Milk in Heavy Whipping Cream?

[Shel_B]

Without getting into a longish story, I'll just say that I purchased a pint of heavy whipping cream at a local supermarket.  Apart from being "Ultra Pasteurized" and treated with three or four additives, like polysorbate-something and carrageenan, the ingredient list included MILK!  I looked at the container of cream of the brand I usually buy, and it contained only cream.

 

Why would whipping cream contain added milk?  And how can it be called "Pure Whipping Cream" if it's adulterated with milk and all the additives?

Edited November 23, 2016 by Shel_B (log)

[pastrygirl]

Does it say "heavy"?  Or say what the fat percentage is? 

 

I wouldn't really call adding milk to cream adulterated since both products start out as one, but I suppose they might add milk to thin the cream down to a certain fat level.  I usually buy 40% manufacturing cream for my professional use but what I see in the grocery store is 36% or 30%.  So maybe when they separate the cream out it is all 40% and they add milk for different consumer products.

 

As for the pure designation, I think that is one of those terms that isn't really regulated and gets stretched.  Pure, natural, artisan ... Or small enough amounts don't count, like how they can round down fat grams so 0.45 turns to 0.

 

Just guessing.  So I take it you'll be reading the label more thoroughly next time?

[Porthos]

This is not an exact anwer to your question but I provide it for an information point.

 

In the early 1900s Berkeley Farms created a process to produce a cream with an even higher fat content, their manufacturing cream.  There was a dairy here in southern California that also made it. 2 or 3 years ago the one here in southern CA became unavailable and then we were told tht the law was requiring them to re-label the product and they claimed their "heavy cream" was just manufacturing cream with a new label. Well, they lied. They used lower fat cream and added stabilizers and such.  It did not work properly in the applications in my ren faire guild's Tea With The Queen's scones and whipped cream. The whipped cream was not stable and broke down rather rapidly, wouldn't hold firm peaks.

 

Looking at the USDA's Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book pure does not seems to be a regulated term. As I was looking this up I remarked to my DW that is probably like "professional" cookware.

[Shel_B]

17 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Does it say "heavy"?  Or say what the fat percentage is? 

 

I wouldn't really call adding milk to cream adulterated since both products start out as one, but I suppose they might add milk to thin the cream down to a certain fat level.  I usually buy 40% manufacturing cream for my professional use but what I see in the grocery store is 36% or 30%.  So maybe when they separate the cream out it is all 40% and they add milk for different consumer products.

 

As for the pure designation, I think that is one of those terms that isn't really regulated and gets stretched.  Pure, natural, artisan ... Or small enough amounts don't count, like how they can round down fat grams so 0.45 turns to 0.

 

Just guessing.  So I take it you'll be reading the label more thoroughly next time?

 

The product is Sunnyside Farms Ultra-pasteurized Heavy Whipping Cream.

 

The cream I usually buy is designated as 40% fat content, although it's not sold as Manufacturing Cream. It's not ultra pasteurized, and the only ingredient is cream.  Makes sense that milk would be used to thin the cream.  I don't see milk and cream as the same product, so adding milk to cream strikes me as adulterous.

 

I read the label before buying, but I needed the cream and this was my only option.  Hopefully I'll not be relegated to using this product again.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Shel_B (log)

[Martin Fisher]

§ 131.150 Heavy cream.(a) Description. Heavy cream is cream which contains not less than 36 percent milkfat. It is pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized, and may be homogenized.

 

They're likely adding back milk to dilute the heavy cream to 36 percent butterfat after the separation process — when "cream" is the only ingredient, that isn't being done and that heavy cream may be higher in butterfat content.

Since cream is a derivative of milk, and as long as the heavy cream meets the definition in terms of butterfat content, there's no fraud.

Light cream or half-and-half are made the same way, just different fat percentages.

"Milks" are processed in the opposite way, butterfat is added (or not) to skimmed milk to reach a certain butterfat percentage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nonkeyman]

At first I was like, I have never seen that in my life! Then I looked at the heavy cream I had in my fridge....same thing. It whipped fine at least..

 

I think @DiggingDogFarm is probably right. I am sure there is an Alton Brown clip or Harold Mcgee chapter on the concept somewhere.