Condensed Milk vs Sweetened Creamer

It came to my attention last night that not many Malaysians are aware of the temporary extinction of the popular sweetened condensed milk (CM). This warrants a dedicated entry in my blog...tak boleh jadi, tak puas hati nih. Let me educate my fellow Malaysians on this very important subject.

By definition, they are:

Condensed milk, also known as sweetened condensed milk, is cow's milk from which water has been removed and to which sugar has been added, yielding a very thick, sweet product that can last for years without refrigeration if unopened (source: Wikipedia)

Sweetened creamer shall be the product obtained by combining vegetable fat or oil with sugar or any other sweetening substance, milk constituents or other food for sweetening and whitening of beverages (source: Ministry of Health Malaysia)

Under the guideline by the Ministry of Health Malaysia:
Condensed milk or sweetened condensed milk shall contain not less than 8 per cent of milk fat, 28 per cent of total milk solids and 670 International Units of vitamin A per 100 g, whereas...
Sweetened creamer in liquid form shall contain not less than 10 per cent fat and not less than 24 per cent non-sugar solids (note: MILK is not even a compulsory ingredient!)

Do you see the different? One is made of condensed cow’s milk and another is made of oil, being the main ingredient. For a person who is very particular about food, it makes a gigantic different to me. I could tell the different from the colour, the consistency of the liquid and the aroma (I’m sure a lot of concerned citizens like me could tell the different too lah).

Who’s to blame of the temporary extinction? You see, CM is placed under the government controlled items list, i.e. manufacturers have to adhere to the price ceiling set by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs for the sake of protecting our rights as consumers (the same goes to other necessities such as rice, sugar and flour). Hence, when the price of raw material shot up, they have to think out of the box to contain the cost within reasonable budget and still make huge profit at the same time (this doesn't come as a surprise lah kan). Then, some smart alex in the FMC industry decided to change the ingredient to palm oil instead of milk...hence the birth of sweetened creamer @krimer pekat manis.

But fyi, I was not the only one mourning for the loss of CM. About a year back, the Hitz.fm morning crew even made a tribute to CM on its show. A lot of people called to relate their stories about CM. What they ate it with, how much they missed it bla bla bla... One caller even said he ate it with rice. Malaysia boleh!!!

My personal favourite is to eat it with ketupat palas and roti canai. My late grandma liked to eat it with banana.

I say thank God it’s making a comeback. I hope this time it is here to stay. It sure makes a lot of people like me a happy camper...ngeh ngeh ngeh. I love you CM!!!!