Russian consumer watchdog probes breast milk coffee
Russian consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor is probing a small café network located in the Urals city of Perm after it began selling breast milk-based coffee.
Breast milk is not considered a food product in Russia, and it’s not possible to get any certificates or permits for its use in cooking.
Therefore, trading in products containing it is illegal, a regional Perm office of the watchdog said on Wednesday.
“The sale of such milk under the guise of a food product is prohibited. The information [about the café] is currently being verified by the agency. Such activity goes against Russia’s current legislation,” Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement.
The café chain was in the media spotlight on Tuesday after Russian online outlet Mash released an interview with its owner, businessman Maxim Kobelev, and one of the café’s suppliers – a breastfeeding mom.
Footage shared by the outlet on its Telegram channel shows plastic bags that allegedly contain breast milk being used at the café, as well as the brewing process of this most special cappuccino.
According to the network owner, some 50 cups of the brew are sold every day at his three cafés, with around nine moms supplying up to five liters of their breast milk to the enterprise daily. The businessman also shared goals to expand, announcing plans to sell up to 1,000 cups of the exotic beverage daily before the end of the year. Kobelev claimed the breast milk was safe to use, and that the supplier moms provided all the necessary medical documents for their yield.
