Pasteurization by Sarah King

Introduction: Pasteurization is the process of heating a food, most often a liquid , for a definite length of time and then cooling it immediately. The process of pasteurization slows the growth of micro bacteria in food. Louis Pasteur originally developed the idea of pasteurization. The process of heating wine to preserve it longer has been documented in China from A.D. 1117 and in Japan since 1568. Commercial pasteurization began in Europe in the 1800s and in the United States in the 1900s.

Discovery: Louis Pasteur did much research with microbiology, and soon realized that by heating wine, he could further preserve it. Louis pasteurization process concluded that all fermentable liquid could be prevented from spoiling with specific heating treatments. His method was mainly implemented to save wine and beers from diseases by heating at 55 degrees. Louis proved that all germs came from germs, and by killing all of the germs in a product, it would prevent further germs from growing.

Biography of Investigator: Louis Pasteur was born in France on December 27, 1822. His family was very poor and he grew up in the small town of Arbois. Louis worked hard as a student and in 1847 earned his doctorate. He worked as a teacher’s assistant and continued his work on fermentation that he started in Strasbourg. By 1857, Louis Pasteur was world famous. In 1863, he became the dean of a new science facility at Lille University. In 1867, a laboratory was established for his discovery of the rabies vaccine. It was known as the Pasteur Institute and Louis was in charge of it until his death in 1895.

Impact on the World: As the process of pasteurization became even more and more common, Pasteur’s process was best associated with foods and milk. The impact the pasteurization had on modern society was huge. It made preserving food and liquids much easier and more affordable. Since food could be pasteurized and therefore preserved, families began to grow a surplus of food. Today, pasteurization is applied to a huge list of food, including eggs, almonds, pickles, fish, cornbread, maple syrup, dairy products and many others. The most widespread use of pasteurization today is still in milk and dairy products. The effects of pasteurization greatly influenced milk production. It reduced the agents that caused diseases and made it go sour. Overall, pasteurization was a great innovation for today’s modern society: it allowed foods and liquids to be safely stored without the risk of disease.

Review of Journal Article:

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/53/7/1433

In this article, it discusses how cow’s milk that has the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, a common food borne bacteria was heated, and then quickly cooled. The results of this indicated that regardless of the heat applied, Listeria monocytogenes were still found. The heat that was applied was the minimum heat that the Food and Drug Administration requires for a food to be pasteurized. This shows that the bacteria L. monocytogenes can survive the minimum temperature that the FDA requires for pasteurizing milk. Therefore, the FDA should raise the minimum temperature to ensure the safety of pasteurized milk.

Sources:

http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/53/7/1433

http://campus.udayton.edu/~hst-102/Snyder.HTM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasteurization

http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/louispasteur.html