Non-dairy creamers are liquid or granular substances intended to substitute for milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

 or cream

Cream

Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...

 as an additive to coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

 or other beverages. They do not contain lactose

Lactose

Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that is found most notably in milk and is formed from galactose and glucose. Lactose makes up around 2~8% of milk , although the amount varies among species and individuals. It is extracted from sweet or sour whey. The name comes from or , the Latin word for milk,...

 and therefore are commonly described as not being dairy

Dairy

A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

 products (although many contain a milk-derived protein). Some parts of the world require the alternate term non-dairy whiteners so as not to imply the presence of real cream.

History

The first commercial powdered creamer was "Pream," first marketed in 1952 and made from dehydrated cream and sugar. It had the problem of not dissolving easily because of the protein in the milk. Six years later, in 1958, the Carnation Company developed a product that easily dissolved in hot liquid because it replaced most of the milk protein with dried vegetable oil. The new product was marketed under the Carnation label with the brand name "Coffee-Mate".

Ingredients

To replicate the mouthfeel

Mouthfeel

Mouthfeel is a product's physical and chemical interaction in the mouth, an aspect of food rheology. It is a concept used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as wine-tasting and rheology. It is evaluated from initial perception on the palate, to first bite,...

 of milk fats, non-dairy creamers often contain vegetable-based fats, although non-fat non-dairy creamers/whiteners also exist. Other common ingredients include corn syrup

Corn syrup

Corn syrup is a food syrup, which is made from the starch of maize and contains varying amounts of maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften texture, add volume, prevent crystallization of sugar, and enhance flavor...

 and other sweeteners or/and flavourings (such as French Vanilla and Hazelnut

Hazelnut

A hazelnut is the nut of the hazel and is also known as a cob nut or filbert nut according to species. A cob is roughly spherical to oval, about 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm in diameter, with an outer fibrous husk surrounding a smooth shell. A filbert is more elongated, being about twice...

); as well as sodium caseinate, a milk protein derivative (from casein

Casein

Casein is the name for a family of related phosphoprotein proteins . These proteins are commonly found in mammalian milk, making up 80% of the proteins in cow milk and between 60% and 65% of the proteins in human milk....

) that does not contain lactose. The use of a milk derivative prompts some individuals and organisations - such as vegans

Veganism

Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...

 and Jewish dietary law authorities

Kashrut

Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...

- to classify the product as dairy rather than non-dairy. Those who rely upon this classification will either not consume the product (e.g. vegans) or will not use or consume it in conjunction with any meat products (e.g. observant Jews).

Non-traditional Uses

Experiments have been conducted to see if powdered coffee creamer would ignite in midair, and people have found that large quantities make beautiful, and pleasant-smelling, fireballs. The amateur film scene has jumped on this opportunity to create Hollywood-style explosions on a low budget. All one needs is non-dairy creamer, an ignition source such as a burning coal or a road flare, and such a way to propel the creamer as compressed air or a bicycle pump. One of the key advantages in using coffee creamer is that it only burns in midair; as soon as the creamer touches the ground, it goes out, making energy derived from coffee creamer a much safer alternative to using gasoline.

Coffee creamer has also been used to whiten clothes (after mixing it with water to form a soaking solution), defoam fish tanks, clean dry erase boards as well as fake snow in television and movies.