Cream and Cream Products

Cream is simply a high-fat milk product separated from milk. Ingredients may differ, but all cream must contain at least 18% milk fat. One exception is half-and-half, a mixture of milk and cream containing 10.5% -18% milk fat. By comparison, light cream--better known as coffee cream or table cream--contains between 18-30% milk fat. Heavy cream contains at least 36% milk fat.

Sour cream and whipping cream are practically categories unto themselves. Sour cream is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to cream containing at least 18% milk fat. Whipping cream contains between 30-36 percent milk fat, in addition to various sugars and flavorings.