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Fermented milk from Kenya, Somalia

Suusacsuusac

Suusac is the spontaneously soured camel milk of Somali herders in Kenya and Somalia. The milk is kept in containers smoked with burning wood and left to sour on its own. Studies found Streptococcus infantarius subsp. infantarius dominating the lactic flora.

Fully documentedFermented milk3 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts in any source; the household container sets the batch.
Camel milkA 2026 review describes camels milked directly into the gourd and says fermented camel milk is traditionally not heated first; FAO says milk for sour milk is usually boiled first across Kenya[abaalkhail2026][fao-tmp]
Smoked container (gourd)Fumigated with burning wood before use[ali2026][seifu2007]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countMoulds

What changes: Camel milk goes into a container smoked with burning wood

Step 1 of 4
Smoke the container and pour in the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: camel milk in a smoked container.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

smoking milk vessels has been reported to have an antimicrobial effect in cow milk (Ashenafi 1996, cited by Seifu); FAO says Kenyan and Ethiopian containers are smoked to avoid mould

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Suusac is the spontaneously soured camel milk of Somali herders in Kenya and Somalia. The milk is kept in containers smoked with burning wood and left to sour on its own. Studies found Streptococcus infantarius subsp. infantarius dominating the lactic flora. Made in 4 steps over 3 days. The longest step, leave to sour at ambient temperature, takes up to 3 days (Abaalkhail M.A 2026) and runs at 26–29 °C (Ali S.N 2026). Streptococcus infantarius subsp. infantarius, found at 10^8 CFU per ml in 22 of 24 Kenyan and Somali samples and predominant over other lactic acid bacteria does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 3 daysReported[abaalkhail2026]Leave to sour at ambient temperature
Temperature26–29 °CReported[ali2026]Leave to sour at ambient temperature
AciditypH 3.6–4.9Reported[ali2026]Leave to sour at ambient temperature

What makes this one different

Suusac is camel milk soured in a smoked container and stays thin; its lactic flora is led by S. infantarius rather than the lactococci or yoghurt bacteria of cow-milk sour milks.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Dhanaan (Ethiopia)The Somali camel sour milk of Shinile and Jijiga, set in a smoked container for about 12–24 h, or about 6 h with a little earlier dhanaan.

Safety

The abstract of Jans and colleagues calls S. infantarius subsp. infantarius a pathogenic species of the Streptococcus bovis/equinus complex and says their work continues on virulence factors that may pose a significant health risk, so the risk in suusac is still being studied. A 2026 review says camels are milked straight into the smoked gourd and that fermented camel milk traditionally gets no heat first, so treat suusac as a raw-milk food. WHO says most brucellosis in the general population comes from raw milk or its products, mostly sheep and goat products; its fact sheet does not mention camel milk. WHO also says people at higher risk of severe MERS should not drink raw camel milk, and that animal products processed by cooking or pasteurising should be safe to consume. The same review ties suusac's poor microbial quality to unhygienic handling and storage, with counts rising from production to market.

Hazards the sources name: Klebsiella, E. coli, Shigella, S. aureus and coliforms (listed as potential pathogens in suusac, with hygiene-dependent variability).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Kenyan researchers reported that suusac made with selected mesophilic lactic starter cultures had a more uniform taste and a longer shelf life than spontaneously soured suusac (Farah et al. 1990 and Lore et al. 2005, as cited by Seifu 2007). In 2010 Jans and colleagues reported S. infantarius subsp. infantarius at 10^8 CFU per ml in 22 of 24 Kenyan and Somali suusac samples.

  1. [abaalkhail2026] Abaalkhail M.A., Mohamed S.H.S., Aljurbua M.S., Alkhuraisi R.A., Aladhadh M. 2026, Microbial diversity of spontaneously fermented camel milk, Foods 15(11):1969 (review; Table 1 and text on suusac)paper
  2. [jans2010] Jans C., Gerber A., Bugnard J., Njage P.M.K., Lacroix C., Meile L. 2010, Novel characteristics of African Streptococcus infantarius subsp. infantarius potentially responsible for the predominance over other lactic acid bacteria in spontaneously fermented camel milk, Tropentag 2010 (conference abstract)paper
  3. [ali2026] Ali S.N., Ayyash M., Kamal-Eldin A. 2026, Processing difficulties and biochemical barriers in camel milk fermentation, Frontiers in Microbiology 17:1752671 (review; Table on traditional fermented camel milks)paper
  4. [seifu2007] Seifu E. 2007, Handling, preservation and utilization of camel milk and camel milk products in Shinile and Jijiga Zones, eastern Ethiopia, Livestock Research for Rural Development 19(6)paper
  5. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85, section II 1.1 (suusac, Somalia, from camel milk)gov
  6. [who-brucellosis] World Health Organization, Brucellosis fact sheetgov
  7. [who-mers] World Health Organization, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) fact sheetgov