Book 9, Question 106
Why Pasteurize Milk?
We pasteurize milk to make it much safer to drink! Pasteurizing means heating milk gently to kill harmful microbes. It is named after the French scientist Louis Pasteur, who showed that heat can stop microbes from spoiling drinks.
More fun facts
- In the 1860s, French scientist Louis Pasteur found that heating wine and beer killed the germs that spoiled them.
- Pasteurization was named after him.
- Milk is heat treated to kill harmful bacteria and to help it last longer.
- Studies confirmed that pasteurization kills the H5N1 bird flu virus in milk.
- A Canadian study found pasteurization barely changes milk's nutrition, except for a little vitamin B2.
- In 1987, the United States banned selling raw milk across state lines.
Sources: Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, BBC, Scientific American
Questions kids ask
Who is pasteurization named after?
French scientist Louis Pasteur, who studied heating to kill germs in the 1860s.