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

Well most milk is at least HTST which is at least 161 for 15 seconds. HHST or UP is just higher than that. 145 is just vat pasteurization that you would not actually use for bottled/packaged milk.

Answer 2

This new study shows that the time/temperature combinations most commonly used to pasteurize milk inactivate all or nearly all of the virus that is present, at least in the laboratory: [https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2405495](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2405495)

Also, this new study shows that no viable virus was present in 297 samples of pasteurized milk purchased at retail around the U.S. (although many of the samples had viral RNA present):

[https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.21.24307706v1](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.05.21.24307706v1)

Answer 3

I’ll see if I can dig up the source but I believe the ‘avian flu via milk’ even raw milk, concept was a product of bad research, and that has recently come to light

Answer 4

You know how you could probably live for quite a while in 130 degree heat (Fahrenheit), but eventually you’d probably die? And how at 150 degrees you’d probably die quicker? And if you were thrown into a 300 degree oven it wouldn’t take long at all?

It’s the same for bacteria and viruses. There’s a temperature they die at very quickly, but it held at somewhat lower temperatures for longer, they’ll still die.

You know how you’re supposed to cook chicken to 165 in order to kill the bacteria? That’s the temp where bacteria will die really quick. But you can safely cook it just to 145 degrees as long as it stays that hot for at least ten minutes.

Same concept for milk. It’s heat *and* time that factor into the equation.

Answer 5

Dairy processing plant worker here. Standard pasteurization is 145° for 30 minutes, hot and long enough to kill every virus and bacteria. Even if something went wrong and it didn’t work, we still take samples and test each batch in our lab before it’s bottled.