Concentrated Dairy Products: Sweetened Condensed Milk

Hans Nieuwenhuijse, Friesland Campina Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Ó 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description 1
Uses 1
Production Methods 2
Addition of Sugar 2
Preheating 2
Concentration 3
Homogenization 3
Seeding and Cooling 4
Packing 4
Problems 4
Microbiology 4
Crystallization of Lactose 4
Color and Flavor 4
Age Gelation 5
Further Reading 6
Change History 6

Product Description

Sweetened condensed milk (SCM) is one of the oldest industrially produced dairy products. It is produced by removing most of the
water from fresh cow’s milk and adding sugar; it is preserved by its sugar content, not by sterilization.
The first record of an SCM-like product appears to be an English patent granted in 1810 to De Heine for preserving milk and
sugar by heating the mixture in an open vessel. Several patents were granted in the years thereafter for variations and improvements
of this process, until, in 1856, Borden was granted a US patent for a process that is essentially still used today, i.e. using a vacuum
pan to remove water from milk with added sugar.
The composition of SCM is regulated by the Codex Alimentarius and by the legislation of individual countries. The Codex
requires a minimum of 8% milk fat, a minimum of 28% total milk solids for full-fat SCM, and milk protein in milk
solids-not-fat should be higher than 34%. Sugar is generally considered to be sucrose, but a combination of sucrose with other
sugars may be used, at a concentration that assures the keeping quality of the product. The sucrose content in industrial practice
is calculated as the sucrose/(sucrose þ water) ratio, and should be about 62.5%, giving a sucrose content of about 45% for full-
fat SCM. The product contains only about 27% water, so the concentration factor of milk solids relative to water is very high, about
7.3. The Codex allows adjustment of the percentage of protein in the solids-not-fat to any value above 34%, by adding milk ultra-
filtration permeate or retentate, or lactose. Alteration of the whey proteins/casein ratio, for example by adding whey proteins or
caseinate, is not allowed. Various salts, lecithin, and carrageenan may be added to regulate viscosity, creaming, and age gelation.
Legislation of individual countries usually follows the Codex, but not always in all aspects.
Part or all of the milk solids can be derived from milk powder and anhydrous milk fat, if the availability of fresh milk is limited.
The technical name of this product is recombined SCM, which currently accounts for a significant part of the world production of
SCM. Properties of this product need not be materially different from those of the product made from fresh milk. Recombined SCM
is often made using vegetable fat instead of milk fat; this is usually labeled ‘filled’ SCM, but sometimes only by a trade name. Palm
oil is most common fat used in filled SCM, because of its local abundance and low price. It gives a good-quality product. Coconut fat
was frequently used in the past, but is less suitable, owing to its high content of lauric acid, which has a very low flavor threshold, so
that even very low residual lipase activity may impart a soapy taste to the product.
The market share of the sweetened condensed creamers (SCC) is increasing, especially for whitening and taste enhancement of
tea and coffee. The composition of this product varies among producers, but it always contains vegetable fat, and the level of milk
solids-not-fat is lower than in regular SCM. Typically, sugar content of SCC is a few percent higher than that of SCM, fat may vary
between 7% and 15%, and milk protein content is less than 5%. Part of the milk solids-not-fat may be derived from whey (powder)
or lactose, instead of from skimmed milk (powder).

Uses

The main consumer markets for SCM are Southeast Asia, Africa, Central America, and the countries of the former Soviet Union. The
product is used for cooking, to enrich tea or coffee, and, after dilution, even as liquid milk although this yields a rather sweet

Reference Module in Food Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-100596-5.00697-1 1

2 Concentrated Dairy Products: Sweetened Condensed Milk

product – depending on the dilution factor, sugar content of the drink is 15–19%. SCM is also used in the food industry, for
example, as an ingredient for the manufacture of sweets (candy) and chocolate bars. Fat, milk solids-not-fat, and sugar contents
of products for these applications are mostly set according to the specification of the user. If the sugar content is too low to give
sufficient microbiological stability, the product can be kept refrigerated for only a limited time.

Production Methods

Figure 1 shows processing schemes for SCM and Figure 2 for recombined SCM. Essential processing steps are discussed in more
detail in subsequent sections.

Addition of Sugar

Sugar can be dissolved in the cold milk before preheating. This is the least complicated process, and microorganisms present in the
sugar are killed during preheating. The alternative method is adding sugar syrup after preheating or halfway during evaporation.
Adding sugar to the milk is sometimes thought to result in accelerated browning of the product due to the Maillard reaction,
but as long as the sucrose contains hardly any or no reducing sugars, this seems improbable. More important is the fact that this
method gives faster age gelation. If sugar is added as a syrup, this must have been sufficiently heat-treated to kill osmophilic yeasts.
It must be noted that to the author’s knowledge, published results on this subject are for preheating below 100  C and evaporation
in a batch vacuum; effects may be different for high-temperature preheating and evaporation in a continuous falling film evapo-
rator, as is the industrial standard nowadays.

Preheating

Preheating is heat-treating the (sweetened) milk before it is concentrated. It is needed to kill all osmophilic yeasts, micrococci, and
(spores of) molds, to inactivate enzymes, and to regulate viscosity and age thickening.

Whole milk
Skim milk Tank
Standardizing
Sugar OR
Water Dissolving
Heat exchanger
Heating Storage
Evaporator
Preheating 105–120 °C

Holding 60–15 s

Evaporating 95–50 °C

Finishing ±60 °C

Homogenizer
Homogenizing 3–7 MPa

Cooler
Cooling ±35 °C
Seeding lactose
Seeding

Cooling ±20 °C

Tank
Storage ±20 °C

Carton tiller
Can tiller
Filling ±20 °C
Filling ±20 °C

Seamer Seaming ±20 °C

Seaming ±20 °C

Figure 1 Processing scheme for SCM from fresh milk.

 Concentrated Dairy Products: Sweetened Condensed Milk 3

Water (±50 °C)

Milk powder
AMF
Tank
Melting Dissolver
Dissolving
±50 °C
Sugar
Dissolving

Buffering

Pasteurizer +
homogenizer
Filtering

Heating ±65 °C

Homogenizing 3–10 MPa

Heating 88–92 °C

Holding 1 min–30 s

Flash cooling ±50 °C

Cooling ±35 °C

Seeding lactose
Seeding

Cooling ±20 °C

Tank
Storage ±20 °C

Filling
See Figure 1

Figure 2 Processing scheme for recombined SCM. AMF, anhydrous milk fat.

Continuous-flow heating at 105–120  C for about 15–60 s is generally considered to yield SCM with an appropriate viscosity
and limited age gelation. If continuous-flow equipment is not available, preheating at about 82  C for about 30 min may be used.
As mentioned above, the appropriate time and temperature of preheating also depend on the method of sugar addition. For recom-
bined SCM, preheating is done by the powder manufacturer, before concentration and drying. Heat treatment is in the same range as
for medium-heat powder. However, using medium-heat skim milk powder without any further specification would result in recom-
bined SCM with a widely fluctuating viscosity. Thus, a viscosity test (of the powder reconstituted to SCM, at laboratory scale) is
usually done to adjust the preheating to such a time–temperature combination that the recombined SCM can be produced at
a more or less constant viscosity.

Concentration

The milk, or the mixture of sugar and milk, is concentrated in a multistage falling film evaporator, designed with emphasis on high
energy efficiency. Because of the high viscosity of the product, especially in the last effect, evaporators are usually equipped with a so-
called finisher, in which the concentrate is reheated before concentrating to the final solids content. If this is not done, the flow of the
product over the evaporator pipes may not be regular, resulting in fouling and low heat transfer.

Homogenization

Whether SCM is homogenized or not depends on the product type, e.g., a low milk solids sweetened condensed creamer may have
a low viscosity and hence show faster creaming, and on the average temperature and the required shelf life in the market. Because of
the high viscosity of the continuous phase, creaming of fat globules is relatively slow, even if they are not homogenized – note that
fat globules already become a bit smaller in the falling film evaporator. However, especially if the product needs to be shelf-stable at
tropical temperatures, homogenization at a pressure of about 5–10 MPa may be used. In addition, homogenization is done to regu-
late viscosity: it increases the viscosity of the fresh product, and reduces age gelation. Recombined SCM is, obviously, always
homogenized.
4 Concentrated Dairy Products: Sweetened Condensed Milk

Seeding and Cooling

To prevent the formation of large lactose crystals, a seeding lactose dispersion, i.e. a dispersion of lactose crystals that are not much
larger than 1mm, is added to the product. This can be done only at a temperature at which the SCM is supersaturated with respect to
lactose (below 40–35  C), because otherwise the seeding lactose crystals would dissolve before they could take an effect. After seed-
ing, rapid cooling assures optimum crystallization of the lactose. This is usually achieved in a vacuum cooler, but a scraped-surface
heat exchanger can also be applied. After seeding, the product is ready for packing.

Packing

The tin can is still an important container for sweetened condensed products for retail sale. Cans are flame-sterilized before use, and
the filling machine should be placed in a closed room that is supplied with filtered air. These precautions are especially important to
prevent recontamination with mold (spores).
Aseptic, or ‘ultraclean’ packaging systems are becoming increasingly important. Any system that offers sufficient mechanical
resistance and permeability to water, gases, hydrophobic components, and light is suitable. Especially market share of pouches
or portion-size sachets made of aluminum foil and plastic laminate is increasing; other containers that are commonly used are metal
or plastic tubes, and aluminum-lined ‘milk’ cartons.
Bulk packages are metal drums or bag-in-box systems, holding up to 1000 kg of product.

Problems
Microbiology
SCM is preserved by its fairly low water activity of 0.83–0.86, which is mainly due to the high sucrose content, but milk salts and
lactose also contribute. As a rule of thumb, the concentration of sugar in the aqueous phase, expressed as sugar/(sugar þ water) ratio
(also known as ‘sugar number’ or ‘sugar index’), should not be lower than 0.61 and not higher than 0.64. Too low a ratio would give
microbial spoilage, and too high would result in crystallization of sugar. SCM is not sterile and may contain bacterial spores. These
do not germinate and grow, but slowly decrease in number during shelf life.
Deterioration of the product occurs if mold spores, osmophilic yeasts, or micrococci are present after packaging. The product
itself poses little risk of carrying viable micro-organisms or their spores if the usual heating at a temperature above 85  C is applied.
Note that the commonly applied heating temperature is different for the recombined product (85–95  C) then for the product from
fresh milk (100  C or higher), this gives no difference in microbial stability. Recontamination may occur if cleaning procedures in
the production plant are inappropriate, or via the air during packaging if the filtration (or other method of sterilization of the air) is
not functioning properly. Growth of molds and micrococci usually results in lumps and off-flavors in the product, while growth of
yeasts causes bulging of cans (due to gas formation) and off-flavors.

Crystallization of Lactose

The lactose content of SCM is about 40–45 g 100 g1 of water. This is a supersaturated solution at market temperature, especially
because lactose solubility in a concentrated sucrose solution is about half of that in water, giving a solubility of about 11 g 100 g1
of water at 25  C. However, despite the high supersaturation, formation of crystals is slow, usually taking a few days. Spontaneous
crystallization always leads to large crystals that are perceivable during consumption as a gritty mouthfeel. Also, large crystals will
settle to the bottom of the package, which is unacceptable, especially for consumer products that require a long shelf life. Because
crystallization cannot be prevented, the production process should yield a product that contains a large number of small crystals
that are not perceivable and do not (rapidly) settle as sediment. The usual way to achieve this is to add seeding lactose, although
an apparently acceptable product was made until some 60 years ago by using rapid cooling only, or by addition of SCM from
the previous batch. About 0.02–0.05% of seeding lactose is added, that is, 0.25–0.6% of the amount to be crystallized. As a rule
of thumb, lactose crystals smaller than 10 mm are not perceivable in the mouth; thus, the seeding lactose crystals should be
about 1 mm.
Seeding lactose is usually prepared from regular lactose-a-hydrate crystals by grinding with continuous air separation of the
smaller crystals.

Color and Flavor

The appearance of SCM is somewhat glassy, with a yellowish white color. Because the refractive index of the water phase is about the
same as that of the fat, due to the high sugar concentration, light scattering by fat globules and casein micelles is very limited. The
main contributors to SCM’s whiteness are lactose crystals; this is in contrast to other milk products in which casein micelles and fat
 Concentrated Dairy Products: Sweetened Condensed Milk 5

globules are responsible for whiteness. Due to this glassy appearance, even a limited formation of brown pigments by the Maillard
reaction gives discoloration of the product. The production process has a relatively small effect on color, as it involves no steriliza-
tion. However, browning during storage can be considerable, especially at temperatures above 25  C. In SCM for retail sale, replac-
ing sucrose with glucose (syrup) or another reducing sugar results in much faster browning, which is undesirable. However, in
products intended for the food industry, this may be acceptable, as storage times are usually short, or it may even be desirable,
for example, for use in the production of fudge.
Products of the Maillard reaction also change the flavor of SCM during storage, but as long as this is not excessive, the flavor is
considered normal for the product. Lipolysis incidentally results in a rancid off-flavor in products containing milk fat, and a soapy
off-flavor if coconut or palm kernel oil is used to produce filled SCM.

Age Gelation

The viscosity of SCM increases during storage. The main cause of age gelation appears to be an unknown physicochemical change in
the protein particles – the casein micelles, aggregated denatured serum proteins and aggregates of these two. Electron micrographs
indicate that the protein particles in SCM become connected by threads of protein, similar to those in sterilized milk products that
gel during storage. Reactions with reducing sugars seem to be involved, as SCM in which the sucrose is replaced by, for example,
glucose syrup thickens faster. If heat-stable proteolytic enzymes, originating from Psychrotrophic bacteria, are present in the product
they may induce gelation, but this does not seem to have been reported; this in contrast to lipolysis caused by heat-stable bacterial
lipases.
Presence of sucrose during preheating and condensing plays an important role, maybe via its effect on the denaturation and
aggregation of the serum proteins. When added later in the concentration process, a slower rate of age gelation results. Adding
the sugar syrup near the end of the evaporation results in a product that shows hardly any thickening (see Figure 3).
Preheating is important, and not (only) because it denatures serum proteins. The viscosity of SCM made from unpreheated milk
hardly increases during storage; a preheating temperature between 80 and 100  C gives rapid age gelation and a temperature above
100  C results in a much lower rate. In contrast, recombined SCM, made from powder that was preheated at 80–95  C, and that is
high-pasteurized in the concentrated state at 80–90  C does not show rapid age-gelation. A mechanistic explanation for these differ-
ences is not available.

200
192.7

180
(a)

160

140

120.0
120
Viscosity (P)

115.6

100

83.0
80 78.2 (b)

60
58.5
41.8
40
33.5

21.4 (c) 214

20

5 10 15 20 25
Days

Figure 3 Effect of the point of sugar addition on the viscosity of SCM during storage. (a) Sugar and milk prewarmed together; (b) sugar syrup and
milk prewarmed separately and mixed in the vacuum pan; (c) sugar syrup added near the end of the condensing period. Reproduced with permission
from Hunziker, O.F., 1947. Condensed Milk and Milk Powder, seventh ed. O.F. Hunziker, La Grange, IL.
6 Concentrated Dairy Products: Sweetened Condensed Milk

Finally, the effects of stabilizing salts are not clearly understood either. Added calcium appears to hasten age gelation if added
after concentrating, but delays it if added between preheating and concentrating. Added orthophosphate and EDTA increase the rate
of age gelation irrespective of where in the process they are added, and added citrate has little effect if added before concentration,
but slows age gelation if added after concentration. All in all, if additives are used in industrial practice, the type and method of
addition should be carefully tested.

Further Reading

Alvarez de Filipe, A.I., Melcon, B., Zapico, J., 1991. Structural changes in sweetened condensed milk during storage: an electron microscopy study. J. Dairy Res. 58, 337–344.
Clarke, P.T., 1999. Recombined sweetened condensed milk: the survivor. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Recombined Milk and Milk Products International
Dairy Federation Special Issue No. 9902. IDF Brussels, Belgium, pp. 35–40.
Hunziker, O.F., 1947. Condensed Milk and Milk Powder, seventh ed. OF Hunziker, La Grange, IL.

Change History

Update of: J.A. Nieuwenhuijse, Concentrated Dairy Products: Sweetened Condensed Milk. Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences, 2nd Edition, 2011, pages 869–873.
Change history: July 2015: J.A. Nieuwenhuijse made minor updates to the text.