Condensed milk could be a generic term for milk that has had 60% of its water removed by evaporation. With sweetened condensed milk, great quantities of sugar were added first, accounting for 40% to 45% of the total volume before evaporation. Once all that water is removed, it is a very sticky and very sweet mixture.

Unsweetened condensed milk, however, is simply called evaporated milk, at least in this country, and comes in whole, lowfat and skim versions.