My DH just returned from the grocery store and inquired, “ Can you please tell me the difference between unpasteurized, pasteurized and ultra-pasteurized milk? I just spent twenty minutes in front of the cream trying to decide what to buy.”
Ummmm”, I replied knowingly. ‘I think it has something to do with how many preservatives are added to the milk to keep it fresh. “That sounds about right,” he replied. “ The pasteurized milk had an expiration date of about a week, the ultra-pasteurized some time next year and the unpasteurized….I think you need to drink on the way home.”
Pretty close. Actually, pasteurization refers to a process whereby milk products are heated to destroy harmful viruses and bacteria. I’m sure I must have known this at some point in my life since the process was invented by Louis Pasteur…I know I studied about him in grade school…didn’t I?
It turns out though, rather than being, better which one would think, “ultra-pasteurized” milk would be (If pasteurized is good…ultra must be better, right?) it’s actually not. Ultra-pasteurized milk is just “cooked” longer and at higher temperatures. This process apparently causes the essential enzymes in milk to lose their ability to do their job…or some such scientific thing. You can read more here
Now the why. Why do we have ultra pasteurized milk if it’s not better for you?
The official U.S. government definition of an ultra-pasteurized dairy product
stipulates "such product shall have been thermally processed at or above 280° F
for at least 2 seconds, either before or after packaging, so as to produce a
product which has an extended shelf life under refrigerated conditions."
Confusingly, ultra-pasteurized milk is oftentimes referred to as or labeled as
UHT, for "ultra-high temperature." It is the high-temperature processing that
gives the milk an extended shelf life (ESL).
milk’s origin.
I actually should have suspected something like this as I once tried to find a dairy farm to visit with my DS and found the closest was over 2 hours away, not in the next suburb over as ours was when I was growing up.
On the other hand, in typical American fashion, we have the other end of the spectrum available too, unpasteurized milk.
In recent years, there has been growing consumer interest in raw
(unpasteurized) milk products, due to potential health benefits. Advocates
point out that many beneficial components of milk are destroyed by
pasteurization. Specifically, raw milk contains immunoglobulins and the enzymes lipase and phosphatase, which are inactivated by heat. Raw milk contains vitamin B6 of which up to 20% may be lost to heat treatment. Raw milk contains living bacteria which are in milk naturally but are killed by pasteurization, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, the bacteria mainly responsible for the culturing of yogurt. Raw milk proponents point out that these "friendly" bacteria aid digestion and boost immunity.
OK – so what to do? Since I just figured this out, I have no advice. For the time being I will look carefully at the labels and avoid the “ultra-pasturized” version of milk products from now on. As to whether I will partake of unpasteurized products, that remains to be seen. Does anyone have some input here?
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6 comments:
I've been drinking unpasteurised cow's milk and goat's milk for about 6 months now since discovering it was available. I have never liked the taste of pasteurised milk and was surprised to discover that the unpasteurised stuff tastes fantastic.
It keeps for at least a week in the fridge - after that it starts to go pleasantly sour and will eventually curdle - although it can still be consumed if you like the taste.
For more info, check out realmilk.com
Thanks for the link, Simon! Good point on the "going sour" which is not necessarily bad!
Thanks for the link, Simon! Good point on the "going sour" which is not necessarily bad!
I've written about raw milk several times on my blog. We've been drinking it for many years -- in California we could buy it at our local co-op, and here in New York we can buy it directly from the farm (we are part of a local co-op that shares the burden of driving 2 hours to get everyone's milk from the farm every week, but otherwise the relationship is directly with the farmer per NY State law).
UHT pasteurization could be seen as beneficial for the purpose of long-term storage of milk, but otherwise it just zaps out all the nutrition and enzymes. Raw milk actually has vitamin C, which is completely inactivated by pasteurization.
Our raw milk tastes great, has lots of healthy fats (cream!) and nutrients, and definitely no antibiotics, pesticides, etc. We've never gotten sick from it -- the farm is inspected for cleanliness by the state, and we just use common sense if it seems to go bad (which doesn't happen any faster than conventional milk). As Simon said, it really just goes sour on its way to becoming cheese!
I have had milking goats for about three years now. We have never gotten sick from the milk. I take really good precautions: I clean the udder really well with a special solution, squirt out the first four squirts and not use them. I then strain the milk and put one teaspoon of a colloidal silver product per quart bottle. The colloidal silver is from American Biotech...in my opinion, they make the best colloidal silver anywhere. Even the country of Rwanda has been using their product to fight malaria. Also, the colloidal silver kills the bad bacteria, but not the good bacteria...COOL! So voila, I have great milk for our family and I didn't have to pasteurize! I only use it for the family.
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