Buyer protection
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In December 2022, Indian research institutes consulted with the ILRI on donkey milk. The director of the equine research centre called for the FSSAI, the food safety authority, to expedite the approval of donkey milk.
We report what the source says. We do not infer any nutritional or health claims from it. Donkey milk is a food.
The source in brief
- Author: Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), source: ICAR-National Research Centre on Camel, Bikaner
- Work: Stakeholders Meet on “Improvement of Donkey and Non-Bovine Milk” organised at ICAR-NRCC
- Publication: Report of 13 December 2022, paragraphs 1–4
- Time and place: 13 December 2022 · Bikaner, Rajasthan, India
- Type of source: Government publication (ICAR)
The exact wording
Dr T.K. Bhattacharya emphasised the need to characterise the donkey population of Rajasthan and accelerate the FSSAI approval of donkey milk to give impetus to the donkey milk marketing value chain.
Dr T. K. Bhattacharya emphasised that the donkey population of Rajasthan needed to be characterised and that the FSSAI approval of donkey milk needed to be expedited to give the marketing chain impetus.
English, ICAR report, 13 December 2022, para. 3
German translation: independent, sense-for-sense translation by the DON DONKEY'S editorial team.
Background
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is the umbrella organisation for state-funded agricultural research in India and is under the Ministry of Agriculture. Its constituent organisations include the National Research Centre on Equines (NRCE) and the National Research Centre on Camel (NRCC) in Bikaner.
On 13 December 2022, the NRCC, together with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), organised a hybrid meeting on “Improvement of Donkey and Non-Bovine Milk”. Participants came from research, government, non-governmental organisations, industry and agriculture.
What the source reports
According to the report, the findings of donkey projects and the participants' contributions to guidelines and strategies for animal welfare and the situation of donkey owners are to be compiled (Dr H. Rahman, ILRI).
Prof. A. K. Gahlot, among other things, advocated broadening the non-bovine milk market through product development and marketing platforms. The director of the NRCE, T. K. Bhattacharya, called for a characterisation of the donkey population of Rajasthan and faster FSSAI approval of donkey milk.
The director of the NRCC, A. Sahoo, pointed to the decline in camel and donkey populations and suggested switching their use from draught animals to milk production, as well as establishing regulatory frameworks for trade and export, as countermeasures.
Figures and facts
- 13 December 2022 – date of the meeting
- ICAR-NRCC – host in Bikaner, together with the ILRI
- FSSAI – Indian food safety authority, whose approval was called for
- Rajasthan – region whose donkey population is to be characterised
Critical assessment
- Type of source: Official report by a state-funded research organisation about an event. It reports speeches, not research findings.
- Regarding applications for human use: The report states that applications for human use are still to be demonstrated. This is a research objective, not evidence of an effect.
- Regulatory finding: The call for FSSAI approval shows that donkey milk was not regulated under Indian milk standards in 2022.
Our assessment
The report documents the interest of Indian authorities in donkey milk as a source of income for owners. Health effects are not demonstrated but are stated as an open research question.
Original quotes, all facts and the full assessment: ICAR 2022: Technical meeting on donkey milk in India. Further sources and studies in the research archive.
Source: Report on the ICAR website · Summarised by the DON DONKEY'S editorial team, as of November 2026.
End of source summary. The source does not refer to DON DONKEY'S® or our products. Our donkey milk is a food.
