India is ranked first in the consumption of milk. It also is a leading exporter of the beverage. Despite these facts, the consumers in this country are pretty ignorant about the most important daily nutrition source- dairy products. The basic information like how many times to boil milk or whether it should be boiled or not is overlooked upon. Let us understand how to or whether to boil milk at all.

Over-heating milk or even heating it for more than 3-4 minutes can cause it to lose many essential nutrients. A study conducted in Mumbai by Indian Medical Academy(IMA) revealed that most people did not boil milk in the correct manner. The first thing to understand is that milk which is available in tetra paks doesn’t need to be boiled. It has already gone through a process called ‘pasteurization’ and thus contains no bacteria. Heating packaged milk again can cause the nutrients to evaporate.

Milk Pouches

If you buy milk from milkmen or pouched milk, you should always boil it before consumption. Milkmen deliver milk which is freshly obtained from cows. This milk does not undergo any process and thus is raw. Consuming raw milk can result in many foodborne diseases because of the bacteria present in it. Also, pouches in which milk is delivered haven’t tampered proof like tetra paks. Even after pasteurisation, bacteria can enter the pouches. Thus, these two should always be boiled before consumption.

Although you must also know the ideal method of boiling it. Boiling and reboiling milk affects the B group of vitamins (B1, B2, B12). Milk should not be boiled more than twice for only 2-3 minutes. While boiling it, you should keep stirring so that a layer isn’t formed on the top.

Loose Products

“If you buy milk directly from the milkman, you should heat it at 80-90 degree Celsius for less than 3 to 5 minutes. In the case of milk packets, the content is already pasteurised and there is no need to boil it at high temperature and heat it for less than for 1 to 2 minutes at 80-90 degree Celsius and leave it as it is to cool naturally. This will retain the nutrients in milk,” says Mr Amol Ghodke, a dairy technologist based in Mumbai. Least heated milk contains most nutrients.

If boiling milk seems to take time, you can always opt for packaged milk.Learn more about packaged milk- Do You Really Need To Boil Milk?