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What temperatures and times are used for high-temperature–short-time milk pasteurization?

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Painting by Albert Edelfelt showing Louis Pasteur in his laboratory, holding a glass flask and examining it intently, surrounded by scientific equipment on a workbench. — Louis Pasteur In the 19th century Louis Pasteur's work established the germ theory of disease, proving that microorganisms cause fermentation and sickness, which led to the development of pasteurization, aseptic techniques in medicine, and effective vaccines for diseases such as rabies. (Painting by Albert Edelfelt, 1885.)

High-temperature–short-time (HTST) pasteurization, a method used for the continuous flow processing of milk, typically involves heating the milk to approximately 72 °C (162 °F) for 15 seconds.123

Following this heating process, the milk is rapidly cooled to 4–7 °C (39–45 °F) to ensure safety and quality. This technique is preferred in large-scale commercial operations because it effectively destroys pathogenic microorganisms—such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis—while causing less damage to the milk's nutritional composition and sensory characteristics compared to low-temperature–long-time (LTLT) methods.23