CONCENTRATED DAIRY PRODUCTS

Contents
Evaporated Milk
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Dulce de Leche
Khoa

Evaporated Milk
J A Nieuwenhuijse, FrieslandCampina Research, Deventer, The Netherlands
ª 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Product Description by adding milk permeate, lactose, or milk retentate;

however, additions that change the casein-to-whey
Evaporated milk is the commercial name for sterilized protein ratio are not allowed. Moreover, local legisla-
unsweetened condensed milk, that is, fresh cow’s milk tion in some countries may still forbid standardization
from which a considerable portion of the water has been of protein.
removed. The first person to preserve milk in concen- In addition to milk, skim milk, and cream, sweet cream
trated form was Nicolas Appert, who, in the early buttermilk is frequently used as a source of part of the
nineteenth century, concentrated milk by boiling it in a milk solids. The main reason is that sweet cream butter-
water bath over a fire, then poured it into glass bottles milk acts as a source of membrane lipids from milk, which
after cooling, and sterilized the final product by heating improves heat stability. In addition, sweet cream butter-
the bottles for 2 h in a boiling water bath. Two inventions milk is considered to improve flavor, particularly in
made in the second half of the nineteenth century recombined evaporated milk.
resulted, essentially, in the process that is still used. In If the availability of fresh milk is limited, part or all of
1856, Gail Borden patented the evaporation of milk at the solids-not-fat can be derived from milk powder and
reduced pressure, using the concentrate to make sweet- the fat from anhydrous milk fat (AMF). If only milk
ened condensed milk. A process for sterilizing powder and AMF are used, the technical name by
concentrated milk in tinned cans, which were rotated in which the product is known is ‘recombined evaporated
an environment of pressurized steam, allowing a rela- milk’. As the properties of recombined evaporated milk
tively short sterilization time, was patented in 1884 by need not be different from those of evaporated milk
John B. Meyenberg. produced from fresh milk, it is not discussed separately
The composition of evaporated milk is regulated by here, but is discussed in the section ‘Production Methods’.
the Codex Alimentarius and by the legislation of indi- The Codex does not distinguish the product made from
vidual countries. The traditional standards are the milk powders and AMF from the product made from
British Standard, which requires a minimum of 9% fresh milk. However, national legislation may set limits
milk fat and a minimum of 31% total milk solids, and to the use of powders; for example, EU legislation
the US Standard, with a minimum of 7.9% milk fat and requires that not more than 25% of the milk solids in
25.9% total milk solids. The standard required by the regular unsweetened condensed milk be derived from
Codex is the most common in international trade, hav- powder.
ing a minimum of 7.5% milk fat and 25% total milk An increasing amount of evaporated milk contains vege-
solids. Thus, the concentration factor ranges from 2.0 to 2.5. table fat instead of milk fat; in some countries, this is labeled
The Codex allows adjustment of the percentage of ‘filled’ evaporated milk, and in others, with a trade name.
protein in the solids-not-fat, the minimum being 34%, Palm oil is used most frequently if cost reduction or local

862
 Concentrated Dairy Products | Evaporated Milk 863

preference is the reason for not using milk fat. Oils high in full-cream evaporated milk cannot be sterilized if the
polyunsaturated fatty acids, for example, sunflower or soy unconcentrated milk has not been preheated. In addi-
oil, are used in products for a blood cholesterol-lowering tion, preheating contributes to the inactivation of spores
diet. The stability to oxidation is of utmost importance for if the temperature is higher than 110  C. Continuous-
all fats used in recombining. flow preheating at 110–130  C for about 1–3 min has
Sodium orthophosphate is usually added to control heat been known, since the 1940s, to yield evaporated milk
stability. Soy lecithin, calcium chloride, or calcium carbo- with the highest heat stability, and is used most com-
nate may also be used for this purpose. Polyphosphates may monly. It is especially suitable for the production of
be added to UHT-sterilized evaporated milk to retard age high-solids, for example, British Standard, evaporated
gelation. The Codex sets a maximum addition of 0.2% milk. In addition, the traditional method for heating
singly or 0.3% if a combination is used. -Carrageenan milk in ‘hot wells’ at 90–95  C for about 10–15 min is
(0.005%) is sometimes added to retard creaming. still being used. For recombined evaporated milk, pre-
heating is carried out by the powder manufacturer,
before concentration and drying. This allows the powder
Uses to be reconstituted directly at the concentration
required for recombined evaporated milk. An alternative
The inventors of evaporated milk aimed to produce a method of recombining is to reconstitute standard med-
product that would not perish during storage for ium-heat milk powder to 9–10% of solids-not-fat,
months at ambient temperature, that could be trans- preheat this milk, and evaporate off water to the desired
ported easily over long distances, and that would concentration. Either method yields a good-quality pro-
contain most of the valuable nutrients of milk. In duct; for the latter method, the benefit of using a
some countries with low internal milk production, espe- commodity powder has to be balanced against the costs
cially in the tropics, evaporated milk still is a general- of additional equipment and higher energy use at the
use milk product. In other markets, evaporated milk is recombination site.
used for specific purposes, for example, in coffee and
tea, or for cooking.
Concentration
As drinking milk, evaporated milk is consumed after
1:1 dilution with (boiled) water. Such a 1:1 (v/v) dilution Milk is usually concentrated in a multistage falling film
of Codex standard evaporated milk yields a product with evaporator, designed with emphasis on the efficient use
a slightly higher solids-not-fat content and fat:solids-not- of energy. Overconcentrating should be avoided because
fat ratio than those of the regular 3.5% fat full-cream milk. it may lower heat stability, and because it demands a
Some consumers, the percentage varying from country to higher energy use and lowers capacity. Therefore, the
country, actually prefer the flavor of sterilized milk total solids content of the concentrate as it leaves the
obtained in this way to that of pasteurized or evaporator is adjusted continuously, based on the
UHT-sterilized milk. In coffee or tea, a relatively small measurement of its refractive index or density. The
amount is sufficient to give the drink a milky flavor and a final standardization of fat and total solids is usually
white appearance. Moreover, the Maillard products in carried out between concentrating and sterilizing.
evaporated milk result in coffee or tea having a yellowish Concentration of milk by reverse osmosis also yields
hue, which is preferred over the grayish hue obtained if, unsweetened condensed milk, but other membrane fil-
for example, pasteurized or UHT milk is added. tration processes do not, because not only water, but
also salts, lactose or proteins may be removed. Although
‘evaporated’ milk produced by reverse osmosis has vir-
Production Methods tually the same composition and properties as that
produced by evaporation, industrial application of
Processing schemes for the production of in-container reversed osmosis for this purpose appears to be very
sterilized and UHT-sterilized evaporated milk are limited.
shown in Figure 1 and for recombined evaporated milk
in Figure 2. Essential processing steps are discussed in
Homogenization
more detail in the subsequent sections.
The purpose of homogenization is to prevent coales-
cence of fat globules and to reduce the rate of
Preheating
creaming during storage of the product. It also affects
Preheating is heat treatment of the milk before it is heat stability; homogenization pressures up to about
concentrated. Its main purpose is to increase the heat 5 MPa generally have little effect or slightly increase
stability of the concentrated milk; in fact, homogenized heat stability, but higher pressures result in a large
864 Concentrated Dairy Products | Evaporated Milk

Whole/skim milk
Sweet cream buttermilk
Tank
Standardizing

Evaporator
Preheating 110–130 °C

Holding 3–1 min

Evaporating 95–50 °C

Homogenizer Heat exchanger

Homogenizing 20 + 4 MPa Cooling < 7 °C

Heat exchanger
Cooling <7 °C

Stabilizer (phosphates)
Water
Tank Tank
Storage Storage

Filling machine UHT UHT

Bottling/ Heating 120–130 °C Heating ±140 °C
canning
Holding 8–1 min Holding 4s
Sterilizer
Forewarming ± 95 °C
Cooling ± 20 °C Cooling ± 60 °C

Sterilizing 118–122 °C Aseptic tank

Homogenizing 20 + 4 MPa
Storage
Cooling ± 40 °C
Filling machine Cooling ± 20 °C
Packaging
Aseptic tank
Storage

Filling machine
Packaging

Figure 1 Processing scheme for evaporated milk from fresh milk.

decrease. Homogenization is always a two-stage process, homogenization temperature is higher; for example,
in which the pressure over the second valve is 20–30% 55–60  C is preferred to 45–50  C.
of the total pressure, which prevents the formation of
homogenization clusters; note that the risk of formation
of homogenization clusters is low in evaporated milk Stability Test
because the fat-to-protein ratio is usually low (1). In A stabilizer, usually Na2HPO4 or a mixture of NaH2PO4
a standard production method, the concentrated milk is and Na2HPO4, is added to regulate heat stability. Owing
homogenized immediately after it has left the evapora- to batch-to-batch variations in heat stability, the amount
tor. Homogenization temperature has little effect on heat of stabilizer needed is not constant. The appropriate dose
stability. However, at the same pressure, a higher homo- is determined by adding different amounts to a series of
genization temperature gives a somewhat smaller mean cans of the product; these are sterilized and the contents
fat globule size. Thus, for the same mean fat globule size are checked for heat stability. The amount of stabilizer
in the product, heat stability is better if the that gives optimum properties is added to the total batch.
 Concentrated Dairy Products | Evaporated Milk 865

Water (± 40 °C) with a layer of polymer to prevent dissolution of tin and

Milk powder iron into the product. In some Western European coun-
Buttermilk powder tries, glass bottles with a twist-off cap are used for
Dissolver
Dissolving packaging evaporated milk used to whiten coffee.
Pasteurizer + After continuous-flow sterilization, various types of
Filtering homogenizer aseptic packaging systems can be used as long as the above-
AMF mentioned criteria are fulfilled. Aluminum foil-lined ‘milk
Heating ± 65 °C
Tank
cartons’ and portion cups made of aluminum or polystyr-
Melting Fat dosing ene are widely used. Evaporated milk packaged in
translucent (white) polystyrene portion cups usually devel-
Homogenizing 20 + 4 MPa
ops an oxidized flavor, presumably due to the appreciable
Holding ±15 s permeability of this material to both oxygen and light.

Cooling < 7 °C

Stabilizer (phosphates)
Sterilization
Carrageenan Sterilization kills all microorganisms and inactivates all
Water Tank microbial spores that may germinate under the storage
Storage conditions of the product in the market. All milk enzymes,
including plasmin, are already inactivated during pre-
Filling/sterilizing heating. Enzymes from psychrotrophs should be absent,
(see Figure 1) as these enzymes have such a high heat stability that
Figure 2 Processing scheme for recombined evaporated milk. sterilization would give insufficient inactivation.
AMF, anhydrous milk fat. In-container heating is usually carried out in continu-
ously operating sterilizers: for cans, a horizontal rotating
system with rotary air locks is used, and for bottles, a
Cooling and Cold Storage
hydrostatic sterilizer. Both are high-capacity systems,
Because the product can be sterilized only if the results of allowing considerable heat regeneration.
the stability test are known and the appropriate amount of Continuous-flow heating poses some problems with
stabilizer is added, the product is cooled and stored for a respect to regulating heat stability: a stability test using a
while after homogenization. In addition, the final standar- continuous-flow heater is hardly possible. One solution is to
dization of fat and total solids can be carried out at this aim for high heat stability during sterilization by homoge-
stage, taking into account the amount of water added with nizing the concentrate aseptically afterward. Addition of a
the stabilizer. Long storage should be avoided to prevent stabilizing salt is not needed for this method of processing,
bacterial growth. Of equal importance is that cold storing or a fixed amount can be used. This is done mostly for
the unsterilized product for more than 24 h consider- UHT-sterilized evaporated milk, which results in a rela-
ably increases the risk of age gelation of the sterilized tively whiter product with a low viscosity. A product that
product in the market. resembles in-container sterilized evaporated milk is
obtained if the sterilization temperature is 120–130  C, for
an appropriate (relatively long) holding time, for example,
10 min at 120  C or 2 min at 130  C, and homogenization is
Packaging
upstream. However, control of heat stability is more com-
The long shelf life of evaporated milk at ambient tem- plicated for this method of processing.
perature places high demands on the packaging material.
Mechanical resistance and permeability to water, gases,
hydrophobic components, and light are important aspects, Problems
and, of course, those parts that are in direct contact with
Microbiology
the product must be of food-grade material.
The can is the traditional, and still widely used, con- As for all sterilized milk products, there is some risk of
tainer for evaporated milk, with a standardized content of reinfection of the product after sterilization, for example,
170 or 411 g (6 or 14.5 oz, respectively). In the past, cans via microleaks in cans or during aseptic filling. One other
with a vent hole were used, and the hole was sealed by aspect deserves specific attention: the growth of thermo-
filling it with lead solder, which results in some risk of philic spore-forming bacteria, in particular of Bacillus
contamination of the product with lead. Presently, stearothermophilus, in the processing equipment, especially
mechanically sealed cans that do not have this risk are the evaporator. Many evaporators contain large stainless-
the standard. Furthermore, modern tinned plate is coated steel surfaces in sections where the product temperature
866 Concentrated Dairy Products | Evaporated Milk

is 45–65  C, that is, a temperature at which growth and

sporulation of bacteria may occur. If the running time is 20

Coagulation time (min) at 120 °C

long or cleaning of the equipment is not perfect, this may
lead to an appreciable spore count in the concentrated
milk. Inactivation of these spores during sterilization is
limited: D121 value for B. stearothermophilus is 4–7 min, thus
the sterilizing effect is, at most, 3. Residual spores may 10 Preheated
germinate and grow if the product is sold in tropical Untreated
countries, where storage temperatures may exceed 40  C. Preheated and
homogenized
Homogenized
Heat Stability
0
Heat stability of evaporated milk varies widely with com- 6.3 6.5 6.7
position and processing (see Heat Treatment of Milk: pH
Heat Stability of Milk) for mechanisms of heat coagulation
Figure 3 Influence of preheating and homogenization on the
of milk and concentrated milk). Here, the focus is on
heat stability of evaporated milk as a function of pH (measured at
optimization during manufacture. Optimization is not room temperature before sterilization). Approximate examples.
maximizing heat stability. Consumers prefer a so-called Reproduced with permission from Walstra P, Geurts TJ,
creamy product, that is, a product with a viscosity signifi- Noomen A, Jellema A, and Van Boekel MAJS (eds.) (1999) Dairy
cantly higher than that of unsterilized evaporated milk. In Technology: Principles of Milk Properties and Processes, p. 431.
New York: Marcel Dekker.
addition, a higher viscosity markedly reduces creaming
rate. An increase in viscosity can be achieved by incipient
heat coagulation, that is, aggregation of protein particles occur during storage, however, will finally make the product
and protein-covered fat globules during heating. Thus, unacceptable to the consumer. These are discussed below.
some heat-induced aggregation is needed to produce a
high-quality product, and the best heat stability is not the
highest, but the one that gives optimum viscosity. Creaming
Generally, heat stability decreases with the concentration Creaming of fat and sedimentation of protein are impor-
of solids-not-fat and with homogenization pressure, tant quality defects, especially if dispersion of these layers
although homogenization up to 5 MPa slightly increases is not possible. This may occur if, after a long storage time
heat stability. For a given composition and homogenization at a high temperature, the proteins in the sediment, or on
pressure, preheating conditions and the amount of stabiliz- the fat globules in the cream layer, fuse. Sterilized evapo-
ing ingredients (phosphate salts and/or soy lecithin or rated milk contains protein particles and fat globules
sweet cream buttermilk) can be varied to achieve the covered with a relatively thick layer of protein, both
optimum heat stability. An example of the effects of homo- aggregated to some extent (Figure 4). The closer the
genization and preheating is shown in Figure 3, which also product is to incipient coagulation, the stronger the extent
shows that the heat stability of evaporated milk is highly of aggregation. Large fat globules, having a relatively low
pH dependent. Moreover, pH determines the type of protein load, and aggregates containing these globules
aggregates formed: relatively voluminous at a pH lower will cream. However (aggregates of) small fat globules
than that of the maximum heat stability and relatively having a high protein load and, obviously, protein aggre-
compact at a higher pH. As more voluminous aggregates gates will sediment. Thus, evaporated milk that has been
yield a more viscous product, it is advantageous to regulate standing for about 6 months may contain a cream layer
product pH such that it falls on the acidic side of the pH for and a sediment layer, both of which have a higher fat and
maximum heat stability. Adding a phosphate stabilizer (see protein content than the middle layer. Of course, the
section ‘Stability Test’) is the usual method of pH adjust- proportions of fat and protein in both layers are different,
ment. In addition, the phosphate anion has an appreciable and both the sediment and the middle layer have a fat
stabilizing effect, because it lowers Ca2þ activity. content lower than the fat percentage of the fresh product.
Conversely, added CaCl2 has a destabilizing effect. Creaming is controlled by varying the homogenization
pressure and by regulating the product viscosity.
Homogenization pressure, of course, determines fat glo-
Defects during Storage
bule size. The effect of viscosity is not well understood;
The ‘use by’ date of evaporated milk may be as long as the viscosity of the serum surrounding the fat and protein
18 months after production, although 6–12 months of shelf aggregates, not the product viscosity, determines cream-
life is more common. Microbiologically, the product will ing and sedimentation rates. Presumably, the fact that
keep indefinitely. The physical and chemical changes that heat coagulation gives flocs that may contain as much
 Concentrated Dairy Products | Evaporated Milk 867

0.3

Optical density
0.2
40 °C

22 °C
0.1 4 °C

1 µm
0 100 200 300 400
Storage time (days)
Figure 5 Optical density of evaporated milk at 520 nm as a
function of storage time at storage temperatures of 4, 22, and
Figure 4 Protein particles and fat globules in preheated, 40  C. Reproduced with permission from Patton S (1952) Studies
homogenized evaporated milk after sterilization. Scale ¼ 1 mm. of heated milk. 4. Observations on browning. Journal of Dairy
Electron micrograph from Friesland archive, made by the former Science 35: 1053.
Technische en Fysische Dienst voor de Landbuw, Wageningen,
The Netherlands.
unless the concentrate is cold stored for at least 1 day before
sterilization. However, UHT-sterilized evaporated milk
protein as fat, thus having only a small difference in usually does gel. The main cause of the age gelation of
density from the serum, plays an important role. Mutual evaporated milk appears to be an unknown physicochemical
hindrance of the flocs, which occupy a volume fraction of change in the casein micelles, resulting in dissociation of
roughly 0.5–0.6, may also play a part. A complicating protein from the casein–whey protein complexes. Maillard
factor, which is storage temperature-dependent, is that reactions are not involved, and neither is proteolysis caused
the aggregates in the product change during storage, by plasmin, because plasmin is already inactivated during
resulting in a decrease in the viscosity of evaporated preheating. Proteolysis caused by enzymes secreted by psy-
milk during the first weeks of storage. chrotrophs may induce gelation in all types of sterilized
milk, due to their very high heat stability.
Color and flavor Gelation of in-container sterilized evaporated milk
Shortly after sterilization, the color and flavor of evapo- that has been cold-stored before sterilization appears as
rated milk are, after dilution to the concentration of a gradual increase in viscosity; it takes at least 4–6 months
regular milk, very similar to the color and flavor of for the product to gel. A gel is not always formed; some
unconcentrated milk sterilized by the same method. If reports even mention that thinning occurs after thicken-
the product is stored at refrigeration temperature, these ing. Shortly after formation, the gel can be broken by
properties hardly change with time. However, when shaking. Apart from ensuring a short cold-storage time,
stored at ambient temperature, and especially above a somewhat more intense sterilization prevents this phe-
25  C, Maillard reactions occur leading to color and flavor nomenon from occurring; conversely, a lower heating
changes. Of course, this also applies to unconcentrated intensity accelerates gelation. Gelation of UHT-sterilized
liquid milk products. evaporated milk usually proceeds much faster: it may take
An example of the color change during storage is as little as 10 days for the product to gel. Breaking of the
shown in Figure 5. The effect of temperature is clear, gel has been reported to cause ‘wheying off’. The more
and browning is especially fast during the first months of intense the sterilization and the less concentrated the
storage. Thus, UHT-sterilized evaporated milk has little product, the more slowly gelation proceeds. Addition
added value over in-container sterilized milk if the sto- of a long-chain polyphosphate (frequently but erro-
rage temperature is high: brown discoloration during neously called ‘hexametaphosphate’) allows storage of
storage is such that the color difference evident immedi- UHT-sterilized evaporated milk for up to 6 months,
ately after sterilization disappears quickly. even at a tropical temperature. In contrast, an added
orthophosphate (i.e., the salt used to regulate heat stabi-
Age gelation lity) slightly accelerates gelation.
Age gelation is the formation of a gel, or a voluminous Electron micrographs seem to indicate that the
sediment or cream layer (depending on the fat content), casein–whey protein particles in both cold-stored and
during the storage of sterilized milk products. In-container UHT-sterilized evaporated milk develop thread-like
sterilized evaporated milk does not gel during storage, protuberances during storage, finally linking the particles
868 Concentrated Dairy Products | Evaporated Milk

in a gel. However, some threads are always visible on Lactose and Oligosaccharides: Maillard Reactions.
micrographs of evaporated milk immediately after ster- Liquid Milk Products: Recombined and Reconstituted
ilization, and it is not clear why these sometimes seem to Products. Plant and Equipment: Evaporators.
develop into links between the particles, sometimes
develop into small protein particles in the serum, and
sometimes disappear altogether, that is, fuse with the Further Reading
‘casein micelles’. Hunziker OF (1947) Condensed Milk and Milk Powder, 7th edn. La
Grange, IL: OF Hunziker.
Crystalline sediment Kieseker FG (1982) Recombined evaporated milk. In: Proceedings of
the IDF Seminar on Recombined Milk and Milk Products, pp. 79–88.
Occasionally, crystals with dimensions of several milli- Brussels: IDF.
meters consisting of tricalcium citrate are found at the Newstead DF (1999) Sweet-cream buttermilk powders: Key functional
bottom of the packages of evaporated milk. Formation ingredients for recombined milk products. In: Proceedings of the 3rd
International Symposium on Recombined Milk & Milk Products,
takes some months and occurs especially at a high storage pp. 55–60. Brussels: IDF.
temperature. If no phosphate stabilizer is used, the for- Nieuwenhuijse JA and van Boekel MAJS (2003) Protein stability in
mation of these crystals occurs much more frequently, sterilised milk and milk products. In: Fox PF and McSweeney PLH
(eds.) Advanced Dairy Chemistry, Vol. 1: Proteins, 3rd edn., Part B,
especially in British Standard evaporated milk. pp. 947–974. New York: Kluwer.
Patton S (1952) Studies of heated milk. 4. Observations on browning.
See also: Heat Treatment of Milk: Heat Stability of Milk; Journal of Dairy Science 35: 1053.
Singh H, Creamer LK, and Newstead DF (1995) Heat stability of
Sterilization of Milk and Other Products. concentrated milk. In: Fox PF (ed.) Heat-Induced Changes in Milk,
Homogenization of Milk: High-Pressure Homogenizers. 2nd edn., pp. 256–278. Brussels: IDF.