Date:10/12/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2005/12/10/stories/2005121000380400.htm

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Heating milk

Is there any nutritional loss when milk is ultra-pasteurised? There is a slight loss of some vitamins that are vulnerable to heat, according to Kathryn J. Boor, associate professor of food science at Cornell and director of the Milk Quality Improvement Program for New York State, but that is missing the point, she said.

Ultra-pasteurisation involves heating milk products to at least 280 degrees Fahrenheit for at least two seconds. Some B vitamins, like thiamine and B12, are cut about 10 per cent by the heating process. "But they are present in extremely low levels to begin with," Boor said, "and nutrients like protein, calcium and riboflavin — the reasons people drink milk — are not affected."

"Ten per cent of not much is OK," she said. "The goal of ultra-pasteurisation is essentially to destroy all bacteria that may be present, and the product is now stable from a microbial standpoint. It is then packaged into extremely clean but not necessarily sterile containers. It must still be refrigerated, but you get two months out of these products." They also taste good for a longer period of time, and they are safer.

(Courtesy: New York Times)