Camels In Colorado Provide Milk Alternative: 'It's Quite A Process'

People with food allergies and lactose intolerance always looking for other options to cow's milk. We know about goat milk, almond milk is popular, but it's not often we hear about camel's milk. Dominic Garcia tonight showing us the ancient alternative being produced here in Colorado. In far eastern Colorado, eight miles from the Nebraska border. Some that are a little nicer than others. Yep. There's a dairy farm called Camelot. Looking to do something unique, just something different, just something kind of a wow factor. The wow factor is 40 head of camel. The camel is a very overlooked animal for sure. Majestic, smart and curious, camels are kind, each with their own personality. You gotta get on their personal level with each one and try to work with them and work with their personalities too. Kyle Hendricks is a first generation dairy farmer. We're one of two licensed camel dairies in the United States right now. He and his family produce milk from his caravan of camels. To milk a camel you have to maintain a cow-calf relationship at all times. Each camel has to be milked with her calf. It's quite a process and you only have about 90, usually about 90 seconds to harvest that milk. The harvest yields up to a gallon and a half of milk a day. We're averaging 8 to 16 pints per day per cow. Each pint is pasteurized to kill the bacteria, then bottled and frozen for shipping. Camelot has a hard time meeting the demand. A lot of mothers are just buying their milk for their kids with sensitive issues. Camel's milk is considered to be a healthy milk. It's higher in antioxidants and has low levels of sugar and saturated fat. Some consider it a perfect substitute for people who can't tolerate cow's milk. There are some potential benefits for adults or even children, right? Not infants and young toddlers who really need to be consuming formula. Bonnie Jorgberg is a registered dietitian and nutritionist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. You would not want to substitute camel's milk for formula or certainly not for a mother's human milk. However, there are cultures in the Middle East and Africa who primarily drink camel's milk. The milk has helped just a lot of people around the globe. One drawback is that it is expensive in the United States. One pint sells for between $12 and $16. I'm Dominic Garcia covering Colorado First. And we have a link to learn more about Camelot dairy at our website, cbsdenver.com.