Effects of green tea catechin (GTC, catechin content 61.4%) on the formations of hydroperoxide, malonaldehyde, and volatile compounds, and losses of retinol and tocopherol in milk during light illumination were studied. GTC showed surprisingly high protective activity of milk photooxidation, in a dose dependent manner. GTC at 25 ppm exerted 82.1 and 75.0% inhibitions of hydroperoxide and malonaldehyde formation during 30 h light illumination, respectively. GTC at 25 ppm exerted 88.7 and 94.3% inhibition of hexanal and heptanal formation in milk during 30 h light illumination, respectively. The 25 ppm GTC greatly suppressed the losses of retinol and ${alpha}$-tocopherol, showing 53.6 and 58.7% protections of their losses in milk after 12 h light illumination, respectively. The protective activity of GTC was at least 4 times higher than ascorbic acid. The inhibitory activities of GTC and ascorbic acid against the photooxidation of milk were in consistent with their singlet oxygen quenching abilities.