Breast Milk Ice Cream for London

Popular London ice cream parlor, The Icecreamists, recently added a dozen new radical flavors to their menu. The one getting the most attention? Baby Gaga—a blend of lemon zest, Madagascan vanilla pods, and genuine, human breast milk. The Icecreamists founder, 44-year old Matt O’Connor, says Baby Gaga is intended to raise awareness of breast milk’s deliciousness and encourage more breast feeding by mothers.

The £14 ($22.50) per scoop ice cream is served in a martini glass by a costumed Baby Gaga waitress. The glass is filled with the breast milk ice cream concoction, and the waitress pours liquid nitrogen into the mix through a syringe. It is accompanied by a rusk (a light, delicately textured, sweetened biscuit), and an optional shot of Calpol (a brand of children’s medicine sold in the UK) or Bonjela (oral gels aimed to relieve the pain of mouth ulcers and denture sores). The frozen dessert can also be served with whiskey or another cocktail upon request.

The milk is supplied by mothers who answered an ad on online forum Mumsnet. Health checks for the lactating women are the same as those done by the National Health Service on blood donors in hospitals, but the pumping is done on-sight at The Icecreamists and is pasteurized before being used in the kitchen.

Thirty-five year old mother Victoria Hiley was the first to answer the ad, providing 30 fluid ounces (enough to make the first 50 servings). She and the other 14 women currently donating, pocket £15 per every 10 ounces produced. Hiley believes that if adults realize how “tasty” breast milk is, new mothers will be more willing to breastfeed their own newborns.

The first batch of Baby Gaga sold out within days. Consumers report that the cold treat tastes just like regular ice cream—only sweeter and creamier. “It’s really nice,” Hiley said after tasting her first glass, “it really melts in the mouth.” The Food Standards Agency says there are no laws prohibiting businesses from selling human milk products as long as they comply with general food safety laws to ensure the product is safe for consumption.

Despite The Icecreamists’ assurance, however, after only one week on the market, the FSA has pulled the product from the freezer. A number of complaints received by Westminster City Council questioning the “sale of edibles made from bodily fluids,” and the untold health hazards they could entail, prompted action. Further testing and regulation by the FSA resulting in positives promises the return of Baby Gaga to the London ice cream shop.

O’Connor is confident in his take on the “miracle of motherhood” and tells consumers to think of it as an organic, free-range treat. “What could be more natural than fresh…mother’s milk in an ice cream?” Hiley asks, “And for me, it’s a recession beater too—what’s the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash?”

“No one’s done anything interesting with ice cream in the last hundred years,” O’Connor declares. And that’s just what the Covent Garden’s ice cream shop is doing. Eat up!