Pasteurization

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"Pasteurized" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Pasteurized (horse).

Cream pasteurizing and cooling coils at Murgon Butter Factory, 1939

Pasteurization or pasteurisation[1] is a process that kills microbes (mainly bacteria) in food and
drink, such as milk, juice, canned food, and others.

It was invented by French scientist Louis Pasteur during the nineteenth century. In 1864 Pasteur
discovered that heating beer and wine was enough to kill most of the bacteria that caused
spoilage, preventing these beverages from turning sour. The process achieves this by eliminating
pathogenic microbes and lowering microbial numbers to prolong the quality of the beverage.
Today, pasteurization is used widely in the dairy industry and other food processing industries to
achieve food preservation and food safety.[2]

Unlike sterilization, pasteurization is not intended to kill all microorganisms in the food. Instead,
it aims to reduce the number of viable pathogens so they are unlikely to cause disease (assuming
the pasteurized product is stored as indicated and is consumed before its expiration date).
Commercial-scale sterilization of food is not common because it adversely affects the taste and
quality of the product. Certain foods, such as dairy products, may be superheated to ensure
pathogenic microbes are destroyed.[3]

Contents

 1 Alcoholic beverages
 2 Milk
o 2.1 History
o 2.2 Process
o 2.3 Microwave volumetric heating
o 2.4 Efficacy against pathogenic bacteria
o 2.5 Effect on vitamins
o 2.6 Verification
 o 2.7 Unpasteurized milk
 3 Low moisture foods
 4 Products that are commonly pasteurized
 5 See also
 6 References
 7 Further reading
 8 External links

Alcoholic beverages

The process of heating wine for preservation purposes has been known in China since 1117,[4]
and was documented in Japan in the diary Tamonin-nikki, written by a series of monks between
1478 and 1618.

Much later, in 1768, an Italian priest and scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani proved experimentally
that heat killed bacteria, and that they do not reappear if the product is hermetically sealed.[5] In
1795, a Parisian chef and confectioner named Nicolas Appert began experimenting with ways to
preserve foodstuffs, succeeding with soups, vegetables, juices, dairy products, jellies, jams, and
syrups. He placed the food in glass jars, sealed them with cork and sealing wax and placed them
in boiling water.[6] In that same year, the French military offered a cash prize of 12,000 francs for
a new method to preserve food. After some 14 or 15 years of experimenting, Appert submitted
his invention and won the prize in January 1810. Later that year,[7] Appert published L'Art de
conserver les substances animales et végétales (or The Art of Preserving Animal and Vegetable
Substances). This was the first cookbook of its kind on modern food preservation methods.[8][9]

La Maison Appert (English: The House of Appert), in the town of Massy, near Paris, became the
first food-bottling factory in the world,[6] preserving a variety of food in sealed bottles. Appert's
method was to fill thick, large-mouthed glass bottles with produce of every description, ranging
from beef and fowl to eggs, milk and prepared dishes. His greatest success for publicity was an
entire sheep. He left air space at the top of the bottle, and the cork would then be sealed firmly in
the jar by using a vise. The bottle was then wrapped in canvas to protect it, while it was dunked
into boiling water and then boiled for as much time as Appert deemed appropriate for cooking
the contents thoroughly. Appert patented his method, sometimes called appertisation in his
honor.

Appert's method was so simple and workable that it quickly became widespread. In 1810, British
inventor and merchant Peter Durand, also of French origin,[citation needed] patented his own method,
but this time in a tin can, so creating the modern-day process of canning foods. In 1812,
Englishmen Bryan Donkin and John Hall purchased both patents and began producing preserves.
Just a decade later, Appert's method of canning had made its way to America.[10] Tin can
production was not common until the beginning of the 20th century, partly because a hammer
and chisel were needed to open cans until the invention of a can opener by an inventor named
Yates in 1855.[6]
Appert's preservation by boiling involved heating the food to an unnecessarily high temperature,
and for an unnecessarily long time, which could destroy some of the flavor of the preserved food.
[citation needed]

A less aggressive method was developed by the French chemist Louis Pasteur during an 1864[5]
summer holiday in Arbois. To remedy the frequent acidity of the local aged wines, he found out
experimentally that it is sufficient to heat a young wine to only about 50–60 °C (122–140 °F) for
a brief time to kill the microbes, and that the wine could subsequently be aged without
sacrificing the final quality.[5] In honour of Pasteur, the process became known as
"pasteurization".[11]

Pasteurization was originally used as a way of preventing wine and beer from souring,[12] and it
would be many years before milk was pasteurized. In the United States in the 1870s, it was
common for milk to contain substances intended to mask spoilage before milk was regulated. [13]

Milk

180 kg of milk in cheese vat

Milk is an excellent medium for microbial growth,[14] and when stored at ambient temperature
bacteria and other pathogens soon proliferate.[15]

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says improperly handled raw milk is responsible for
nearly three times more hospitalizations than any other food-borne disease source, making it one
of the world's most dangerous food products.[16][17] Diseases prevented by pasteurization can
include tuberculosis, brucellosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and Q-fever; it also kills the harmful
bacteria Salmonella, Listeria, Yersinia, Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia
coli O157:H7,[18][19] among others.

Pasteurization is the reason for milk's extended shelf life. High-temperature, short-time (HTST)
pasteurized milk typically has a refrigerated shelf life of two to three weeks, whereas ultra-
pasteurized milk can last much longer, sometimes two to three months. When ultra-heat
treatment (UHT) is combined with sterile handling and container technology (such as aseptic
packaging), it can even be stored unrefrigerated for up to 9 months.
History

Louis Pasteur's pasteurization experiment illustrates the fact that the spoilage of liquid was caused by
particles in the air rather than the air itself. These experiments were important pieces of evidence
supporting the idea of Germ Theory of Disease.

Before the widespread urban growth caused by industrialization, people kept dairy cows even in
urban areas and the short time period between production and consumption minimized the
disease risk of drinking raw milk.[20] As urban densities increased and supply chains lengthened
to the distance from country to city, raw milk (often days old) became recognised as a source of
disease. For example, between 1912 and 1937 some 65,000 people died of tuberculosis
contracted from consuming milk in England and Wales alone.[21] Because tuberculosis has a long
incubation period in humans, it was difficult to link unpasteurized milk consumption as the cause
to the effect of disease.[22] In 1892, chemist Earnest Lederle experimentally inoculated milk from
tuberculosis-diseased cows into Guinea pigs, which caused them to develop the disease.[23] In
1910, Lederle, then in the role of Commissioner of Health, introduced mandatory pasteurization
of milk in New York city.[23]

Developed countries adopted milk pasteurization to prevent such disease and loss of life, and as a
result milk is now widely considered one of the safest foods.[20] A traditional form of
pasteurization by scalding and straining of cream to increase the keeping qualities of butter was
practiced in Great Britain before 1773 and was introduced to Boston in the British Colonies by
1773,[24] although it was not widely practiced in the United States for the next 20 years. It was
still being referred to as a "new" process in American newspapers as late as 1802.[25]
Pasteurization of milk was suggested by Franz von Soxhlet in 1886.[26] In the early 20th century,
Milton Joseph Rosenau established the standards (i.e. low temperature, slow heating at 60 °C
(140 °F) for 20 minutes) for the pasteurization of milk[27][28] while at the United States Marine
Hospital Service, notably in his publication of The Milk Question (1912).[29] States in the U.S.A.
began enacting mandatory dairy pasteurization laws with the first in 1947, and in 1973 the U.S.
Federal Government required pasteurization of milk used in any interstate commerce.[30]
Process

General overview of the pasteurization process. The milk starts at the left and enters the piping with
functioning enzymes that, when heat treated, become denatured and stop the enzymes from
functioning. This helps to stop pathogen growth by stopping the functionality of the cell. The cooling
process helps stop the milk from undergoing the Maillard reaction and caramelization. The
pasteurization process also has the ability to heat the cells to the point that they burst from pressure
build up.

Older pasteurization methods used temperatures below boiling, since at very high temperatures,
micelles of the milk protein casein irreversibly aggregate, or curdle. Newer methods use higher
temperature, but shorten the time. Among the pasteurization methods listed below, the two main
types of pasteurization used today are high-temperature, short-time (HTST, also known as
"flash") and extended shelf life (ESL):

 HTST milk is forced between metal plates or through pipes heated on the outside by hot water,
and the milk is heated to 72 °C (161 °F) for 15 seconds.[31]:8 Milk simply labeled "pasteurized" is
usually treated with the HTST method.
 UHT, also known as ultra-heat-treating, processing holds the milk at a temperature of 140 °C
(284 °F) for four seconds.[32] During UHT processing milk is sterilized and not pasteurized. This
process lets consumers store milk or juice for several months without refrigeration. The process
is achieved by spraying the milk or juice through a nozzle into a chamber filled with high-
temperature steam under pressure. After the temperature reaches 140 °C the fluid is cooled
instantly in a vacuum chamber, and packed in a pre-sterilized airtight container. [32] Milk labeled
"ultra-pasteurized" or simply "UHT" has been treated with the UHT method.
 ESL milk has a microbial filtration step and lower temperatures than UHT milk. [33] Since 2007, it is
no longer a legal requirement in European countries (for example in Germany) to declare ESL
milk as ultra-heated; consequently, it is now often labeled as "fresh milk" and just advertised as
having an "extended shelf life", making it increasingly difficult to distinguish ESL milk from
traditionally pasteurized fresh milk.
 A less conventional, but US FDA–legal, alternative (typically for home pasteurization) is to heat
milk at 63 °C (145 °F) for 30 minutes.[34]

Pasteurization methods are usually standardized and controlled by national food safety agencies
(such as the United States Department of Agriculture and the U.K. Food Standards Agency).
These agencies require that milk be HTST pasteurized to qualify for the pasteurized label. Dairy
product standards differ, depending on fat content and intended usage. For example,
pasteurization standards for cream differ from standards for fluid milk, and standards for
pasteurizing cheese are designed to preserve the enzyme phosphatase, which aids cutting. In
Canada, all milk produced at a processor and intended for consumption must be pasteurized,
which legally requires that it be heated to at least 72 °C for at least 1 second,[35] then cooling it to
4 °C to ensure any harmful bacteria are destroyed. The UK Dairy Products Hygiene Regulations
1995 requires that milk be heat treated for 15 seconds at 71.7 °C or other effective
time/temperature combination.[36]

Some older references[37] point to one or multiple cycles of heating and cooling (to ambient
temperature or below) as either a definition of pasteurization or a general method thereof.[37]

A process similar to pasteurization is thermization, which uses lower temperatures to kill bacteria
in milk. It allows a milk product, such as cheese, to retain more of the original taste, but
thermized foods are not considered pasteurized by food regulators.[34]

Microwave volumetric heating

Microwave volumetric heating (MVH) is the newest available pasteurization technology. It uses
microwaves to heat liquids, suspensions, or semi-solids in a continuous flow. Because MVH
delivers energy evenly and deeply into the whole body of a flowing product, it allows for gentler
and shorter heating, so that almost all heat-sensitive substances in the milk are preserved.[38]

Efficacy against pathogenic bacteria

During the early 20th century there was no robust knowledge of what time and temperatures
combinations would inactivate pathogenic bacteria in milk, and so a number of different
pasteurization standards were in use. By 1943, both HTST pasteurization conditions of 72 °C for
15 seconds, as well as batch pasteurization conditions of 63 °C for 30 minutes, were confirmed
by studies of the complete thermal death (as best as could be measured at that time) for a range
of pathogenic bacteria in milk.[39] Complete inactivation of Coxiella burnetii (which was thought
at the time to cause Q fever by oral ingestion of infected milk)[40][41] as well as of Mycobacterium
tuberculosis (which causes tuberculosis)[42] were later demonstrated. For all practical purposes,
these conditions were adequate for destroying almost all yeasts, molds, and common spoilage
bacteria and also to ensure adequate destruction of common pathogenic, heat-resistant
organisms. However, the microbiological techniques used until the 1960s did not allow for the
actual reduction of bacteria to be enumerated. Demonstration of the extent of inactivation of
pathogenic bacteria by milk pasteurization came from a study of surviving bacteria in milk that
was heat treated after being deliberately spiked with high levels of the most heat-resistant strains
of the most significant milk-borne pathogens.[43]

The mean log10 reductions and temperatures of inactivation of the major milk-borne pathogens
during a 15-s treatment are:

 Staphylococcus aureus >6.7 at 66.5 °C

 Yersinia enterocolitica >6.8 at 62.5 °C,
 pathogenic Escherichia coli >6.8 at 65 °C
  Cronobacter sakazakii >6.7 at 67.5 °C
 Listeria monocytogenes >6.9 at 65.5 °C, and
 Salmonella ser. Typhimurium >6.9 at 61.5 °C.[43]

The Codex Alimentarius Code of Hygienic Practice for Milk notes that milk pasteurization is
designed to achieve at least a 5 log10 reduction of Coxiella burnetii.[44] The Code also notes that:
“The minimum pasteurization conditions are those having bactericidal effects equivalent to
heating every particle of the milk to 72°C for 15 seconds (continuous flow pasteurization) or
63°C for 30 minutes (batch pasteurization)” and that “To ensure that each particle is sufficiently
heated, the milk flow in heat exchangers should be turbulent, i.e. the Reynolds number should be
sufficiently high.” The point about turbulent flow is important because simplistic laboratory
studies of heat inactivation that use test tubes, without flow, will have less bacterial inactivation
than larger scale experiments that seek to replicate conditions of commercial pasteurization.[45]

As a precaution, modern HTST pasteurization processes must be designed with flow-rate

restriction as well as divert valves which ensure that the milk is heated evenly, and no part of the
milk is subject to a shorter time or a lower temperature. It is common for the temperatures to
exceed 72 °C by 1.5 °C or 2 °C.[45]

Effect on vitamins

According to a systematic review and meta-analysis,[46] it was found that pasteurization appeared
to qualitatively reduce concentrations of vitamins B12 and E, but it did increase concentrations
of vitamin A. Apart from meta-analysis, it's not possible to conclude the effect of pasteurization
on vitamins A, B12, and E based merely on consultation of the vast literature available.[46]

Milk is not an important source of vitamins B12 or E in the North American diet, so the effects
of pasteurization on the adult daily intake of these vitamins is negligible.[47][48] However, milk is
considered an important source of vitamin A,[49] and because pasteurization appears to increase
vitamin A concentrations in milk, the effect of milk heat treatment on this vitamin is a not a
major public health concern.[46] Results of meta-analyses revealed that pasteurization of milk
leads to a significant decrease in vitamin C and folate, but milk also is not an important source of
these vitamins.[49][48] However, a significant decrease in vitamin B2 concentrations was found
after pasteurization. Vitamin B2 is typically found in bovine milk at concentrations of
1.83 mg/liter. Because the recommended daily intake for adults is 1.1 mg/day,[47] milk
consumption greatly contributes to the recommended daily intake of this vitamin. With the
exception of B2, pasteurization does not appear to be a concern in diminishing the nutritive value
of milk because milk is often not a primary source of these studied vitamins in the North
American diet.

The natural concentrations of vitamins in bovine milk samples can differ significantly as a result
of a number of factors, including cow breed, season, country, vitamin concentrations in feed, and
frequency of milkings.[50][51][52][53] However, changes resulting from pasteurization are likely
dependent on the time and temperature of pasteurization conditions. Meta-regression was used to
assess the roles of time and temperature in between-study heterogeneity. The duration of
pasteurization was positively correlated with folate concentrations, and a direct inverse
relationship was found between pasteurization temperature and vitamin C concentrations.
Multivariate analysis of time and temperature revealed a significant negative correlation between
these variables and vitamin B2 concentrations. These results indicate a likely relationship
between time, temperature, and vitamin concentrations in milk; however, further research is
needed to tease apart these effects because they appear to differ by vitamin.

Another possible source of heterogeneity among study results is the variation in techniques used
to assess vitamin concentrations in milk. HPLC was selected as the gold standard method for
determination of fat-soluble vitamins by AOAC International.[54] No gold standard has been
identified for water-soluble vitamins; fluorescence spectroscopy, chromatography, and
microbiological methods are all referenced in the AOAC official methods.[54] Metaregression for
vitamin B1 and folate studies revealed a significant association between study and method used
to quantify vitamins; however, this variable was not significant for other vitamins. Analytic
methods must take into consideration separation of vitamers for each vitamin, the methodology
used for calibration of external standards, retention of vitamer conformation, and successful
recovery.[55][56][57][58] The solvents, standards, execution of extraction procedures, and equipment
used to carry out these analyses may differ among investigators and can introduce variation
among studies.[55] Hollman et al.[55] investigated 18 laboratories that were asked to analyze water-
soluble vitamin contents in selected foods. These authors reported that in contrast to the fat-
soluble vitamins a wider range of methods was used for water-soluble vitamins and that results
from different methods did not always agree for vitamins B2 and C.

According to studies from 1933 and 1943, soluble calcium and phosphorus levels decrease by
5%, thiamine (vitamin B1) and vitamin B12 (cobalamin) levels by 10%, and vitamin C levels by
20%.[21][59] These losses are not significant nutritionally.[60]

Verification

Direct microbiological techniques are the ultimate measurement of pathogen contamination, but
these are costly and time-consuming (24–48 hours), which means that products are able to spoil
by the time pasteurization is verified.

As a result of the unsuitability of microbiological techniques, milk pasteurization efficacy is

typically monitored by checking for the presence of alkaline phosphatase, which is denatured by
pasteurization. B. tuberculosis, the bacterium that requires the highest temperature to be killed of
all milk pathogens is killed at ranges of temperature and time similar to those that denature
alkaline phosphatase. For this reason, presence of alkaline phosphatase is an ideal indicator of
pasteurization efficacy.[61][62]

Phosphatase denaturing was originally monitored using a phenol-phosphate substrate. When

hydrolysed by the enzyme these compounds liberate phenols, which were then reacted with
dibromoquinonechlorimide to give a colour change, which itself was measured by checking
absorption at 610 nm (spectrophotometry). Some of the phenols used were inherently coloured
(phenolpthalein, nitrophenol) and were simply assayed unreacted.[36] Spectrophotometric analysis
is satisfactory but is of relatively low accuracy because many natural products are coloured. For
this reason, modern systems (since 1990) use fluorometry which is able to detect much lower
levels of raw milk contamination.[36]

Unpasteurized milk
Further information: Raw milk

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control between 1998 and 2011, 79% of the
dairy-related outbreaks were due to raw milk or cheese products.[63] They report 148 outbreaks
and 2,384 illnesses (284 requiring hospitalizations), as well as two deaths due to raw milk or
cheese products during the same time period.[63]

Low moisture foods

According to a study from the Grocery Manufacturers Association, "There is a common

misconception that low numbers of Salmonella are not a problem in low-moisture foods because
these products do not support Salmonella growth. However, low numbers of Salmonella in foods
can cause illness, and the presence of the organism in low-moisture ready-to-eat foods must be
prevented."

Foods with low water activity (i.e. low-moisture foods such as peanut butter, chocolate, and
cereals) require longer thermal deactivation steps. For instance, a strain of Salmonella
Typhimurium took 816 minutes while being processed at 66 °C in order to kill 90% of the
bacteria in chocolate. For peanut butter, one study showed that heating at 90 °C for
approximately 42 minutes killed 99.999% of Salmonella.[64]

Products that are commonly pasteurized

 Beer
 Canned food
 Dairy products
 Eggs
 Milk
 Juices
 Low alcoholic beverages
 Syrups
 Vinegar
 Water
 Wines
 Nuts

See also

 Food portal

 Technology portal
  Food irradiation
 Flash pasteurization
 Pascalization
 Homogenization
 Pasteurized eggs
 Solar water disinfection
 Thermoduric bacteria
 Food preservation
 Food storage
 Food microbiology
 Sterilization
 Thermization
 Louis Pasteur

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Geoffrey W. de (2001-09-01). "Effect of Turbulent-Flow Pasteurization on Survival of Mycobacterium
avium subsp.paratuberculosis Added to Raw Milk". Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 67 (9):
3964–3969. doi:10.1128/AEM.67.9.3964-3969.2001. ISSN  0099-2240. PMC  93116  . PMID  11525992.

  Macdonald, Lauren E.; Brett, James; Kelton, David; Majowicz, Shannon E.; Snedeker, Kate; Sargeant,
Jan M. (2011-11-01). "A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of pasteurization on milk
vitamins, and evidence for raw milk consumption and other health-related outcomes". Journal of Food
Protection. 74 (11): 1814–1832. doi:10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-10-269. ISSN  1944-9097. PMID  22054181.

  U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2001. Dietary reference intakes-recommended intakes for

individuals. National Academy of Sciences. Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board. Available at:
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.phpinfo_center~4&tax_level~3&tax_subject~256&topic_id~1
342&level3_id~5140{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.

  U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2009. "What's in the foods you eat" search tool. Available at:
"https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md/beltsville-human-nutrition-research-
center/food-surveys-research-group/docs/whats-in-the-foods-you-eat-emsearch-toolem/

  Haug, Anna; Høstmark, Arne T; Harstad, Odd M (2007-09-25). "Bovine milk in human nutrition – a
review". Lipids in Health and Disease. 6: 25. doi:10.1186/1476-511X-6-25. ISSN  1476-511X.
PMC  2039733  . PMID  17894873.

  Agabriel, C.; Cornu, A.; Journal, C.; Sibra, C.; Grolier, P.; Martin, B. (2007-10-01). "Tanker milk
variability according to farm feeding practices: vitamins A and E, carotenoids, color, and terpenoids".
Journal of Dairy Science. 90 (10): 4884–4896. doi:10.3168/jds.2007-0171. ISSN  1525-3198.
PMID  17881712.

  Calderón, F.; Chauveau-Duriot, B.; Martin, B.; Graulet, B.; Doreau, M.; Nozière, P. (2007-05-01).
"Variations in carotenoids, vitamins A and E, and color in cow's plasma and milk during late pregnancy
and the first three months of lactation". Journal of Dairy Science. 90 (5): 2335–2346.
doi:10.3168/jds.2006-630. ISSN  1525-3198. PMID  17430936.

  Johansson, B.; Waller, K. Persson; Jensen, S. K.; Lindqvist, H.; Nadeau, E. (2014-03-01). "Status of
vitamins E and A and β-carotene and health in organic dairy cows fed a diet without synthetic vitamins".
Journal of Dairy Science. 97 (3): 1682–1692. doi:10.3168/jds.2013-7388. ISSN  0022-0302.
PMID  24440269.
  Indyk, H. E., and D. C. Woollard. 1995. The endogenous vitamin K1 content of bovine milk: temporal
influence of season and lactation. Food Chem. 54:403–407.

  AOAC International. 1995. Official methods of analysis, 16th ed., vol. II. AOAC International,
Arlington, VA.

  Hollman, P. C.; Slangen, J. H.; Wagstaffe, P. J.; Faure, U.; Southgate, D. A.; Finglas, P. M. (1993-05-
01). "Intercomparison of methods for the determination of vitamins in foods. Part 2. Water-soluble
vitamins". The Analyst. 118 (5): 481–488. doi:10.1039/an9931800481. ISSN  0003-2654. PMID  8323044.

  Perales, S.; Alegría, A.; Barberá, R.; Farré, R. (2005-12-01). "Review: Determination of Vitamin D in
Dairy Products by High Performance Liquid Chromatography". Revista de Agaroquimica y Tecnologia de
Alimentos. 11 (6): 451–462. doi:10.1177/1082013205060129. ISSN  0034-7698.

  Viñas, Pilar; Balsalobre, Nuria; López-Erroz, Carmen; Hernández-Córdoba, Manuel (2004-04-01).

"Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Riboflavin Vitamers in Foods Using Fluorescence Detection". Journal
of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 52 (7): 1789–1794. doi:10.1021/jf030756s. ISSN  0021-8561.

  Byrdwell, William C. (2009-03-25). "Comparison of analysis of vitamin D3 in foods using ultraviolet

and mass spectrometric detection". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 57 (6): 2135–2146.
doi:10.1021/jf803398u. ISSN  1520-5118. PMID  19249820.

  Krauss, W. E., Erb, J. H. and Washburn, R.G., "Studies on the nutritive value of milk, II. The effect of
pasteurization on some of the nutritive properties of milk," Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin
518, page 30, January, 1933.

  Claeys, Wendy L.; Sabine Cardoen; Georges Daube; Jan De Block; Koen Dewettinck; Katelijne Dierick;
Lieven De Zutter; André Huyghebaert; Hein Imberechts; Pierre Thiange; Yvan Vandenplas; Lieve Herman
(May 2013). "Raw or heated cow milk consumption: Review of risks and benefits". Food Control. 31 (1):
251–262. doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2012.09.035.

  Kay, H. (1935). "Some Results of the Application of a Simple Test for Efficiency of Pasteurization".
The Lancet. 225 (5835): 1516–1518. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(01)12532-8.

  Hoy, W. A.; Neave, F. K. (1937). "The Phosphatase Test for Efficient Pasteurization". The Lancet. 230
(5949): 595. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(00)83378-4.

  "CDC - Raw Milk Questions and Answers - Food Safety". Centers for Disease Control. 2014-03-07.
Retrieved 2014-03-19.

1.  "SalmonellaControlGuidance" (PDF).

Further reading

 Raw milk expert testimony dated: April 25, 2008 Case: ORGANIC PASTURES DAIRY COMPANY,
LLC, and CLARAVALE FARM, INC., Plaintiffs, vs. No. CU-07-00204 STATE OF CALIFORNIA and A.G.
 KAWAMURA, SECRETARY OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE,
Defendants. - Expert Witnesses: Dr. Theodore Beals & Dr. Ronald Hull
 Here's an alternate view on the alleged safety of pasteurized vs. natural milk from: Johns
Hopkins University: Realmilk.com, Webmaster (12 August 2015). "The Johns Hopkins Raw Milk
Study - A Campaign for Real Milk". A Campaign for Real Milk.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pasteurization.

 Online forum on modern day pasteurization equipment

 Extended Shelf Life
 Unraveling the mysteries of extended shelf life
 Hatch, Sybil E (2006-01-01). Changing our world: true stories of women engineers. Reston, Va.:
American Society of Civil Engineers. ISBN  0784408416.

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Pasteurized vs. Homogenized Milk: What’s

The Difference?
By Alison Spiegel
Mega_Pixel via Getty Images
320






You’ve heard the terms before, but do you really know what “pasteurized” and “homogenized”
mean when it comes to milk? The processes are critical to both your safety and your taste buds,
but are dramatically different. Having just examined the pros and cons of raw milk, we think
nothing could be more important than understanding our food and knowing exactly how it gets to
our table. With the amount of dairy we’ve consumed in our lifetime, we believe it’s high time we
all understood what goes into our milk.

So what’s the difference and why should we care? Put simply, pasteurization is intended to make
milk safer and government agencies claim it doesn’t reduce nutritional value, while raw milk
enthusiasts disagree. Homogenization isn’t meant for safety, but for rather for consistency and
taste.

Pasteurization is the process of heating milk up and then quickly cooling it down to eliminate
certain bacteria. For effective pasteurization, milk can be heated up to 145 degrees Fahrenheit for
30 minutes, but this method isn’t very common. More common is heating milk up to at least
161.6 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 seconds, which is known as High-temperature Short-Time
(HTST) pasteurization, or flash pasteurization. This method will keep milk fresh for two to three
weeks. Then there’s Ultra-Heat Treatment (UHT), whereby milk is heated to 280 degrees
Fahrenheit for a minimum of two seconds. This processing results in a shelf life that can extend
up to nine months. Milk treated with pasteurization or HTST is labeled as “pasteurized,” while
milk treated with UHT is labeled as “ultra-pasteurized.”

Pasteurization does not kill all micro-organisms in milk, but is intended to kill some bacteria and
make some enzymes inactive. While raw milk activists claim otherwise, the FDA and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that “pasteurization does not reduce
milk’s nutritional value.” While the CDC acknowledges that pasteurization inactivates certain
enzymes and reduces certain vitamins like Vitamin C, it argues that “milk is not a major source
of Vitamin C” in the U.S. diet.

Raw milk enthusiasts, on the other hand, tout Vitamin C as a benefit of unpasteurized milk,
which they claim is more nutritious and contains no additives. The FDA and CDC warn against
the dangers of unpasteurized milk and in some states, selling it directly to consumers is illegal.
Other states allow the sale of unpasteurized milk directly to consumers, but could have strict
laws for distributing the item across states lines.

Homogenization is an entirely separate process that occurs after pasteurization in most cases.
The purpose of homogenization is to break down fat molecules in milk so that they resist
separation. Without homogenization, fat molecules in milk will rise to the top and form a layer of
cream. Homogenizing milk prevents this separation from occurring by breaking the molecules
down to such a small size that they remain suspended evenly throughout the milk instead of
rising to the top.

Homogenization is a mechanical process and doesn’t involved any additives. Like pasteurization,
arguments exist for and against it. It’s advantageous for large-scale dairy farms to homogenize
milk because the process allows them to mix milk from different herds without issue. By
preventing cream from rising to the top, homogenization also leads to a longer shelf life of milk
that will be most attractive to consumers who favor milk without the cream layer. This allows
large farms to ship greater distances and do business with more retailers. Finally,
homogenization makes it easier for dairies to filtrate out the fat and create two percent, one
percent and skim milk. WiseGeek explains that while it is also possible to achieve these different
fat contents by skimming cream from the top, homogenization makes the process more precise.
Some people worry, however, that by reducing the size of fat molecules, homogenization makes
fat easier to absorb. Studies remain inconclusive on that matter, however.

While it is possible to have pasteurized milk that hasn’t been homogenized and homogenized
milk that hasn’t been pasteurized, most milk found in U.S. supermarkets have undergone both
processes. If they are to occur together, milk is typically pasteurized first and then homogenized,
because the heat from pasteurization makes fat molecules easier to break down for
homogenization.

Pasteurization is a heat-treatment process that destroys pathogenic microorganisms in foods and

beverages.

Temperature Time Pasteurization Type

63ºC (145ºF)1) 30 minutes Vat Pasteurization
High temperature short time
72ºC (161ºF)1) 15 seconds
Pasteurization (HTST)
Higher-Heat Shorter Time
89ºC (191ºF) 1.0 second
(HHST)
Higher-Heat Shorter Time
90ºC (194ºF) 0.5 seconds
(HHST)
Higher-Heat Shorter Time
94ºC (201ºF) 0.1 seconds
(HHST)
Higher-Heat Shorter Time
96ºC (204ºF) 0.05 seconds
(HHST)
Higher-Heat Shorter Time
100ºC (212ºF) 0.01 seconds
(HHST)
138ºC (280ºF) 2.0 seconds Ultra Pasteurization (UP)
1)
If the fat content of the milk product is ten percent (10%) or more, or if it contains added
sweeteners, or if it is concentrated (condensed), the specified temperature shall be increased by
3ºC (5ºF).
Types of Pasteurization for Dairy Products

One thing many people might not realize is that there are several different types
of pasteurization. While unpasteurized milk is still far superior to pasteurized milk, many of us
don’t have access to or can’t afford raw milk. So, I thought it was important that people know
what the different kinds of pasteurization are. There are three methods that are most commonly
used.

1. High Temperature, Short Time (HTST) method – This method requires that the milk be
held at 161 degrees for 16 seconds. This process, also refereed to as continuous
flow pasteurization, requires the milk to be forced through metal pipes that are heated from the
outside.

2. Ultra-Pasteurization (UP) – This is the type of pasteurization that you will most commonly
see on cartons of milk,  half-and-half and heavy cream. It produces a product that has a stable
shelf life of up to two months! The UP method requires that the milk be held at 280 degrees for 2
seconds. Most commercial milk brands use this form of pasteurization since it is the quickest and
cheapest.

3. Vat Pasteurization – Vat Pasteurization is the most gentle type of pasteurization. If you can
find milk products that have been processed using this type of pasteurization, they will be your
best bet if you can’t get raw milk. The vat process requires that the milk to be held in a heated
vat at 145 degrees for 30 minutes. It is then quickly cooled to 39 degrees. This type of
pasteurization is more expensive, which is why products that have been produced using it are
difficult to find. The only one I have been able to find in Denver is at Vitamin Cottage and it is
called Kalona Organics. There might be other brands that are carried at small specialty shops, but
I am not aware of any. The other nice thing about the milk from Kolona Organics is that it is
non-homogenized.

Methods of Pasteurization
Batch method
The batch method uses a vat pasteurizer which consists of a jacketed vat surrounded by either
circulating water, steam or heating coils of water or steam.
 In the vat the milk is
heated and held throughout the holding period while being agitated. The milk may be cooled in
the vat or removed hot after the holding time is completed for every particle. As a modification,
the milk may be partially heated in tubular or plate heater before entering the vat. This method
has very little use for milk but some use for milk by-products (e.g. creams, chocolate) and
special batches. The vat is used extensively in the ice cream industry for mix quality reasons
other than microbial reasons.

Continuous Method
Continuous process method has several advantages over the vat method, the most important
being time and energy saving. For most continuous processing, a high temperature short time
(HTST) pasteurizer is used. The heat treatment is accomplished using a plate heat exchanger.
This piece of equipment consists of a stack of corrugated stainless steel plates clamped together
in a frame. There are several flow patterns that can be used. Gaskets are used to define the
boundaries of the channels and to prevent leakage. The heating medium can be vacuum steam or
hot water.
HTST Milk Flow Overview
 This overview is meant as an introduction and a summary. Each piece of HTST equipment will
be discussed in further detail later. Please refer to the two diagrams below when reading this
section - hopefully the flow of milk through the HTST pasteurized will then make sense.

Cold raw milk at 4° C in a constant level tank is drawn into the regenerator section of

pasteurizer. Here it is warmed to approximately 57° C - 68° C by heat given up by hot
pasteurized milk flowing in a counter current direction on the opposite side of thin, stainless steel
plates. The raw milk, still under suction, passes through a positive displacement timing
pump which delivers it under positive pressure through the rest of the HTST system.

The raw milk is forced through the heater section where hot water on opposite sides of the plates
heat milk to a temperature of at least 72° C. The milk, at pasteurization temperature and under
pressure, flows through the holding tube where it is held for at least 16 sec. The maximum
velocity is governed by the speed of the timing pump, diameter and length of the holding tube,
and surface friction. After passing temperature sensors of an indicating thermometer and
a recorder-controller at the end of the holding tube, milk passes into the flow diversion device
(FDD). The FDD assumes a forward-flow position if the milk passes the recorder-controller at
the preset cut-in temperature (>72° C). The FDD remains in normal position which is in
diverted-flow if milk has not achieved preset cut-in temperature. The improperly heated milk
flows through the diverted flow line of the FDD back to the raw milk constant level
tank. Properly heated milk flows through the forward flow part of the FDD to the pasteurized
milk regenerator section where it gives up heat to the raw product and in turn is cooled to
approximately 32° C - 9° C.

The warm milk passes through the cooling section where it is cooled to 4° C or below by coolant
on the opposite sides of the thin, stainless steel plates. The cold, pasteurized milk passes through
a vacuum breaker at least 12 inches above the highest raw milk in the HTST system then on to
a storage tank filler for packaging.
The diagram below illustrates HTST milk pasteurization equipment and flow diagram when
incorporating a centrifugal booster pump (to help fill the regenerator on large systems) and
pressure differential switch/back pressure controller on the regenerator (to maintain the pressure
differential due to the action of the booster pump on the raw side). It also shows the position of
the homogenizer when included in-line in the HTST system.
Holding Time
When fluids move through a pipe, either of two distinct types of flow can be observed. The first
is known as turbulent flow which occurs at high velocity and in which eddies are present
moving in all directions and at all angles to the normal line of flow. The second type is
streamline, or laminar flow which occurs at low velocities and shows no eddy currents.
The Reynolds number, is used to predict whether laminar or turbulent flow will exist in a pipe:

Re < 2100 laminar

Re > 4000 fully developed turbulent flow

There is an impact of these flow patterns on holding time calculations and the assessment of
proper holding tube lengths.

The holding time is determined by timing the interval for an added trace substance (salt) to pass
through the holder. The time interval of the fastest particle of milk is desired. Thus the results
found with water are converted to the milk flow time by formulation since a pump may not
deliver the same amount of milk as it does water.

Note: the formulation assumes flow patterns are the same for milk and water. If they are not,
how would this affect the efficiency of the pasteurization process?

Pressure Differential
For continuous pasteurizing, it is important to maintain a higher pressure on the pasteurized side
of the heat exchanger. By keeping the pasteurized milk at least 1 psi higher than raw milk in
regenerator, it prevents contamination of pasteurized milk with raw milk in event that a pin-hole
leak develops in thin stainless steel plates. This pressure differential is maintained using a
timing pump in simple systems, and differential pressure controllers and back pressure flow
regulators at the chilled pasteurization outlet in more complex systems. The position of the
timing pump is crucial so that there is suction on the raw regenerator side and pushes milk under
pressure through pasteurized regenerator. There are several other factors involved in maintaining
the pressure differential: 

 The balance tank overflow level must be less than the level of lowest milk passage in the
regenerator
 Properly installed booster pump is all that is permitted between balance tank and raw
regenerator
 No pump after pasteurized milk outlet to vacuum breaker
 There must be greater than a 12 inch vertical rise to the vacuum breaker
 The raw regenerator drains freely to balance tank at shut-down

Basic Component Equipment of HTST

Pasteurizer
Balance Tank
The balance, or constant level tank provides a constant supply of milk. It is equipped with a float
valve assembly which controls the liquid level nearly constant ensuring uniform head pressure
on the product leaving the tank. The overflow level must always be below the level of lowest
milk passage in regenerator. It, therefore, helps to maintain a higher pressure on the pasteurized
side of the heat exchanger. The balance tank also prevents air from entering the pasteurizer by
placing the top of the outlet pipe lower than the lowest point in the tank and creating downward
slopes of at least 2%. The balance tank provides a means for recirculation of diverted or
pasteurized milk.
Regenerator
 Heating and cooling energy can be saved by using a regenerator which utilizes the heat content
of the pasteurized milk to warm the incoming cold milk. Its efficiency may be calculated as
follows:

% regeneration = temp. increase due to regenerator/total temp. increase

For example: Cold milk entering system at 4° C, after regeneration at 65° C, and final
temperature of 72° C would have an 89.7% regeneration:

65 - 4
______ = 89.7
72 - 4

Timing pump
The timing pump draws product through the raw regenerator and pushes milk under pressure
through pasteurized regenerator. It governs the rate of flow through the holding tube. It must be
a positive displacement pump equipped with variable speed drive that can be legally sealed at
the maximum rate to give minimum holding time in holding tubes. It also must be interwired so
it only operates when FDD is fully forward or fully diverted, and must be "fail-safe". A
centrifugal pump with magnetic flow meter and controller may also be used (see below).
Holding tube
 Must slope upwards 1/4"/ft. in direction of flow to eliminate air entrapment so nothing flows
faster at air pocket restrictions.

Indicating thermometer
The indicating thermometer is considered the most accurate temperature measurement. It is the
official temperature to which the safety thermal limit recorder (STLR) is adjusted. The probe
should sit as close as possible to STLR probe and be located not greater than 18 inches upstream
of the flow diversion device.

Recorder-controller (STLR)
The STLR records the temperature of the milk and the time of day. It monitors, controls and
records the position of the flow diversion device (FDD) and supplies power to the FDD during
forward flow. There are both pneumatic and electronic types of controllers. The operator is
responsible for recording the date, shift, equipment, ID, product and amount, indicating
thermometer temperature, cleansing cycles, cut in and cut out temperatures, any connects for
unusual circumstances, and his/her signature.

Flow Diversion Device (FDD)

Also called the flow diversion valve (FDV), it is located at the downstream end of the upward
sloping holding tube. It is essentially a 3-way valve, which, at temperatures greater than 72°
C,opens to forward flow. This step requires power. At temperatures less than 72° C, the valve
recloses to the normal position and diverts the milk back to the balance tank. It is important to
note that the FDD operates on the measured temperature, not time, at the end of the holding
period. There are two types of FDD:

single stem - an older valve system that has the disadvantage that it can't be cleaned in place. 

dual stem - consists of 2 valves in series for additional fail safe systems. This FDD can be
cleaned in place and is more suited for automation.
Vacuum Breaker
At the pasteurized product discharge is a vacuum breaker which breaks to atmospheric pressure.
It must be located greater than 12 inches above the highest point of raw product in system. It
ensures that nothing downstream is creating suction on the pasteurized side.

Auxiliary Equipment
Booster Pump

It is centrifugal "stuffing" pump which supplies raw milk to the raw regenerator for the balance
tank. It must be used in conjunction with pressure differential controlling device and shall
operate only when timing pump is operating, proper pressures are achieved in regenerator, and
system is in forward flow. 
Homogenizer 

The homogenizer may be used as timing pump. It is a positive pressure pump; if not, then it
cannot supplement flow. Free circulation from outlet to inlet is required and the speed of the
homogenizer must be greater than the rate of flow of the timing pump. 

Magnetic flow
meter and centrifugal pump arrangements 

Magnetic flow meters (shown on the right) can be used to measure the flow rate. It is essentially
a short piece of tubing (approximately 25 cm long) surrounded by a housing, inside of which are
located coils that generate a magnetic field. When milk passes through the magnetic field, it
causes a voltage to be induced, and the generated signal is directly proportional to velocity.
Application of the magnetic flow meter in the dairy industry has centered around its replacing
the positive displacement timing pump as the metering device in HTST pasteurizing systems,
where with certain products the timing pump rotors reportedly wear out in a relatively short
period of time. In operation, the electrical signal is sent by the magnetic flow meter to the flow
controller, which determines what the actual flow is compared to the flow rate set by the
operator. Since the magnetic flow meter continuously senses flow rate, it will signal the
electronic controller if the actual flow exceeds the set flow rate for any reason. If the flow rate is
exceeded for any reason, the flow diversion device is put into diverted flow. A significant
difference from the normal HTST system (with timing pump) comes into focus at this point. This
system can be operated at a flow rate greater than (residence time less than) the legal limit.
However, it will be in diverted flow and never in forward flow.
Another magnetic flow meter based system with an AC variable frequency motor control drive
on a centrifugal pump is also possible in lieu of a positive displacement metering pump on a
HTST pasteurizer.  This system does not use a control valve but rather the signal from the
magnetic flow meter is transmitted to the AC variable frequency control to vary the speed of the
centrifugal pump. The pump, then controls the flow rate of product through the system and its
holding time in the holding tube.

Automated Public Health Controllers

 These systems are used for time and temperature control of HTST systems. There are concerns
that with sequential control, the critical control points (CCP's) are not monitored all the time; if
during the sequence it got held up, the CCP's would not be monitored. With operator control,
changes can be made to the program which might affect CCP's; the system is not easily sealed.
No computer program can be written completely error free in large systems; as complexity
increases, so too do errors.

This gives rise to a need for specific regulations or computer controlled CCP's of public health
significance:

1. dedicated computer - no other assignments, monitor all CCP's at least once/sec

2. not under control of any other computer system or override system, i.e., network
3. separate computer on each pasteurizer
4. I/O bus for outputs only, to other computers no inputs from other computers
5. on loss of power - public health computers should revert to fail safe position (e.g. divert)
6. last state switches during power up must be fail safe position
7. programs in ROM - tapes/disks not acceptable
8. inputs must be sealed, modem must be sealed, program sealed
9. no operator override switches
10. proper calibration procedure during that printing - Public health computer must not leave public
health control for > 1 sec and upon return must complete 1 full cycle before returning to
printing
11. FDV position must be monitored and temperature in holding tube recorded during change in
FDV position
12. download from ROM to RAM upon startup
13. integrated with CIP computer which can be programmed e.g., FDV, booster pump controllable
by CIP computer when in CIP made only

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Milk Pasteurization: HTST, LTLT, and UHT

Treatment
Updated on December 12, 2017 by Kevine Otieno 8 Comments

Louis Pasteur, a French scientist, found a lasting solution to the wine spoilage problem. By
heating wine to temperatures below its boiling point for a specified period, the product did not
spoil for as long as there was no re-contamination.

His famous heat treatment method became known as pasteurization method after his own name.

What is the difference between pasteurization and homogenization?

Many people tend to confuse pasteurized milk with homogenized milk. Let’s first look at these
two processes before going deeper into the purpose and process of pasteurization.

What is milk homogenization?

Homogenization is a mechanical process that is applied to milk to break down fat globules in
milk so that they do not separate. Non-homogenized milk has a tendency of forming into a layer
of cream on top of the milk, which many consumers detest.

We will see how the process is done down in the page when we will be talking about the
continuous pasteurization process.

What is milk pasteurization?

We can define milk pasteurization as the process of heating milk (or milk product) to a
predetermined temperature for a specified period without re-contamination during the
entire process.

The predetermined temperature usually depends on the heat resistance of spoilage

microorganism that the pasteurization program is targeting to destroy.
Proper pasteurization is necessary for the following reasons:

 There is a public health concern since the public is going to consume the product. Pasteurization
kills all the pathogenic bacteria that may cause infections to consumers.
 There is need to ensure that the product can keep for longer periods without expensive storage
equipment. Pasteurization will eliminate spoilage bacteria and enzymes and extend the shelf life
of the product.

The amount of heat and the length of time used in pasteurization depends on the Thermal Death
Time of the target microorganism. The minimum combination should target the most resistant
pathogen such as Coxiellae burnettii.

When deriving the thermal death time of any microorganism, the temperature must remain
constant and holding time varied to kill the specified number of cells.

Check out the reviews for the best batch pasteurizer for home use.

Thermal death time (D-value) is the duration it takes to kill a certain bacteria at a given
temperature. Click To Tweet

What is the difference between D-value, Z-value, and F-value?

The decimal reduction time, D-value, is the amount of time under specified conditions to
reduce microbial population by one decimal. This time varies and is dependent on the
temperature and the target microorganism. One decimal reduction (1D) is equivalent to a
population drop by one log cycle or 90% reduction.

For instance, let’s say we can reduce the population of microbe X to 10% by exposing it to
121°C for 4 seconds. We Denote the D-value of microbe X as D121°C = 4 seconds. For spore
formers like Clostridium botulinum, the treatment should achieve 12 log cycle reduction in
original bacterial population.

Z-value is the measure of change in the rate of death due to change in temperature. It is the
change in temperature required to change the decimal death time by one log cycle or one decimal
(1D).

In other words, Z-value is the measure of bacterial sensitivity to heat treatment. It is the change
in temperature that will reduce the D-value by a factor of 10. You can obtain a Z-value by
plotting two D-vales against temperature.
F-value is the duration it will take to kill a known bacterial population. It is usually set at 12 log
cycles (12D) to kill the most resistant mesophilic spores in a food sample.

Different microorganisms have different D-values. However, these D-values follow a negative
slope when plotted on a graph.

The video below illustrates how to derive different D-values for different microorganisms.

Milk pasteurization programs

Broadly, pasteurization can be categorized as either low r high temperature pasteurization

methods. Both of these can either be batch or continuous processes.

Low temperature pasteurization is majorly concerned with food safety and aims at killing all
pathogenic microorganisms and reducing spoilage types in a food sample. Milk that has
undergone low temperature pasteurization is suitable for making cheese because it encourages
syneresis.

Low temperature pasteurization can assume various temperature/time combinations such as

63°C/30 minutes or 72°C/15 seconds. Mild heating kills all pathogenic bacteria and reduces the
load of spoilage bacteria but preserves most physico-chemical properties of the milk.

On the other hand, high temperature pasteurization aims at killing the vegetative pathogenic
and spoilage bacteria as well as denaturing as much serum protein as possible. High temperature
pasteurized milk is more suitable for making yogurt because Syneresis will not occur. The serum
proteins are denatured hence they will not separate.

High temperature pasteurization involves intense heating and may involve temperature/time
combination regimes such as 140°/2 seconds, 85°C/30 minutes, or 90°C/20 minutes. Intense
heating aims at destroying serum proteins to avoid syneresis.

The choice of the pasteurization method depends on several factors, which may not be limited to:

 Intended purpose of the pasteurized milk,

 Access to sophisticated equipment,
 Volume of milk to be pasteurized,
 Target microorganism, etc

Whatever the case, one can choose to carry out normal pasteurization or ultra pasteurization.
Normal pasteurization will preserve milk for about two to three weeks while ultra pasteurization
will preserve milk for even up to one year.
Different types of thermal processing methods

 Thermization: Heat the milk to between 57°C to 68°C and hold for 15 minutes. Thermization
targets pathogenic bacteria while leaving the good bacteria in the product. The low
temperatures do not alter the structure and taste of the milk.
 Batch pasteurization: Also known as low temperature long time (LTLT) pasteurization. Heat the
milk to 63°C for 30 minutes. The extendend holding time causes alteration in the milk protein
structure and taste.
 Flash pasteurization: also known as high temperature short time (HTST) pasteurization. Heat
the milk to  between 72°C to 74°C for 15 to 20 seconds. Targets resistant pathogenic bacterial
spores (Clostridium botulinum spores).
 Ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurization: Heat the milk to between 135°C to 140°C for 2 to
4 seconds. The extreme heat targets Coxiella burnetii, which causes Q-fever. The heat kills all the
vegetative forms of bacteria and the milk can survive for 9 months.
 Canned sterilization: This is a wet treatment of canned milk products in an
autoclave/specialized treatment chambers. Heat to between 115°C to 121°C for 10 to 20
minutes.

How to test for the effectiveness of milk pasteurization

High temperature pasteurization denatures peroxidase enzyme. The enzyme is more resistant to
heat treatment than all pathogenic microorganisms found in milk. If the heat treatment is
sufficient to denature this enzyme, it is a confirmation that all the pathogenic microorganisms
have been killed been killed in the process.

Properly pasteurized milk should, therefore, produce a negative result for peroxidase test (see
test number 12 in that list).

Alkaline phosphatase may not be very reliable because research has shown that it can be
reactivated, especially if the pasteurized milk has high fat content.

1. High Temperature Short Time (HTST) pasteurization

This type of pasteurization is also known as flash pasteurization. Flash pasteurization involves
heating milk to 71.7°C for 15 seconds to kill Coxiella burnetii, which is the most heat resistant
pathogen in raw milk.

Since it is technically impossible to bring the milk to that exact temperature, it is always safe to
work with a range of temperatures. To be safe, you can heat the milk to between 72°C to 74°C
for 15 to 20 seconds. This will ensure that the milk is heated uniformly to the required
temperature.

This method is most suitable in continuous pasteurization systems.

Flash pasteurized milk will keep for between 16 and 21 days. For commercial reasons, some
manufacturers intentionally reduce the number of days to push the products out of the shelves.

How HTST pasteurization works

A standard milk pasteurization system consists of the following parts:

  Balance tank: maintains a constant head for the incoming milk

  Milk feed pump: creates suitable pressure that is necessary for efficient flow
  Flow control system: ensures that sufficient amount of fluid is in the conduits at any given time
  Filters and clarifiers: removes dirt from the products
  Homogenizer: divides fat globules into micro globules to avoid fat separation in standing milk
  PHE with regeneration, heating, holding and cooling sections: facilitates efficient
pasteurization
  Flow diversion valves: Ensures that all the conditions for pasteurization have been met before
the milk asses through.
  Instrumentation and control equipment: Increases system efficiency and reliability
  Peripheral sources of utilities such as steam, air, and water: Provides the necessary utilities for
heating, cooling, and pressurized environments
  Conduits/piping system: Facilitate flow of milk and utilities from one point to the next

Each of the pasteurizer sections has been designed to increase the efficiency of the PHE.

Here’s how milk moves through the PHE for an effective pasteurization

 Chilled milk from the bulk milk tank at 4°C moves into the balance tank from where it is pumped
into the regeneration section of the PHE.
 At the regenerative heating section of the PHE, chilled milk receives heat from the already
pasteurized milk leaving the system. Heat exchange occurs across the PHE plates in a counter
current motion of the two fluids of different temperatures (the video below illustrates this
motion). The regenerative heating raises the temperature of milk to about 40°C to facilitate easy
standardization. Heating then continues to 60°C to facilitate easy homogenization of the fat
globules.
 After clarification, standardization, and homogenization, milk passes into the heating section
where milk exchanges heat with steam across the PHE plates. The steam heats the milk to over
72°C, which is the perfect HTST pasteurization condition.
 Once the milk has attained the pasteurization temperatures, it moves into the holding tubes.
The length of these tubes have been calibrated with the flow rate to ensure that the milk stays
at that temperature for at least 16 seconds. This time is sufficient to destroy the target pathogen
according to the D-values (outlined in the first video above.)
 If the milk fails to attain the required temperatures, the flow diversion valve diverts its flow back
to the heating section to ensure that the temperatures are sufficient to kill all the target
pathogens and their spores.
 Once the milk is fully pasteurized, it moves back to the regenerative heating section to raise the
temperatures of the incoming chilled milk. In the process, the temperatures of the outbound
pasteurized milk drops to about 32°C.
  The pasteurized milk then moves to the cooling section of the pasteurizer where chilled water
(or PHE coolant) further lowers its temperatures to 4°C.

Advantages of regenerative heating

 Utilization of the incoming chilled milk to cool the outgoing hot pasteurized milk increases the
efficiency of the PHE.
 A smaller amount of heat energy is required to heat the milk to pasteurization temperatures
since the heating does not start from 4°C of the chilled milk.
 Reduces the amount of time required to pasteurize milk.

Note: When starting the process of pasteurization in the PHE, milk is circulated in the heating
section until it attains the required temperatures before regenerative heating begins.

Video illustration of how the PHE works

2. Low Temperature Long Time (LTLT) pasteurization

Here, the temperatures used for pasteurization are reduced to 63°C and held for 30 minutes. The
prolonged holding period alters the structure of the milk proteins making it better suited for
making yogurt.

This method is best for batch pasteurization where the milk is held in a jacketed vat for effective
pasteurization. There are many designs of batch pasteurizers in the market that are suitable for
both domestic and commercial use.

let us look at some of the best batch pasteurizers for home use. We’ll also review an ice cream
mix / cream pasteurizer that is capable for commercial use.
The best batch pasteurizer to buy for home use

a) Milky 3-1/2-Gallon Pasteurizer: Review

The Eco Mini 3.5-Gallon Stainless Steel Pasteurizer from

Milky is a mini processor of no mean repute. As small as it is, it will pasteurize about 14 ltrs /3.5
gal of milk in an hour.

The water bath provides gentle heating to control the pasteurization process. It also has an
additional insulation to avoid unnecessary loss of heat making it an efficient energy conserving
machine.

The water bath has an inlet and outlet to allow controlled pasteurization. When the heating and
holding is completed, just connect cold water and the temperature will come down in under 20
minutes.

The temperature gauge is calibrated to allow controlled heating during processing.

Please note:

 The inner pail can be very heavy when full. The machine weighs 13.5lbs when unloaded.
Coupled with the heat, you may not be able to lift it out easily without having cooled it properly
first.
 It also comes with a 120V AC connection. You may need a convertor if your outlet is different.

Advantages

 Versatile machine with adjustable temperatures. Can pasteurize milk, ice cream base, and even
other foods such as juices and fruits
 Made of stainless steel for easy cleaning and hygiene
  Easy to operate. Comes with a programmable timer and electronic control buttons
 Excellent customer support
 Comes with a warranty

Buy it from Amazon

b) Home Pasteurizer 2 Gallon Capacity: Review

This two gallon SafGuard milk pasteurizer from Dairy Supply

Company uses a thermostat to control the temperature of milk within the required range for
efficient pasteurization.

It has a water bath that regulates the temperature for effective preservation of flavor while
eliminating all the bacteria in the milk to make it safe for human consumption.

Once the milk has been held at pasteurization temperature for the required temperature/time
combination, drain the hot water bath and circulate cold water to cool the milk to the required
temperature.

The inner pail is made of food grade stainless steel to ensure maximum hygiene standards and
quality preservation. It is easy to clean and maintain.

Issue of concern

 It comes with a 120V AC connection type.

Advantages.

 Food grade stainless steel for hygiene and quality preservation.

 You can use it to pasteurize juices
 Comes with a warranty
 Comes with adjustable thermostat to a different temperature range.
  The buzzer goes off every 20 minutes as a warning

Check Price on Amazon

Available option: SafGard Home Pasteurizer

c) H&M HMIX30CP-236W Commercial Dairy / Custard / Milk Pasteurizer:

Review

Pasteurizing ice cream mix can be quite a daunting task due

to the viscosity of the product. Insufficient heating will result in a poorly pasteurized product that
will lead to formation of defects.

Defective butter is not safe for consumption. This can lead to serious losses, especially given the
expenses associated with procurement of cream.

H&M’s commercial ice cream / cream pasteurizer eliminates the risk of poor pasteurization by
the use of their computerized HMIX30CP-236W, which is specially designed to handle thicker
mixes.

All the surfaces that come into contact with food is made of stainless steel for hygiene and food
safety. All the parts are easy to assemble and disassemble by following the simple user manual
that comes with the machine.

The machine has soft-cooking technology that is facilitated by the use of cycled glycol that
evenly distributes heat during pasteurization. It can heat the mix to 100°C without burning it.
The machine uses environmentally friendly coolant (R404A).

It is easy to control by feeding data through the digital interface that then allows the machine to
run automatically without additional intervention. It has an optional to print the product info and
working cycles.

Cleaning is simple as the machine comes with an installation for the cleaning water supply and
the spray tap.

Please note:

 The machine is heavy and will need a dedicated space in your kitchen / production area to avoid
moving it often. The place should be easy to access and proximal to utilities such as power and
water.
 It also needs a heavy capital expenditure to install.

Advantages

 Flexible usability and easy to control. Has a touch screen for easy manipulation of the process.
You can program the settings for custom made mixes
 Parts are made of stainless steel for maximum hygiene and food safety.
 Machine is easy to disassemble for maintenance purposes
 Machine uses glycol to evenly distribute heat during pasteurization. This eliminates the risk of
cooking the product and ensures efficient pasteurization
 Uses an environmentally friendly R404A gas as a coolant
 Check Reviews on Amazon

Available option:

d) H&M HMIX30-236W Commercial Ice Cream Pasteurizer

(30Liter/3phase/Water Cool): Review

Comes with 8 presets for processing 8 different bases / ice cream mixes. It
is computer controlled to make it easy to control during pasteurization and ageing of the ice
cream mix.

It has a memory chip to memorize the procedure for the next batch to avoid monotonous work of
setting the machine each time a new batch is loaded.

The machine also has an automatic power recovery to pick up processing from where it left
before the power failure.

The machine also comes with an option to print the working cycles.

Check Price on Amazon

3. Ultra High Temperature (UHT) Pasteurization

This is a completely closed pasteurization method. The product is never exposed even for a
fraction of a second during the entire process.

It involves heating milk or cream to between 135°C to 150°C for one to two seconds, then
chilling it immediately and aseptically packaging it in a hermetic (air-tight) container for storage.

UHT milk can keep for nine months without refrigeration. Click To Tweet
Despite the risk of Millard browning, UHT pasteurization remains the most popular milk
preservation method for safe and stable milk.

Disadvantages of high temperature pasteurization

 There is a possibility of alteration of milk proteins. This can affect the properties of such milk
when used to make other food products.
 High temperatures inactivate the enzymes that protect the product increasing the risk of
spoilage.
 Elevated temperatures cause Maillard reaction, which discolors the product making it
undesirable to consumers.
 High temperatures alter the protein structure and imparts a cooked flavor to the milk.

Application of high temperature pasteurization

Pasteurizing fluid milk

You can heat the milk to 63° C for not less than 30 minutes (low temperature long time
pasteurization). Alternatively, heat the milk to 72° C for not less than 16 sec (high temperature
short time pasteurization) or equivalent.

These temperature-time combinations have been proven to be sufficient for the destruction of
pathogens and the enzyme phosphatase.  A negative test result for the alkaline phosphatase test
confirms the efficacy of pasteurization.

Frozen dairy dessert mix pasteurization

Very many frozen dairy products exist in the market. When pasteurizing ice cream or ice milk,
heat the product to at least 69° C for not less than 30 min or 80° C for not less than 25 sec. Any
other time-temperature combinations must be approved (e.g. 83° C/16 sec).

Pasteurization of enriched milk products

Milk based products with 10% butterfat or higher, or added sugar (e.g. cream, chocolate milk,
etc) should be heated to 66° C/30 min or 75° C/16 sec for effective pasteurization.

Objectives of milk pasteurization

1. The chief objective of milk pasteurization is to destroy pathogenic bacteria that could have a
public health concern. By destroying these microorganisms, the product becomes safe for public
consumption.
2. Secondly, pasteurization eliminates destructive bacteria and enzymes that could cause spoilage
of the product. This leads to a prolonged shelf life of the milk.
3. Pasteurized milk is commercially sterile, which means that they are not entirely rid of bacteria.
One should compound their preservation with another method (usually refrigeration).
In modern milk processing plants, the PHE is connected to a separator and a homogenizer in the
same line. The milk separators help in butter fat standardization while the homogenizer breaks
down fat globules into tiny microglobules that remain suspended throughout the milk. It prevents
formation of cream layer when the milk is left standing for long.

Steps of pasteurization

Before you begin pasteurization, chances are high that you will be bulking milk to attain an
economically viable volume. Milk being a highly perishable product, it requires extreme care to
avoid incurring losses. For this reason, it is necessary to chill the milk to avoid spoilage.

a). Milk chilling

Chilling is not a pasteurization process but it is a necessary step when dealing with large volumes
of milk. Milk leaves the cow’s udder at temperatures above the ambient, which encourages rapid
bacterial multiplication that speeds up spoilage.

However, reducing the temperatures to between 2° C to 5° C arrests bacterial growth and

metabolism. This provides a head start at keeping the quality before proper pasteurization
commences.

Chilling may affect the quality of the product negatively if it is kept for long. Psychrotrophic
bacteria will cause proteolysis of protein, which leads to bitter flavor attributed to the released
polypeptides.

Prolonged chilling introduces alterations to the structure of the casein micelles and increases the
coagulation time. This leads to formation of less firmer curd and consequently low quality
cheese.

Effects of chilling on milk

 Impeding rennet/acid coagulation:

Lowering the temperatures to 2°C causes the milk not to coagulate even after rennet/acid
treatment. This phenomenon has been utilized in continuous cheese making process in which the
temperatures are raised after addition of acid/rennet. Coagulation begins when the temperatures
reach 15°C to 30°C.

No coagulation of milk at isoelectric point:

Even after adjusting the pH of casein to isoelectric point (IP), the milk will not coagulate if its
temperature ranges between 2°C and 5°C.

Low temperatures encourage the formation of many diffusible inorganic salts that distorts the
micellar structure of casein leading to formation of more non-micellar (soluble) casein.
Consequently, one you have to lower the pH of the medium further to achieve complete
coagulation. However, acid coagulation leads to formation of a less rubbery coagulum.

Chilling increases viscosity of milk:

Viscosity of milk largely depends on its colloidal components, of which proteins forms the bulky
part. Chilling changes the structure of milk proteins leading to an increase in their bulk hence the
increase in milk viscosity at chilled temperatures.

Chilling decreases in cheese curd firmness:

Milk chilling affects the ratio of calcium:phosphate hence their interaction in the colloid solution.
A drop in this ratio leads to an increase in the duration it takes for the milk to coagulate. To
counter this problem, add calcium chloride to cheese milk before cold aging starts.

Increases hydrolytic rancidity in milk:

Chilling exposes the casein micelle and release the lipases into the medium. As the temperatures
rise gently or when the medium is gently agitated, the lipases get active and attack the fat
globules and release the fatty acids leading to rancidity.

Increases foaming in milk:

Chilled milk foams easily due to the increased activity of ß-lactoglobulin, which is a surfactant.
Milk proteins coalesce at the surfaces/lamellae of the protein, which also traps air leading to
formation of air bubbles.

Chilling leads to an increased clustering of fat

Chilling milk encourages change formation in the surface of fat globules, which encourages the
globules to stick together. The clustering of fat globules leads to an increased creaming rate in
cold milk.

b). Pre-heating (regeneration) and standardization stage

After bulking, the chilled milk is heated to about 40°C to facilitate easy separation of butter fat
during standardization.

The system uses regenerative heating, i.e., it uses the heat of the already pasteurized milk to heat
up the incoming chilled milk. The chilled milk, in a counter current flow, cools down the
pasteurized milk.

The purpose of standardization is to obtain a product with uniform content of butter fat. Different
products can be obtained from this process e.g. skimmed milk, standardized milk, low fat milk,
high fat milk, etc.
After determining the type of product you are making, you can use a computer program or any
standardization method to determine the amount of cream to separate. This will leave you with
the desired amount of butterfat to standardize the milk.

c). Clarification stage

Clarification is essential for removing all foreign matter from the product. Large solid particles
are removed by straining the milk through tubular metallic filters. A centrifugal clarifier (not the
one used for standardization) is used to remove all soil and sediments from milk.

The filters, usually fitted in parallel twins permits continuous processing as one can be cleaned
while the other is running. Clean the filters regularly (between 2 to 10 operational hours
depending on the level dirt) to avoid growth of bacteria.

d). Standardization stage

It is important to standardize milk fat to ensure that you end up with a product of consistent
quality in the market. Different consumers prefer different products.

There are customers who will consume skim milk only while there are those who will take low
fat milk. There are those who will take standardized milk while there are those who prefer high
fat milk.

Standardization is necessary to ensure that all the customers are catered for. Again, it is during
the process of standardization that you get to separate the butterfat that is used for making cream
and other fat based products such as butter and ghee.

Here is an in-depth review of milk standardization.

e). Homogenization stage

Homogenization is a physical process of breaking down the the milk fat globules into tiny
droplets to discourage cream separation. Tiny droplets of fat do not rise in a milk column since
reducing their sizes also increases their density in the milk.

A milk homogenizer working at between 100 to 170 bars splits all the fat globules into very tiny
droplets that increases the level of integration of the fat in the milk. As a result, the milk fat
remains uniformly distributed in the milk.

f). Heating section

Utilizes heat from steam to raise the temperatures of the milk from about 60°C to the required
72°C that is effective to kill the Clostridium botulinum spores. The steam exchanges heat with
the milk across the PHE plates in a counter current motion.
At the end if this section, there is a temperature sensor, which controls the flow diversion valve.
Any milk that does not attain the required temperature is diverted back to the heating section
until it attains the required temperatures.

g). Holding section

After heating, milk flows into the holding tubes whose lengths have been calibrated with the
milk flow rate to ensure that milk takes at least 16 seconds in the tubes. All the milk must
maintain the required pasteurization temperatures at the end of the tubes.

In case of a breach, a sensor will trigger the flow diversion valve to take the milk back to the
heating section to bring the milk to the required temperature.

Once the milk has attained the required temperatures at the end of the holding tubes, milk flows
back to the regeneration section to heat the incoming chilled milk while in itself being cooled
down to about 30°C.

h). Cooling/chilling section

After regenerative cooling of pasteurized milk, it moves to the cooling section of the PHE where
chilled water/PHE coolant lowers the temperature of pasteurized milk to 4°C.

The chilled milk is then pumped to the packaging machines for aseptic packaging and
subsequent storage in the cold room.

Note:

If the milk is to be used for making yogurt, there is no need to chill it. It will only require
regenerative cooling to about 45°C, which is the suitable temperature for yogurt bacteria.

Non-conventional Methods of Pasteurization

Conventionally, normal heating is used to pasteurize milk and other food products. However,
there are other non-conventional methods of pasteurization. Some of these methods involve
heating while others are completely devoid of heat.

They include:

1. Microwave Heating.

The method is currently still under development and has only been accepted for commercial
sterilization of canned foods.

Microwave heating is highly effective on low acid foods and can be used in a continuous and
batched process.
2. Ohmic Heating.

Ohmic heating involves passing of electrical pulse through food via charged electrodes. The
resistance to electrical flow produces heat which pasteurizes the food sample.

Heating is uniform and more efficient producing a greater quality product than other heating
methods for pasteurization.

The process can be applied to liquid foods and foods with high moisture content like fruits.

3. High-Pressure Processing.

High hydrostatic pressure pasteurization is completely non-thermal process. It relies on high

water pressure that is applied isostatically to the packaged food product.

The pressure disrupts the cell membranes of the target microorganisms leading to leakage of the
protoplasm hence death of the microorganism.

This method promises the advantage of leaving the food structure intact and maintaining the
nutritional and sensory quality of the food product.

It is also cheaper than heating since it uses tap water to apply the pressure to the food. Since
pasteurization is done after packaging, there is no chance of food re-contamination after
pasteurization.

4. Pulsed Electric Fields.

This method uses high voltages of electricity (>20 kV) that is applied to food in very short pulses
lasting microseconds.

The electrical pulses interfere with the metabolic processes of the microorganisms and kills them
rendering the food safe for human consumption.

Additionally, theism ethos leaves the food material unaffected structurally and in terms of the
nutrient content.

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Comments

1. Edward Joyce says

June 16, 2017 at 6:59 pm

In your bullet form explanations of the different forms of pasteurization please find a
wording error:
“Ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurization: Heat the milk to between 135°C to 140°C
for 2 to 4 seconds. The extreme heat targets Coxiella burnetii, which causes Q-fever. The
milk kills all the vegetative forms of bacteria and the milk can survive for 9 months.”

Milk does not kill bacteria- heat does. Please check the last sentence of the quoted
sentence to confirm this statement is the one you wished to convey.

Reply

o Kevine Otieno says

June 16, 2017 at 10:03 pm

 Hi Edward, thank you for the feedback. Indeed it was an oversight. It has now
been edited.

Reply

2. Jean Brouard says

October 15, 2017 at 6:15 am

Hi Kevine,

You mention some of the disadvantages of UHT pasterurization. What are the relative
advantages and disadvantages of Conventional Low Temp Pasteurization 63 deg C for 30
minutes versus HTST. Are there measurable differences in milk taste and qualtity
particularly in goats milk?

Reply

o Kevine Otieno says

October 16, 2017 at 3:40 pm

Hi Jean,
low temperature pasteurization is preferred for cheese making milk because it is
gentle on the proteins, which we really need to preserve for better quality cheese.
High temperatures destroy the whey protein resulting into a weaker curd.

Elevating the pasteurization temperatures will lead to caramelization and

accelerate Maillard reaction. The combined effect of these two processes will lead
to browning of the milk and impart a cooked taste to the product. Since goat milk
and cow milk have slightly different quantities of amino acids, the rate and extent
of Maillard reaction also differs for the two samples. Browning lowers the
commercial value of milk.

The biggest advantage of LTLT pasteurization is that, you can do it easily at

home and while at it, you can control the temperatures such that the proteins are
not destroyed to a greater extent. On the other hand, it is a tedious process that
requires commitment. It may not be a very practical route if time is an asset and
you are working on large volumes of milk.

Hope that helps.

 Reply

3. Kris, Na says

December 15, 2017 at 5:40 am

Amazing information. Thanks lads!

Still wondering those differences in HTST/Flash and Aseptic though.

Reply

o Kevine Otieno says

December 15, 2017 at 12:53 pm

Hi Kris, thanks for stopping by. Glad you found this post helpful.
HTST is a pasteurization regime while aseptic conditions are the environmental
factors that eliminate any possibility of product contamination.

Reply

4. Sunil Kumar says

February 28, 2018 at 7:13 pm

Dear sir
You dairy proses plant operator food products
Me dairy products so
Health and safety life you all dairy
Food products you femliy
Thanks

Reply

o Kevine Otieno says

March 2, 2018 at 10:57 pm

 Hi Sunil,
I’m sorry I do not understand what you mean.
Kevine Otieno recently posted…Milk Testing Equipment for Rapid Quality
Assurance Tests in Milk & Milk Products

Reply

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