Why Do We Drink Cow’s Milk, But Not Pig’s Milk?

The reason why stems from biological, agricultural, and practical considerations, but were you to go where no human has gone before (as it turns out, this was presumptuous), could you drink pig’s milk? And what would it taste like?

Pig’s milk

Erik Stegink made the news in 2024 when he launched a new delicacy: pork ice cream. Made from pig’s milk, it was reportedly a hit in the Netherlands where Stegink’s farm can be found in the village of Bathmen. The Times reported he told a local Oost broadcaster, “People really like it, we have almost run out of our first stock. [… the milk is] a bit fatty, nice and creamy.”

That creaminess likely comes from the high fat content in pig’s milk, which is around 8.5 percent, while a cow’s is closer to 3.9. Considering humans already opt for lower-fat versions of cow’s milk, you might struggle to find an enthusiastic market for a gloopier, potentially gamey-tasting alternative.

The problem(s) with milking pigs

Village Voice reporter Robert Sietsema was similarly curious about the absence of pig’s milk, so asked a representative of the Flying Pigs Stall at Union Square, New York, what it was all about. The response spoke of considerable experience.

“First of all, a cow udder is soft and easy to pull, and not hard to get milk from,” they said. “A pig’s teats are hard and hidden, and the piglets really have to work to get at them. Second, a pig is not cooperative the way a cow is. You’d have trouble even catching a pig to milk it.” 

“Third, the consistency is not at all like cow’s milk. It’s more watery. Fourth, pig milk is really gamy. You know how goat’s milk is? I like it, but lots of people don’t. Pig milk tastes even stronger than that.”

For any product to be viable, it needs to be able to be produced en masse and sold at a cost people are willing to pay. For the same reason we eat chicken eggs but not turkey eggs, drinking pig’s milk just isn’t a good option compared to other milk sources. Just ask the people who have tried to make pig cheese.

Pig milk cheese

That gamey taste is apparently common among raw milks. At least, that’s according to Chef Edward Lee who went full Charlotte’s Web in his efforts to obtain enough pig’s milk to make a cheese. As Lee told Slate, the biggest issue with pig’s milk is the actual process of obtaining it.

“Anyone who farms pigs would say that pigs’ milk would make an incredible cheese. The problem is that it’s nearly impossible to milk pigs. When sows are lactating, they get very aggressive. They’re not docile like cows. They’re smart, skittish, suspicious, and paranoid. They do not like you to get up in their business.”

Add to that the fact that a pig has up to 14 teats that only eject milk for 15 seconds at a time and you can see why milking these animals just isn’t practical. Cows, on the other hand, can eject milk for up to 10 minutes at a time, according to Sacrewell Farm. As such, any resulting product would have to carry an incredibly high price tag if the producer is to make up their losses (won’t somebody think of Lee’s soiled Carhartt jackets?).

So, it seems the pigs are best left alone when it comes to the milk industry, but if it’s inaccessible cheeses you’re after, then might we tempt you down a different rabbit hole? The curious science of whale cheese.