Pasteurized milk: what it is and how to store it, the benefits and harm of the product

Whole milk today can be bought not so often - it is sold only in the bazaars.Professionals, who insist massively that it is too risky to drink an unprocessed product, also affect the number of outlets selling such a natural drink. But in the dairy departments of the stores, the packaged milk is sold in a wide variety of options - here it is pasteurized, sterilized, normalized, and other clever words from which it usually does not become easier for the consumer to choose.

Often a person simply does not fully understand what he is acquiring. The realities of the modern world are such that in fact you need to choose foods as carefully as possible, because your own health and the health of your family depends on it. To better navigate the choice of dairy products, let's look at what is so popular pasteurized milk.

Every housewife knows that fresh milk is desirable to boil before drinking, because the high temperature helps to kill various microorganisms for which the milky environment can be an ideal breeding ground. At the same time, it is logical to assume that, with significant heating, beneficial microorganisms can also die, while some components contained in milk can change their structure, decomposing and losing the ability to benefit the human body.

If heating is good for the properties of milk, then excessive heating is harmful. It becomes obvious that it is necessary to find a certain middle ground. It is difficult to say when humanity came to the conclusion that milk should be heated very much, but not brought to a boil (after all, competent housewives do just that), but French Pasteur suggested an industrial production technology a century and a half ago. Today, the process of heating perishable products, through which they acquire increased durability, is called pasteurization in honor of its inventor. This does not mean that the process is maximally standardized - when processing the same milk, the process may have its own intricacies.

It should be noted that drinking pasteurized milk is made at different temperatures, and heating takes a different time. Ordinary pasteurized milk is heated at a temperature of from 60 to 98 degrees, not allowing the liquid to boil, while there is an inverse ratio of temperature and heating time. At a modest 60 degrees, the processing can last a whole hour, whereas at a temperature close to boiling, the drink is considered to be pasteurized after 3-4 minutes.

There is also the so-called UHT milk, which in practice is no different from the product that is called sterilized. It originated from the criticism of pasteurized milk, which, contrary to popular belief, does not destroy all potentially harmful bacteria, but only 90% at best. Ultra heat-treated milk is heated to a temperature of about 140 degrees with the help of special equipment, which gives very fast heating, and is kept in such conditions for only about 20 seconds. In the process, not only harmful, but also beneficial microorganisms die, but the shelf life of the product increases tenfold, so for residents of remote regions such a solution is the only possible one.

In order not to destroy the structure of the components of a milk drink, after heating it must be cooled as quickly as possible to a temperature of about 5 degrees, therefore this processing method requires a solid technical base.

If the difference in the production of pasteurized and sterilized milk is only in the temperature values ​​of the processing processes, then the pasteurized version differs from the normalized one to a greater extent.The fact is that on the packaging according to the legislation it is necessary to write the degree of fat content of the drink, however, even the same cow is not able to give milk of the same fat content - this moment depends on too many factors. Small enterprises have to artificially make the milk more or less fat, so that it corresponds to what is written on the packaging - this is the so-called normalization of the product.

As for the heat treatment, the normalized milk does not imply it - theoretically it may not go through such a procedure at all.

None of GOST precisely regulates BJU and other features of the composition of pasteurized milk - the main thing is that it corresponds to what is indicated on the package. Even in fresh milk, these figures can vary significantly, so it is not surprising that the indicators vary considerably among manufacturers. For this reason, our indicators will be only approximate, and the consumer must double-check the information by reading the exact content of the substances he needs on a particular package.

In most varieties of pasteurized milk, there is less than all protein — its amount is in the range of 2.5–3%. Carbohydrates, by contrast, are present in the composition most of all - 4.5-5.5%, with the most popular value being 4.7%. As for fat, this component is the most variable, because, as mentioned above, many manufacturers even regulate it artificially - it can vary between 1-6%. Useful components in the form of microelements and vitamins in all types of milk are about the same, especially here calcium and iodine, copper and strontium, as well as vitamins of groups B and D.

If we talk about the caloric content of a natural drink, it largely depends on the balance of BJU, especially on the amount of fat. As a result, the energy value may be quite modest 44 kcal, and much more serious 71 kcal, therefore those who strictly follow the calorie content of consumed foods should be on the alert.

Pasteurized dairy product is a kind of golden mean between whole, fresh milk and the complete absence of this component in the diet. Drinking milk is useful in principle, and if there is no access to fresh village milk, you can drink at least pasteurized milk. - despite the loss of a part of microorganisms necessary for the human body, the majority is still preserved, and for harmful microbes in most cases heating is destructive. At the same time, pasteurized milk is definitely healthier than ultra-pasteurized milk, which, in terms of its benefits, is perhaps a mineral cocktail in the absence of a living component.

The composition of pasteurized milk in any case is such that it turns out to be useful in all cases without exception - both during pregnancy, and during breastfeeding, and for the child, not to mention an ordinary adult person. It contains a high percentage of protein, which is necessary to maintain muscle mass and many other body systems. Just two glasses of milk is enough to drink a day to fully meet the daily need for calcium, vital for healthy and strong bones. There are many other chemical elements and vitamins that allow you to fully enrich the body, strengthening the health of various systems.

At the same time, the use of pasteurized milk suggests that the habit of constantly warming up the drink must be discarded. Heating, as mentioned above, adversely affects the living component of the drink, which in itself can benefit the person.Normal pasteurization involves the destruction of most harmful microorganisms, because boiling home pasteurized milk is unlikely to improve the positive effect, but it can hit the beneficial components remaining in the composition.

But in some cases, milk, like the absolute majority of food on our planet, instead of the expected benefits, can harm the human body. Naturally, there are not so many contraindications, but they exist, therefore you should not ignore them in any way. The main and obvious contraindication to the use of any type of milk is lactose intolerance. Nature has laid down that the human body is able to digest lactose (the main component of milk) only in infancy. And only over time, representatives of some ancient civilizations, experiencing a shortage of food at certain periods, literally learned to do this even in adulthood.

Today, such a capacity for a person is considered normal and is inherited, but there are two important reservations. First, in some people the body fails, they still do not perceive lactose. Secondly, some peoples, for example, the Chinese and the peoples of the North, have no tradition to drink milk, and therefore their bodies are not accustomed to this at the genetic level.

Another problem is even more commonplace, but it is still very common. Many people overestimate the importance of pasteurization for the duration of storage of the drink, and some simply confuse pasteurized milk with ultrapasteurized milk, while the difference in shelf life is tenfold different. In this case, the refrigerator, contrary to popular belief, is far from the most reliable protection for a product that can sour very quickly, as will be discussed below.

Of course, dairy products also have a right to exist, especially since they are very useful, however, unforeseen souring of milk turns the latter into a completely different drink. It’s good if the person doesn’t feel bad due to such perturbations. The fact is that kefir and other lactic acid products must reach readiness so that they can be consumed without harm. While the milk, sour only half, can trigger fermentation processes in the gastrointestinal tract, and then severe diarrhea and flatulence will be the most harmless consequences.

Fresh milk is characterized by a very short shelf life, which is why many consumers sincerely hope that the pasteurized version, which they perceive as almost conservation, will survive much longer. Such people will have to disappoint, because Regular pasteurized milk in sealed form is usually stored for no longer than 3-4 days, and in printed form it is recommended to use it within 24 hours.

Moreover, even such a short period of time implies storage conditions in the refrigerator, whereas at high temperatures, fermentation may occur much faster.

With UHT milk, the situation is radically different - it heats up much more strongly, therefore there is absolutely no “life” in it.Due to this, such a drink is optimal for delivery to any distance, and even more so it can be stored in the refrigerator. In warehouses and in other specialized places, such a drink may persist for several months, although it should be clarified that in an open bag, the formation of a colony of fermented milk bacteria is still possible.

It should be understood that the shelf life is an abstract value, if you do not know the release date. Ordinary pasteurized milk belongs to perishable products, because this moment must be specified - the date should be indicated on the packaging in a prominent place. For the same shelf life at the same time, it is possible to determine how useful the drink is, because from the above, it follows that the truly natural and most useful product cannot be stored for a long time.

For information on which milk to choose: pasteurized or homemade, see the following video.