What is homogenisation? | What is pasteurisation | Shelf life of pasteurised milk

 
What is Homogenisation?
Homogenised milk is produced by mechanically forcing milk through a small passage at high velocity. This breaks down the fat globules in milk into much smaller ones and creates a stabile fat emulsion.
 
Homogenisation diminishes the tendency of the fat globules to clump together and coalesce into cream.
 
Homogenised milk has many advantages:

· Uniform distribution of fat, no cream layer
· Full-bodied flavour
· Whiter, more appetising colour
· Faster coagulation in the manufacture of rennet cheese

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What is Pasteurisation?

Along with correct cooling, pasteurisation is one of the most important safety measures in milk processing. Pasteurisation is a heat treatment that destroys unwanted or disease-causing bacteria without reducing the nutritional quality of milk. If carried out correctly, pasteurisation will ensure milk quality and a longer shelf life. All Pura milk is pasteurised.
Pasteurisation temperature and time are the two most important factors which must be specified precisely in relation to the quality of the milk and its shelf life requirements. For example, High Temperature Short Time (HTST) pasteurised milk is usually heated at 72°C - 75°C for 27 seconds.
While pasteurisation kills harmful bacteria in milk, as soon as you open a milk container at home, new bacteria are introduced to the milk. Eventually, these will grow large enough in number to cause the milk to go 'off'.

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Shelf life of pasteurised milk

The shelf life of pasteurised milk is always dependent on the quality of the raw milk and can be improved by milk processing. When produced from high quality raw milk, under optimum technical and hygienic conditions, pasteurised whole milk should have a shelf life of 10 - 16 days when stored at 4 °C in an unopened package. The shelf life of milk can be drastically shortened if the raw milk is contaminated with bacteria, and/or if milk has not been chilled at or below 4°C.