Pasteurization Treatment and Consumer Acceptance of Milk

Fifty randomly selected consumer households evaluated the flavor of homogenized, standardized whole milk pasteurized for 17 sec at 72.2, 75.6, 78.9, 82.2, or 85.6 C. As a group, the consumers preferred the flavor of milk pasteurized at 78.9 C over that processed at the lower or higher temperatures. The tendency to note differences in flavor of milk processed at various temperatures appeared to increase with increasing age of the respondent. Those over 19 years of age exhibited the strongest preference for milk pasteurized at 78.9 C versus the other temperatures used. Children under 13 years of age were least discriminating in evaluating cooked flavor of milk. The intensity of the cooked flavor in milk stored at 1.7-4.4 C decreased within a few days after processing.