Did you know: What is condensed milk made for?

Condensed milk is very high in calories, containing up to 40-45% sugar, at least 8% fat and 28% milk solids.

Condensed milk does not need to be pasteurized because it is pasteurized during evaporation, and the sugar inhibits microbial growth. Simply put, sweetened condensed milk is preserved by its own sugar content.

Unsweetened condensed milk is also 60% water removed, then cooled, pasteurized and canned.

Why do humans make condensed milk?

Condensed milk was created in the US to deal with bacteria for long-term use.

Before condensed milk was invented, fresh milk could only be kept for a short time after harvest. Therefore, access to fresh milk faces many difficulties. In addition, at that time, milk poisoning was very common because milk was easily contaminated when not stored properly.

French chef Nicolas Appert was the first to introduce condensed milk formula in 1827 but his product was not well received.

In 1835 William Newton - British researcher came up with the idea of ​​adding sugar to milk to increase the shelf life of milk. He filed his patent but never used it.

Gail Borden - an American decided to create a safe milk that can fight food poisoning and other diseases after witnessing many cases of starving children on board due to lack of milk.

After many failed attempts, Gail Borden collaborated with Jeremiah Milbank to launch a dairy product that can be stored for a long time without ice or refrigerator.

In 1858, the milk produced by Borden under the name Eagle Brand with extremely delicious milk quality, long storage and extremely convenient, was sold and made a big splash. And by the end of 1860, Eagle Brand condensed milk had become a popular and familiar item present in most American families at that time.

Kareem Winters

Update 07 April 2023