There's health in horse milk
By Halimatul Hamid
SERDANG: Friends and acquaintances were sceptical when the founder of Syarikat Setia Brothers Sdn Bhd decided to venture into the mass production of horse milk 14 years ago.
"The common question we were asked were, why horse milk? Is it the same as cow's milk? There are also those who would say, I didn't know that horses produced milk!" said the company's managing director, Norhayati A. Rahim, in a telephone interview yesterday.
Relating the story behind the establishment of the company to the New Straits Times, she said: "The goodness of horse milk came in a dream to an ailing relative of the founder.
"He was diagnosed with leukaemia and was in the final stages of the disease.
"The relative's condition improved after consuming horse milk as a supplement together with the treatment. After that, many came to see him to ask where he had found the special horse milk."
The horse milk was introduced as a nutritional supplement drink called Niemans when it first came onto the market but many customers did not like its distinct smell.
"Now, it comes in the form of tablets and can be purchased at selected pharmacies nationwide," Norhayati said.
She would not disclose the location of the factory that produced the milk.
Revealing this would be harmful for the horses as many people would want to visit them and that would disturb their natural environment, she added.
Norhayati said the company was conducting research and development on horse milk in collaboration with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
She said the product, which went by the name Niemans Feramilch, had received awards at the Invention, Research and Innovation Exhibition in UPM and was recognised by the Health Ministry.
The next step for Setia Brothers will be the production of skincare products and energy drinks made from horse milk.
"We are still improving on our products and we hope they will be able to cater to the masses."
Niemans Feramilch is available at the Setia Brothers booth in the Equin Centre of Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) at the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism (Maha) International Show 2010.
The biennial event began on Friday and will end on Dec 5.
Read more: There's health in horse milk http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/6hma/Article#ixzz16eZCf1mp
