FOOD NEWS
What’s The Difference Between Creamer And Half-And-Half?
BY MATTHEW SPINA
Creamer
Creamers come in liquid and powdered forms, with versions that can be low-sugar, low-fat, and have plenty of flavors, with French vanilla and hazelnut being the most common.
Non-dairy creamers are usually based around a mix of sweeteners, fats like vegetable oil, thickeners, and water. Alternative milk creamers have gotten more popular in recent years.
Half-and-Half
Half-and-half is a dairy product. In fact, the name is a simple description to indicate that its content is half whole milk and half cream.
It contains between 10.5% and 18% milk fat, which is also about half of heavy cream's standard 36%. The average fat for half-and-half is usually around 10%-12%.
Dairy-Based
The biggest difference between creamer and half-and-half is the lack of dairy in most creamers. Vegetable oil or corn syrup are how they get the richness to mimic cream.
Half-and-half is always going to be dairy-based — even the fat-free half-and-half with no cream. It's completely natural and should not even have an ingredient list.