Milk That Stays Fresh For Up To 9 Months Without Refrigeration

Process

The process of creating UHT milk which can also be called ultra heat treatment milk involves the partial sterilization of food by excessive heating of the food for a very short period of time.

The temperature to heat the food must exceed 135°C and the time lasts for around 1-2 seconds. This temperature and time period is required to kill the spores in milk. The excessively high temperature also shortens the processing time, which significantly reduces the spoiling of nutrients. The most common Ultra High Temperature product is milk, however the process is often used for many other foods including cream, yogurt, fruit juices, wine, stews and soups.

Success

The UHT process in milk has come to enormous success throughout Europe, where it is estimated that 7 out of 10 Europeans drink UHT milk regularly. The largest producer of UHT milk is Parmalat, which had over 6 billion in sales last year. In America, less people have been willing to purchase the product due to the fact that the milk has been heated. Parmalat has sought to solve this problem by placing the product in old fashioned milk containers. There are numerous milk products made utilizing UHT milk including McDonalds McFlurries and the milk on airplanes is often UHT milk.

Use

Ultra High Temperature milk has an average shelf life of six to nine months. Once opened, however it must be refrigerated. UHT milk is also good for storing at home in the unlikely case of an emergency. Currently, it is somewhat difficult to find UHT milk in stores in America, however many major grocers do carry the product.

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