Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a controlled heat treatment that reduces harmful microorganisms and spoilage organisms in food or drink without making it sterile.

Thermal death time: The time required at a specified temperature to kill a defined fraction of a microbial population. Pasteurization schedules rely on measured microbial death rates at particular temperatures.
Louis Pasteur: A French chemist and microbiologist whose work established key principles of germ theory and fermentation. His experiments on wine and beer led to the heat treatment named after him.
Milk pasteurization: The controlled heating of milk to reduce disease-causing and spoilage microorganisms. Milk is the best-known application and has widely established time–temperature standards.
Sterilization: A process that eliminates all forms of microbial life, including resistant spores, from a material or product. Pasteurization reduces targeted microbes but does not make food sterile.
D-value: The time at a specified temperature needed to reduce a microbial population by 90 percent. It quantifies the microbial reduction produced by a heat-hold step.
Germ theory of disease: The theory that specific microorganisms can cause specific diseases. Pasteurization grew from evidence that microbes drive spoilage and can also cause illness.
Egg pasteurization: A heat treatment that reduces pathogens in shell eggs or liquid egg products while preserving their functional qualities. Egg products need pathogen control without excessive coagulation.
Commercial sterility: A condition in which no microorganisms capable of growing in a food under normal storage remain. Canned foods may receive stronger treatments than pasteurized foods without being absolutely sterile.
Z-value: The temperature increase needed to reduce a microorganism’s D-value by a factor of ten. It helps compare how sharply target microbes respond to temperature changes.
Spontaneous generation: The disproven idea that living organisms can arise from nonliving matter under ordinary conditions. Pasteur’s work on microbial growth challenged this explanation of fermentation and spoilage.

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