Sweetened considered milk is preserved by addition of sugar which reduces water activity to a point to most microorganisms.
After witnessing the death of children who drank raw milk from diseased cows during the long voyage across the Atlantic, Gail Borden Junior was determined to figure out how to make milk safer.
He came up with a way to remove the water based on method the Shakers had used for extracting water from fruit juice.
He accidentally discovered that adding sugar to milk increases the shelf life, making it a popular choice for troops at military camps. Borden received the first patent for sweetened condensed milk in 1856.
The popularity of sweetened condensed milk began after it was shipped to troops during the Civil War.
Up to the 1890s, sweetened condensed milk was long shelf-life format that was sold in hermetically sealed cans, while unweetened condensed milk was manufactured and sold open, largely directly to the consumer, in a similar way as market milk.
In the 1860s, the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company was established in Switzerland by then US Consul at Zurich, Switzerland, Charles Page and his brother George. Their first factory was built in 1866 at Cham, Switzerland.
Sweetened Condensed milk in history
