A controlled heat treatment that reduces harmful microorganisms in foods such as milk and juice to safe levels.
No. Pasteurisation reduces harmful microorganisms to safe levels but does not kill everything, so pasteurised foods still need refrigeration and date marking.
Yes. Dairy processing in Australia requires pasteurisation or an equivalent validated process, and selling raw drinking milk for human consumption is not permitted.
It is validated to reduce vegetative pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria, pathogenic E. coli and Campylobacter to safe levels.
Pasteurisation does not remove all spoilage organisms or bacterial spores, so refrigeration and a use-by date are still needed to keep the product safe.
By operating to a validated time-temperature schedule, continuously monitoring and recording temperature, and using flow diversion so under-processed product is re-treated.