how is it safe to drink pasteurized milk when avian flu virus is viable to 165 degrees Fahrenheit and milk is only pasteurized at 145 degrees?

Question

Concerns about possible transmission to people drinking unpasteurized milk are being talked about a lot. Apparently they fed mice unpasteurized milk, and they got the virus, but it seems like the temperature required to kill. The virus is higher than what they used to sterilize the milk. How is this safe?

In: Biology

Answer 1

As someone who uses a sous vide to cook I can tell you that the temperature listed is for instant death, but holding something at 145 for 10 mins might be equally as effective while not ruining the texture of the milk. It’s the same with cooking something like chicken. They say an internal temp of 160 is minimum safe, but cooking at 140 for several hours would also be quite effective at making it safe (though “rare” chicken tastes weird and has a weird texture, so most people still would cook it more).