A rapid heating and cooling of milk significantly reduces the amount of harmful bacteria present, extending its shelf life by several weeks.<\/p>\n
Bruce Applegate, Purdue associate professor in the Department of Food Science,\u00a0published the findings<\/strong><\/a> in the journal SpringerPlus.<\/p>\n The research shows that increasing the temperature of milk by 10 degrees Celsius for less than a second eliminates more than 99 percent of the bacteria left behind after pasteurization.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever does survive is at such a low level that it takes much longer for it to multiply to a point at which it damages the quality of the milk,” he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an add-on to pasteurization, but it can add shelf life of up to five, six, or seven weeks to cold milk,\u201d said Applegate.<\/p>\n Applegate said the process could be tested without pasteurization to determine if it could stand alone as a treatment for eliminating harmful bacteria from milk.<\/p>\n 5 human spaceflight missions coming soon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on science<\/h3>\n