#pasteurization

[incognitopolls]

Basic version: food or liquids are heated briefly (usually less than 3 minutes) in order to kill bacteria and extend the shelf life of the food.

Anon was specifically interested in any difference in results between the US and other parts of North America, as they've seen a lot of fearmongering around pasteurization in certain parts of the US-centric internet.

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[misforgotten2]

To give you that glow of health.

Carnation Cook Book by Mary Blake - 1941

[thingstrumperssay]

I know that this was in 2016, but it's relevant again.

Also the fact that it made it's way to a Reddit sub called "aged like milk" is funny to me.

[pandemic-info]

[The] concern about the risk that infected raw milk poses is not so much that the practice might somehow help the virus to mutate in ways that would allow it to spread easily to and among people [aka trigger a pandemic, but that] it would likely seriously sicken people who drink raw milk from an H5N1-infected cow.

...

Because of their biology, the influenza A viruses that routinely transmit among people — H1N1 and H3N2 — are effectively limited to infecting the cells in the respiratory tract, said Florian Krammer, an influenza virologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

But H5N1 has more tricks up its sleeve than seasonal flu viruses do; it can infect organs other than the lungs. Kuiken noted that the virus has been seen to move into the liver, the central nervous system and the brain, among other tissues.

Addendum: raw milk CANNOT give you antibodies that would be protective against H5N1. These antibodies are proteins; proteins are broken down into amino acids during digestion. They do not enter the blood stream and cannot protect against respiratory disease. It’s more likely that a live virus could be ingested, making you ill.

More info:

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/no-there-are-likely-no-immune-benefits

It’s also useful to know what pasteurization actually is: simply, flash-heating to ultra-high temperatures. That’s it. There’s no “chemicals”, nothing. But this isn’t something anyone can just do at home.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-pasteurization-and-how-does-it-keep-milk-safe/

[macgyvermedical]

What does pasteurization do?

At a commercial scale, milk production uses a lot of tubes that are impossible to clean well. You can pump chemical solutions through them, but because they can't be scrubbed, they tend to accumulate something called a biofilm. A biofilm is a thin film of bacteria that live perpetually in the tubes and can get into the milk.

This would make the milk spoil very quickly, and could make it dangerous for human consumption if the milk was drunk raw, depending on which bacteria they were.

To avoid the consequences of this, milk producers heat milk to high temperatures (which kills any bacteria in the milk) and then cool it back down to refrigerated temperatures- a process called pasteurization. This causes the milk to be safe to drink and also last longer on the shelf.

[tomorrowusa]

The latest far right fad is raw milk. Perhaps they regard Louis Pasteur as a woke socialist. Seriously, government health advisories about raw milk only make it more attractive to the conspiracy theory fringe.

Commentators on sites like Infowars, Gab and Rumble have grown increasingly vocal about raw milk in recent weeks. They see the government’s heightened concerns about the dangers as overreach. “They say: ‘Bird flu in milk! Bird flu in milk! Oh, it’s the scariest thing!’” Owen Shroyer said on the April 29 episode of his “War Room” podcast from Infowars. He added: “They’ll just make raw milk illegal. That’s what this is all about.” Public health officials have long warned Americans of the severe health risks that can come with drinking raw milk instead of pasteurized milk, which is heated to kill bacteria, viruses and other germs. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 200 disease outbreaks linked to unpasteurized milk from 1998 to 2018, leading to 2,645 illnesses, 228 hospitalizations and three deaths.

The far right, including anti-vaxxers, seems to have an affinity for pathogens. Either that or they feel that pathogens don't really exist and perhaps were made up by Hillary Clinton and George Soros. Whatever they think, don't expect them to make sense.

Contrary to claims, there’s little or no evidence that drinking raw milk provides health benefits, including protection from certain infectious diseases, said Dr. Megin Nichols, the deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases at the C.D.C. The Food and Drug Administration says pasteurizing milk kills the virus. The F.D.A. said in a statement that there are no scientifically proven benefits to drinking raw milk and that “the health risks are clear.”

Epidemics get rightwingers agitated. The latest bird flu outbreak has them acting like mad cows.

Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters, a left-leaning watchdog that looked at the trend this month, said raw milk promotion had been intensifying on the right since the start of the bird flu outbreak. “What you have is a bunch of right-wing influencers who know that they can build substantial audiences and retain their audiences and excite their audiences by telling them that what medical authorities are saying about raw milk, about bird flu, is not credible,” Mr. Gertz said.

Basically the wingnuts are telling people: Don't trust science, trust Infowars instead! Paranoia is good for clicks.

As for bird flu, there is clear evidence of it being easily transmissible between mammals.

After mice drink raw H5N1 milk, bird flu virus riddles their organs

Despite the delusions of the raw milk crowd, drinking unpasteurized milk brimming with infectious avian H5N1 influenza virus is a very bad idea, according to freshly squeezed data published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison squirted raw H5N1-containing milk from infected cows into the throats of anesthetized laboratory mice, finding that the virus caused systemic infections after the mice were observed swallowing the dose. The illnesses began quickly, with symptoms of lethargy and ruffled fur starting on day 1. [ ... ] Before the mouse data, numerous reports have noted carnivores falling ill with H5N1 after eating infected wild birds. And a study from March in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reported that over half of the 24 or so cats on an H5N1-infected dairy farm in Texas died after drinking raw milk from the sick cows. Before their deaths, the cats displayed distressing neurological symptoms, and studies found the virus had invaded their lungs, brains, hearts, and eyes.

So we have bovines, rodents, and felines all being infected by H5N1. Several primates (i.e. humans) have also been infected. But generally, humans whose health practices are influenced by the germ theory of infection stand a darn good chance of avoiding it.

Fortunately, for the bulk of Americans who heed germ theory, pasteurization appears completely effective at deactivating the virus in milk, according to thorough testing by the FDA. Pasteurized milk is considered safe during the outbreak.

As with 17th century patriarchy and religious practices, the fringe right seems eager to return to the medical dark ages before germ theory and vaccination. In the century between 1870 and 1970 life expectancy almost doubled because of related discoveries. The far right seems to have some sort of death wish.

Vote for pro-science candidates. Support groups like 314 Action which are dedicated to electing candidates with a science background.

About Us - 3.14 Action

[tilbageidanmark]

[estavionpira]

You like Louis Pasteur? His early work on molecular asymmetry was a little too small-scale for my taste. But when his treatise on spontaneous generation came out in '82, I think his really came into his own, professionally and scientifically. All of his experiments show an inquisitive, skeptical method, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the theories a big boost. He's been compared to Theodor Schwann, but I think Louis has a far more wide-reaching, iconoclastic pedigree. In '65, Louis released this; The Effect of Microorganisms on Fermentation, his most well-remembered discovery. I think his undisputed masterpiece is "Pasteurization". A process so useful, most people probably don't know how it works. But they should, because it's not just about the dangers of viral microorganisms and the method of eliminating them from drink liquids. It's also a rebellious pushback against the prevailing European scientific mainstream.

[whatifchilchuckwasadog]

why is tumblr so obsessed with raw milk lately. i know those words separately have a lot of people on here interested but why'd you put 'em together. have you ever smelled a cow

[halfmoon-horse]

Please don't drink raw milk

Pasteurization is simply a process where milk is heated to a high temperature for a length of time to kill the majority of bacteria.

It massively reduces the risk of listeriosis (a type of bacterial infection) and increases shelf life. There are literally no downsides. It's a simple safety measure that's existed for over a century now.

And please please don't feed it to infants and young children, they can and do die from listeriosis. Also don't have raw milk products if you're pregnant as it can cause miscarriage for the same reason. Same goes for anyone with weakened immunity.

[jazzeria]

Berry Mead - Stabilise, Backsweeten

When we last left off, Berry Mead was a bit weak and thin. I decided to let it sit a bit longer with the black tea and hibiscus.

Day 57 ish (28 Sep)

It's cleared up beautifully!

Sp Gr: 0.990, same as before.

Appearance: Looks like red berry juice, and crystal-clear. You can read through it.

Scent: Orange blossom water, berry. Smells tart. Alcohol. No yeastiness detected.

Taste: Slightly bitter. Faint berry. Gentle alcoholic warmth. Orange blossom. Dry.

In a test cup, I did some experimentation with backsweetening. My first attempts were too sweet, but I was too tipsy to trust myself in continuing, so I decided to postpone the flavour adjustments. In the meantime, I racked to a 4L glass jug in preparation for pasteurisation, and gave myself a bit of time to sober up.

Pasteurisation went similarly to before: I got my big stockpot, mixed boiling hot water from the kettle with hot water from the faucet to get a water bath of about 71C. Added a kitchen towel before placing the glass jug (in order to soften the contact between the jug and stockpot). I threaded a thermometer probe into the jug through the drilled bung, and used a clothespin to prevent it from falling all the way in (we have fruitflies, so I wanted to lower the risk of them getting into my mead). When my probe registered 55C, I set my countdown timer for 25 minutes. If the mead got to 58C, I'd take the jug out to let it cool. I don't think I had any issues with it falling below 55C when it was in the water bath.

After pasteurising, I reapplied the airlock, but with less water, in case of contraction during cooling.

I had a busy week and don't own a bottle corker, so I had to wait to borrow one from a friend. In the meantime, I adjusted the flavour a bit more. Here's the summary of what I added:

150 mL saskatoon berry syrup (locally made)

20 mL Ribena blackcurrant concentrate

1/16 tsp ascorbic acid powder

Calculating the ABV of this is gonna be a huge mess, because I made so many late additions of fermentable sugars. I'm gonna wave my hands and say with all the sugar, the "OG" would've been around 1.085. Fermented to 0.990, this would give an ABV of about 12.5%. With my syrup additions contributing such small amount of volume, let's call the new ABV around 12%, max.

[whathehe11]

Not me googling how to pasteurize milk as if I a) drink milk, and b) are in a (or will be in a) situation where I will need to diy pasteurize milk.

[hellopuns]

Bun-Berry #26 !

[sixstringphonic]

From the National Association of School Nurses:

As of Jan. 31, 2025, there are 67 confirmed active cases of tuberculosis (TB) disease in Kansas. Cases have also been confirmed in Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina. 

ALSO...

The Tuberculosis Risk Behind TikTok's Beloved Raw Milk

"Tuberculosis is perhaps the most devastating disease in human history. According to Partners in Health, someone dies of tuberculosis approximately every 20 seconds, amounting to an annual death toll that eclipses HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Rates of infection are generally lower in developed countries like the U.S., but if we take a backstep in our food safety standards, the situation could worsen quickly.

The denizens of raw milk TikTok claim that pasteurization reduces the amount of vitamins and minerals in milk, but there is no evidence to support this. On the other hand, a compilation of 83 scientific studies, published in the medical journal Tuberculosis, showed that raw milk can carry Mycobacterium bovis, the bacteria that causes bovine tuberculosis. To call this a risk would be an understatement. In 2005, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report tracing 35 tuberculosis deaths in New York City to cheese made from raw milk. Thirteen of the victims were children."

"In case anyone missed it, the tuberculosis outbreak in Kansas has now spread to Ohio.

[The Republican Administration] has ordered the CDC to not report on this"

[jazzeria]

Green Tea Mead

Day 31 (10 Sep) - Now that I had a goal, I needed a plan.

I want to add sugar and flavours.

If addding sugar, I need to stabilise the mead (so it doesn't ferment the sugar)

Generally, there are two paths to make the yeast stop fermenting: chemical, or physical. I didn't feel like going out to buy the additives, so I opted for physical.

There's lots of ways to physically kill off microbes, but the easiest for me to control is temperature. If I opt to freeze, I'd have to freeze cold and fast to kill enough yeast, and preferably do a few cycles of freeze/thaw. That's way too hard. Heat it is.

Pasteurisation is (traditionally) the application of heat over time to kill or deactivate "most" of the microbes that cause spoilage in something. Generally, you can pasteurise at a lower temperature for a longer time, or a higher temperature for a shorter time.

Some example combinations:

62C (143F) for 5 minutes

58C (136F) for 22 minutes

Ethanol boils at 78C (173F), so to minimise alcohol loss, I should keep everything below that.

I opted for 58C for 22 minutes.

If you have a sous vide machine, it's really simple to pasteurise.

I don't.

So.

I used my electric kettle to boil water without having to worry about boiling over. Then poured the hot water into my stockpot. I added some hot water from the faucet, and a kitchen towel to soften the contact between the stockpot and my glass jar, then slowly added my glass fermentation jar (airlock removed).

(It's important not to shock the glass with sudden temperature changes, which could make it explode.)

The airlock hole in the jar lid provided the perfect access for a probe thermometer. I used a clothespin to keep the probe from falling in completely. I wanted the probe somewhere in the middle of the jar, not too close to the sides, the bottom, or the top.

I topped the stockpot with more hot water so the level came up near the fill level of the jar. The water bath was about 70 to 80 C, and I could turn on the stove if I needed it hotter. If I needed it cooler, I would use the extremely high-tech method of...removing the jar from the bath and setting it on a cloth on the counter (again to reduce the thermal shock).

I set my probe thermometer's alarm to 61 C to warn me if it was too hot. When the brew came up to 58C, I started my countdown timer.

After 22 minutes, I took the jar out of the water bath, and let it sit on the towel on the counter to cool. I waited about two hours, and the brew came down to about 40C or so. Cool enough to work with, warm enough to dissolve honey easily, and fast enough for my attention span. Great!

I decided to taste and adjust as I go, keeping a tally of incremental additions of various ingredients. Except the honey, which was too much arse to measure each time. I figured the beginning and end volume, and the final Sp Gr would give me a decent indicator how much honey I added (or at least, how much honey proportionately).

For this 1.7-ish L batch, I added about:

Lemon extract, 4 mL

Lemon juice (bottled), 30 mL

Matcha powder, less than 1/8 tsp

Ascorbic acid powder, 1/8 tsp

Honey, approximately 80 - 100 mL

Final Gravity: 1.029

Which puts the ABV around 9.82%

I let the brew sit in the jar for a few days, then siphoned to bottles on day 40 (19 Sep). I got about 1500 mL or so.

Appearance: A bit hazy. Golden-amber coloured. Maybe ever so slightly green?

Scent: Honey and lemon!

Taste: It tastes exactly how it sounds. Honey lemon green tea mead. There's a slight bitterness from the matcha powder that developed since sitting. It's got a nice balance of sweet and tart. The lemon extract really takes it toward "lemon candy flavour", but the lemon juice and ascorbic acid keep it tart and fresh.

I would love to try this cold on a hot summer day (and not a hot day of September, fuck you Manitoba weather).

The mouthfeel is also very nice. Not too light, not too heavy.

It's been a great experimental brew. I'd definitely make a 1 gallon batch of this (minus the pumpkin fuckery). It features shelf-stable ingredients (tea, lemon juice, lemon extract, frozen lemon zest, honey) so it could be made at any time of year. I'm curious how ageing would affect it, but this strikes me as a quick ferment to enjoy right away. And I don't think this bottle will last very long.