Sweetened Condensed Milk Cannot Be a Substitute for Milk, Triggers Obesity: Nutritionist

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sweetened condensed milk contains evaporated milk, so it becomes thicker, then gets added with sugar and high carbohydrate content. Therefore, Professor Ali Khomsan, Professor in the field of Community Nutrition and Family Resources, Bogor Agricultural University, does not recommend consuming sweetened condensed milk as a substitute for milk.

"I really don't recommend sweetened condensed milk to be given to babies or children, even for adults, it's not very good (for health)," said Ali.

Sweetened condensed milk, known as susu kental manis (SKM) in Indonesia, contains evaporated milk so that it becomes thicker. Evaporated milk has added sugar and carbohydrates which are very high, making sweetened condensed milk not healthy for nutritional intake for babies and children, Ali explained.

"It's like we are deceiving our children because it looks like milk and tastes good, however, if you regularly consume it, the risk of obesity will definitely occur," said Ali.

Ali said the milk content in sweetened condensed milk was minimal. 60 percent of the sweetened condensed composition is carbohydrates formed from sugar and the remaining 30 percent is fat.

Meanwhile, formula milk, both in liquid and powder form, contains very high calcium and protein. Good nutrition in real milk, which is needed for the growth of infants and children, is not found in sweetened condensed milk.

Ali said that the use of sweetened condensed milk is only as a flavor enhancer, such as sprinkling on drinks or food, not as a substitute for milk. "This is actually just to add to the taste (of food / drinks)," Ali added.

Obesity, which can occur due to excessive consumption of sugar, has a negative impact on the growth and development and health of children, including aspects of psychosocial development.

Obese children have the potential to experience various diseases that cause death, including cardiovascular disease, heart disease, and diabetes mellitus, besides being able to become victims of bullying at school and other social environments.

A one year and four month old baby from Bekasi, West Java, recently became the talk of the town because the baby weighed up to 27 kilograms as a result of the parents giving sweetened condensed milk as the baby's daily drink.

Based on Article 67 paragraph 2 of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Regulation Number 20 of 2021 concerning Amendments to BPOM Regulation Number 31 of 2018 concerning Processed Food Labels, business actors are prohibited from including statements/visualizations depicting condensed milk and its analogs served as a single dish in the form of milk drink and as the sole source of nutrition. The regulation also prohibits business actors from posting statements/visualizations that solely display children under the age of 5 in condensed milk and its analogues.

ANTARA

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