As you know, milk is one of the favorite drinks of children and adults, in addition, it is very useful. Drinking only a glass of milk a day, a person receives the necessary dose of amino acids, which are not synthesized by the body, but are necessary for its normal functioning. Milk contains vitamins and fats, proteins and carbohydrates that help maintain immunity. But often the question arises: why pasteurize milk, if it is already tasty and healthy enough? The whole problem is that milk is a very favorable environment for the development of microorganisms, beneficial and harmful.
Immediately after milking, milk has bactericidal properties, which is a kind of protection and prevents the development and reproduction of microorganisms. But after some time, bacteria in milk begin to develop quite intensively, therefore, special processing of the product is required in order to maintain its freshness and suitability for consumption for a longer time. To prolong the bactericidal phase, the product is cooled, and then milk must be pasteurized, boiled or sterilized. Pasteurization is a heat treatment at a temperature below 100 ° C, as a result of which all living organisms found in milk die. When boiling, spores of microorganisms partially die, and sterilization completely destroys both living organisms and their spores. GOST of pasteurized milk states that pasteurized milk must be subjected to pasteurization with the appropriate density, titratable and active acidity. Pasteurized milk at
dairy enterprises can be both non-fat and with various standardized fat content.
Milk is a fairly sensitive product to high temperatures. Should pasteurized milk be boiled ? When heated, part of the protein undergoes coagulation and precipitates, mineral salts also precipitate, vitamins are almost completely destroyed, the protein shell of fats is broken down and the gases contained in it disappear. With increasing temperature of heat treatment, these processes are amplified. Therefore, if all inherent microorganisms are already destroyed during pasteurization in milk, re-boiling is not required, since this can lead to the neutralization of the nutritional value of the product.
The question often arises as to whether milk should be pasteurized at all?
In our country, pasteurization of milk is an obligatory step in any technological process for the production of dairy products.
Pasteurization is mandatory in order to ensure safety for the health of consumers. Naturally, raw fresh milk has a lot more nutrients, but it can serve as a source of pathogenic or conditionally pathogenic microorganisms, so it is highly recommended not to use it. Unfortunately, it is impossible to pasteurize milk at home, since this process requires special equipment to control a constant temperature for a certain time, so you need to either resort to more severe methods of heat treatment (boiling), or use only purchased certified dairy products.