Or we can import the milk from Australia. Or we can buy an Australian cow company or milk company,” Sadikin said.
“There are many, many, many options to do before we are milking the fish,” he added.
In New Zealand, researchers are instead exploring legume seeds as a source of “milk“.
Scientists at Massey’s Riddet Institute in Palmerston North have worked away at a fermentation process to extract plant-based milk from the seeds of legumes, RNZ reported earlier this year.
They have developed dairy-free creams and milk powders, and the university, through Massey Ventures, was a large shareholder of new company Andfoods, which has raised $2.7 million to get itself off the ground.
A chunk of that was from Icehouse Ventures, a New Zealand venture capital firm.
Andfoods chief executive Alex Devereux said pulses were the seeds of legume plants.
“Things like chickpeas, peas, lentils and beans – and they’ve primarily been used in their original format.
“We believe we’re one of the only companies that’s using this particular crop for dairy alternatives.”
– Additional reporting, RNZ