You have added taste to the tea, coffee and chocolate drinks of many a Malaysian. A tasty spread upon their bread you have also been. For many children in the 70s, you were a delicious snack when they squeezed you directly into their mouths. But all good things in life must come to an end.
IT is time we say goodbye to an old friend from yesteryears, the good old full-cream sweetened condensed milk.
There was a time when never a day would pass without seeing advertisements in the newspapers or television where condensed milk was spread on bread, added to drinks or drunk as a milk drink by itself.
Today, the full-cream sweetened condensed milk is missing from supermarket shelves, replaced by the now ubiquitous sweetened creamer.
And why did it go off the shelves? It became too costly to produce for manufacturers.
It all began when the condensed milk was gazetted as a controlled item 37 years ago on Jan 20, 1972.
Controlled goods are essential items which the government keeps a tab on under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 so that there is a sufficient supply in the market.
At the same time, the prices of some controlled items are determined by the government to deter the indiscriminate raising of prices.
This is to ensure the people can continue to enjoy such goods at reasonable prices.
As such, condensed milk, being such a staple in Malaysians' diet, had its price fixed.
It cost just 75 sen in 1977 for a 397g can of full-cream sweetened condensed milk.
Even when the price steadily rose to RM1.75 in 1998, it was still affordable.
But as the cost of milk solids soared since the turn of the century, we began to see fewer and fewer cans of the condensed milk.
It remained in the market until around 2000 but was gradually phased out as it was no longer profitable for manufacturers to produce due to its high milk content.
A can of condensed milk, under the Food Regulation 1985, should have milk solids making up at least a third of its contents.
It also has to have at least nine per cent of milk fat.
And so, as the condensed milk slowly made its exit, the sweetened creamer took its place.
"Sweetened creamers became a substitute product when condensed milk went off the shelves," said Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry secretary-general Datuk Mohd Zain Mohd Dom.
What is the difference between the both, you may ask?
"The creamer is palm oil-based whereas the full-cream sweetened condensed milk is milk-based," said Zain.
A check at a hypermarket saw only sweetened creamers on the shelves.
While the price of full-cream condensed milk stayed at RM1.75 from 1998 until April this year due to the capped price, the price of sweetened creamer soared.
The cheapest was at RM1.99, with some going up to RM2.65.
The irony is that sweetened creamer has less milk, which should make it cheaper to produce.
Sweetened condensed milk was eventually taken off the controlled item list in April.
"It no longer was an essential item. The controlled price was unrealistically low that the industry was unwilling to sell it in the market.
"We now want to allow the price to be determined by market forces. It is also part of the government's objective to move away from price control," said Zain.
So does this bode well for full- cream condensed milk lovers?
Will manufacturers restart production now that pricing is free?
Who knows?
For now, Malaysians will see the condensed milk but the filled milk variant.
This filled milk is the same as the full-cream condensed milk in every way except that its fat content is made up of edible vegetable oil or fat instead of milk fat.
Looks like the creamy condensed milk that we grew up with will remain a thing of the past.
FOOD REGULATIONS 1985
Part viii — Standards and particular labelling requirements for food
Milk and Milk Product
l Regulation 95 — Condensed milk or sweetened condensed milk.
(1) Condensed milk or sweetened condensed milk shall be the product obtained by evaporating from milk, a portion of its water or by reconstituting milk constituents and adding sugar to the remainder.
2) Condensed milk or sweetened condensed milk shall contain not less than:
(a) nine per cent of milk fat;
(b) 31 per cent of total milk solids; and
(c) 670 International Units of Vitamin A per 100g.
l Regulation 99 — Condensed filled milk or sweetened condensed filled milk.
(1) Condensed filled milk or sweetened condensed filled milk shall in all respects comply with the standard for sweetened condensed milk except that the milk fat content is replaced by edible vegetable oil or edible vegetable fat.
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