Single Cream
Single cream is the fat rich fraction separated from cows milk and standardised to around 18 percent milkfat, sold as a pouring cream that is not intended to be whipped.
It is an oil in water emulsion in which milkfat globules, each still bounded by its native phospholipid and protein membrane, are dispersed through skimmed milk serum. At 18 percent fat the globules are too far apart to build the partially coalesced network that whipping requires, which is the practical distinction from double or whipping cream rather than any difference in composition class.
The product is a smooth, pale ivory liquid, pasteurised and chilled, or ultra heat treated for ambient distribution. Its behaviour in use depends on heat and acid stability: single cream will feather or curdle when added to hot acidic liquids such as coffee or a wine reduced sauce, because the casein is destabilised and there is not enough fat present to protect the emulsion. Homogenisation, protein standardisation and, in UHT grades, a small addition of stabilising salts are the tools used to widen that window.
We source bulk Single Cream from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shandong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
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- Function
- Protein
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Smooth homogeneous liquid, free of lumps or separated fat |
| Colour | White to pale ivory |
| Odour and flavour | Clean fresh dairy, free of rancid or oxidised notes |
| Milkfat | 18.0 percent nominal, 17.0 to 19.0 percent |
| Milk solids not fat | 6.0 percent minimum |
| Total solids | 24.0 percent minimum |
| pH | 6.5 to 6.8 |
| Titratable acidity | 0.16 percent lactic acid maximum |
| Fat globule size after homogenisation | 2 micron maximum, d90 |
| Phosphatase test (pasteurised) | Negative |
| Lead | 0.02 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count (pasteurised) | 10,000 cfu/ml maximum |
| Coliforms | 10 cfu/ml maximum |
| E. coli | Absent in 1 ml |
| Listeria monocytogenes | Absent in 25 ml |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 ml |
Common Markets Grades
The grading axis is heat treatment and fat level rather than chemical purity. Pasteurised chilled single cream is the fresh article, with a short refrigerated shelf life and the cleanest flavour. Ultra heat treated single cream, sterilised at around 140 degrees Celsius and aseptically filled, carries a cooked note but keeps for months at ambient temperature, and is the grade traded internationally.
Within each heat class, cream is specified on milkfat, with 18 percent the nominal single cream level and neighbouring specifications at 12 percent for half cream and 30 percent and above for whipping and double cream. Homogenised and non homogenised versions exist, the homogenised being more stable against creaming but slightly less rich in mouthfeel. Cooking or culinary grades carry added stabilisers and emulsifying salts to resist curdling in hot sauces, and are specified separately from the plain article.
Applications
- Pouring cream for desserts, fruit and puddings, where it is used unwhipped straight from the container
- Coffee and tea whitening in foodservice, where its fat content softens bitterness and lightens colour
- Cream sauces and soups, added at the end of cooking below simmering point to enrich without splitting
- Quiche, tart and savoury custard fillings, where it carries the egg set and gives a soft rather than rubbery texture
- Sweet baked custards, panna cotta and crema, where its fat level gives body without the heaviness of double cream
- Mashed potato, purees and vegetable finishes, folded in for richness and gloss
- Industrial ice cream and frozen dessert mixes, dosed as one of the fat sources in the mix formulation
- Ready meal and chilled sauce manufacture, where UHT grades allow ambient storage of the cream before batching
- Cream liqueurs and dairy beverage bases, homogenised into the alcohol and sugar phase
Brands Using Single Cream
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Single Cream on the ingredient label.
- Patak'sKorma Cooking Sauce ↗A korma cooking sauce whose ingredient list gives single cream as the second ingredient at 14 percent, after water.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Patak'sTikka Masala Cooking Sauce ↗A tomato and yogurt curry sauce that lists single cream at 5 percent among its ingredients.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Geeta'sKaralan Coconut Cooking Sauce ↗A coconut cooking sauce with mustard seeds and curry leaves whose ingredient list names single cream after water, coconut milk and onion.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Loch FyneSmoked Salmon Pate ↗A chilled salmon pate whose ingredient list includes single cream alongside soft cheese and creme fraiche.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Cully & SullyCottage Pie ↗A ready meal cottage pie listing single cream in its ingredients after butter.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 Single Cream
Top Single Cream manufacturers in China.
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
Cream is a standardised dairy food rather than a food additive, so it has no E number of its own, although any stabilising salts or emulsifiers added to a culinary grade are additives in their own right and must be declared. Milk is a declarable allergen in all major markets.
In the United States light cream has a standard of identity under the federal milk and cream regulations, which fixes the milkfat range and the permitted heat treatments and optional ingredients. Cream sold interstate must be pasteurised or otherwise processed as those rules require, and the pasteurised milk ordinance governs the plant conditions. In the European Union cream falls under the general dairy hygiene regulation, which sets heat treatment, plant hygiene and raw milk criteria, while fat content descriptors such as single cream are governed by national trade practice and labelling rules rather than by a single EU compositional standard. Codex maintains a standard for cream and prepared creams that defines the compositional categories and the treatments permitted, and its general standard for the use of dairy terms governs how the product may be named.
Manufacturing Process
Raw whole milk is received, chilled and clarified, then warmed to around 50 to 55 degrees Celsius and fed to a centrifugal separator. The separator splits the milk into a cream stream and a skimmed milk stream by density, and the cream leaves at a fat level well above the target. That cream is standardised back to the required 18 percent by blending in a controlled proportion of the skimmed milk, usually under inline density or infrared control.
The standardised cream is homogenised, most often in two stages at moderate pressure, which reduces the fat globules to a size that resists creaming during storage. It is then heat treated. For the chilled article the cream is pasteurised at around 72 to 80 degrees Celsius with a short hold, cooled, and filled into bottles or cartons under hygienic conditions. For the ambient article it passes through an indirect or steam injection UHT plant at about 138 to 145 degrees Celsius for a few seconds, is flash cooled under vacuum to strip the injected steam, and is filled aseptically into sterile packaging. Stabilising salts, where the grade calls for them, are dosed before the heat step.
