Pasteurization kills any bacteria present in milk by heating raw milk to a specific temperature for a prescribed period of time. This process, developed in 1864 by Louis Pasteur and named for him, helps reduce the threat of many foodborne illnesses, like tuberculosis and typhoid fever. There are lots of nasty bacteria that can live in raw milk, like Salmonella, Listeria, Brucella, Streptococcus pyogenes, Campylobacter, and Mycobacterium bovis . They’ll make you very sick, and infections can even become life-threatening.
Even though pasteurization protects consumers from many of the health risks of drinking milk and eating other dairy products, there’s still a persistent belief that it has a negative impact on milk’s taste and nutritional value. Making dairy safer through pasteurization has helped protect food supplies and there’s no evidence supporting claims that it has a negative effect on the nutritional value of milk or milk products. All types of milk should be pasteurized that’s destined for cheese, yogurt or any other diary products.
To help counter some of the more spectacular claims for drinking raw milk, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have published these no-nonsense rumor busters:
- Raw milk does not have a natural resistance to bacteria.
- Pasteurization does not cause lactose intolerance.
- Both pasteurized and raw milk can cause allergic reactions.
- There’s no proven health benefit associated with drinking raw milk. Claims that raw milk can cure asthma, allergies and other conditions are inaccurate.
- Pasteurization does not negatively impact the nutritional value of milk.