US FDA/CFSAN - Raw Milk-Associated Public Health Risks
Date of Presentation
Why Pasteurize?
- Pasteurization was first implemented to destroy Mycobacterium bovis, which causes systemic tuberculosis in humans.
- Pasteurization temperatures were later increased to destroy Coxiella burnetii, which causes Q-fever.
- Pasteurization can destroy emerging pathogens, such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella typhimurium DT-104, which cause serious illness and are difficult to treat due to resistance to many common antibiotics (Cornell Univ.).