Condensed Milk
Condensed milk is cow milk from which a large part of the water has been removed by vacuum evaporation. The term covers two distinct commercial products. Sweetened condensed milk has sucrose added before or during evaporation to around 45 percent of the finished weight and is preserved by that sugar rather than by sterilisation. Evaporated milk, sometimes called unsweetened condensed milk, carries no added sugar and is preserved by in-container sterilisation or by aseptic processing.
Concentration is typically to about one third of the original volume, giving total solids of roughly 70 to 74 percent in the sweetened product and 25 to 30 percent in evaporated milk. The sweetened version is a viscous, pale ivory to light amber liquid that pours slowly and thickens further with age, while evaporated milk is a thinner, opaque fluid.
Preservation in sweetened condensed milk works by water activity. Sugar in that concentration lowers water activity to around 0.83, which is too low for bacterial growth, so the product needs no sterilisation and is stable unopened at ambient temperature. Its defects are physical rather than microbial: lactose crystallises into a sandy texture if crystallisation is not seeded and controlled, and the product thickens and browns over long storage through Maillard reaction between lactose and milk protein.
We source bulk Condensed Milk from top China manufacturers for our partners, working with several of them. The manufacturers are mostly in Anhui, Guangdong and Jiangsu. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Protein
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Viscous pale ivory to light amber liquid, smooth and free from grain |
| Odour and Taste | Clean sweet dairy, free from scorched or oxidised notes |
| Total Solids | ≥ 28.0% evaporated, ≥ 70.0% sweetened |
| Milk Fat | ≥ 8.0%, per declared grade |
| Milk Solids Not Fat | ≥ 20.0% in sweetened product |
| Added Sucrose, sweetened | 40.0% to 48.0% |
| Water Activity, sweetened | ≤ 0.86 |
| Lactose Crystal Size | ≤ 10 µm, no sandy texture |
| Viscosity | Per agreed method and specification |
| Titratable Acidity as Lactic | ≤ 0.35% on reconstituted basis |
| Lead | ≤ 0.02 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 1,000 CFU/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 10 CFU/g |
| Coliforms | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The first division is between sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk, which are separate products with separate compositional standards, not variants of one another. Within each, grading follows milk fat content: full fat, partly skimmed and skimmed versions are all traded, with the fat content and the milk solids not fat content both declared.
A recombined grade, made by reconstituting skimmed milk powder and anhydrous milk fat rather than by evaporating fresh milk, is widely produced in regions without a large fresh milk supply and has the same composition but must be labelled accordingly. Filled versions in which vegetable fat replaces milk fat are a distinct and cheaper category that cannot be sold under the milk designations in most markets. Retail product is packed in cans and tubes, while industrial buyers take drums, pails and bulk tankers, and a dulce de leche or caramelised grade is produced by extended heating of the sweetened product.
Applications
- Bakery fillings, tray bakes and no-bake desserts, where the sugar and solids give both sweetness and structure
- Dulce de leche and caramel confections, produced by prolonged heating of the sweetened product
- Ice cream and frozen dessert mixes, contributing milk solids and reducing the freezing point
- Sweetened coffee and tea preparations, notably in south and southeast Asian beverage traditions
- Confectionery such as fudge, toffee and milk chocolate crumb, as a concentrated source of milk solids
- Recombined dairy manufacture in regions without a local fresh milk supply
- Sauces, custards and dessert toppings, where the viscosity is a functional advantage
- Evaporated milk as a cooking milk in soups, sauces and savoury dishes, where its heat stability prevents curdling
Brands Using Condensed Milk
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Condensed Milk on the ingredient label.
- Eagle BrandEagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk ↗Canned sweetened condensed milk made from two ingredients, milk and sugar, sold for baking and dessert making.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Eagle BrandEagle Brand Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk ↗Fat free version of the same canned condensed milk, described on the page as milk plus sugar with the fat removed.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Condensed Milk
Top Condensed Milk manufacturers in China.
- Anhui Danuo Dairy Industry Co., Ltd.1 ingredient in the directory
Guangdong Dongze Food Technology Co., Ltd.6 ingredients in the directory- Jiangsu Zhiwei Dairy Co., Ltd.4 ingredients in the directory
Zhejiang Baiqiang Dairy Co., Ltd.1 ingredient in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States both products are standardised foods. The standard of identity for sweetened condensed milk in the Code of Federal Regulations requires a minimum milk fat and a minimum total milk solids content and specifies that the added sugar must be sufficient to preserve the product, while evaporated milk has its own standard requiring minimum milk fat and total milk solids together with vitamin D fortification, and permitting specified stabilising salts. Products using vegetable fat cannot be labelled with these standardised names.
In the European Union the directive on partly dehydrated and dehydrated preserved milk covers both, sets the compositional categories, minimum fat and dry matter contents and the reserved designations under which each may be sold, and requires added sugar to be declared. Codex Alimentarius covers the products in its Standard for Evaporated Milks and its Standard for Sweetened Condensed Milks, which set minimum milk fat and milk solids not fat, list the permitted additives including stabilisers and emulsifiers, and set out labelling requirements including the declaration of recombined product.
Manufacturing Process
Raw milk is clarified, standardised for fat and solids not fat, and preheated. The preheat step is functionally important rather than incidental: holding the milk at a controlled temperature for a set time denatures whey proteins and stabilises the casein against later heat coagulation, and it also determines the final viscosity of the product, so it is the main control on body. For sweetened condensed milk sugar is then added, either as a syrup or dry, before or during evaporation.
The milk is concentrated in a multiple effect falling film vacuum evaporator, which removes water at low temperature so that flavour and colour are not damaged, and evaporation continues until the target total solids are reached, monitored by density or refractive index. Sweetened product is then cooled under controlled conditions and seeded with finely milled lactose crystals, which forces lactose to crystallise as a very large number of very small crystals rather than a few large ones, and that seeding step is what keeps the texture smooth rather than sandy. It is then filled into cans or drums without further heat treatment.
Evaporated milk takes a different final route. Because it has no sugar to preserve it, it is homogenised, filled into cans, sealed and then sterilised in a retort, or alternatively sterilised by ultra high temperature treatment and filled aseptically. A stabilising salt such as disodium phosphate is normally added before sterilisation to prevent heat coagulation.
