An advertisement calling for an unsual ingredient -breast milk- has caused public furore in Zurich.
Swiss restaurant owner, Hans Locher, offered slightly over £3 for 398ml of the substance on German newspapers in his village of Winterthur.
The gourmet chef said that he has perfected the use of breast milk in his dishes, which he intends to serve in his restaurant, by adding whipped cream.
He wants to include in his menu, dishes such as breast milk soup, breast milk lamb curry, or antelope steak with chantarelle sauce with breast milk and cognac. The sauces will be at least three quaters breast milk.
While local authorities frown at Locher’s unique choice of ingredient, and Zurich’s food regulatory body and the Association of Swiss Milk Producers have threatened lawsuits, they admit they are flummoxed.
"Humans as producers of milk are simply not envisaged in the legislation," said an official. "They are not on the list of approved species such as cows and sheep, but they are also not on the list of banned species."
Some fear that the ingredient is potentially dangerous. Rolf Etter, of the food regulatory body, charged that Locher’s inability to gaurantee safe storage of human milk violates food guidelines.
Locher, however, said that there is no cause for alarm: "We have all been raised on it. Why should we not include it in our diet?"
He added that he has served dishes containing breast milk to his friends and the "feedback was excellent."
The trained chef started using the product privately in his cooking when his daughter was born, and said that the idea came from wanting to harness the potential of young mothers in his community.
Leave Your Comments