Indians have an age old habit of boiling milk before consumption. As this country is the largest exporter of milk, the dairy produce is mainly raw milk.This milk needs to be boiled for killing the bacteria present in the milk. But what about the packaged products? Does packaged milk need to be boiled?

Let’s understand the procedure of packaging milk first. In routine plastic pouch milk, it is necessary to heat milk up to 75’c before consumption to kill the pathogenic bacteria. But the milk in tetra paks is packaged mostly using heat treatments. The two types of heat treatments are HTST(High-Temperature Short-Time) and UHT(Ultra Heat Treatment). HTST is used for pasteurisation of milk where the milk is heated at high temperature of 72℃ for 15 seconds. This helps in destroying the pathogenic bacteria and also extends the keeping quality of liquid milk. The UHT treatment is a process of heating the milk at 135°C–150°C for about two seconds only. It has a greater bacterial killing effect. After the heat treatments, the milk is cooled down and immediately packed in tetra paks. This prevents the entry of any bacteria and also retains the nutrient content of the liquid.

The good supply chains always ensure that their products are sterile. Thus, these products are totally safe to consume without boiling them. Milk is packed in tetra paks. These tetra paks are six layered which ensures that the milk packed is away from bacteria, sunlight, air and adulteration.

Tetra Pak

On the other hand, boiling the milk makes it lose all its nutrients. Any loss of vital ingredients in milk, especially proteins and vitamins, could cause growth deficiency, weak bones, poor muscle development and neurological impact, among other long-term effects. Even if the milk is boiled, it should be boiled only till the first boil. If you want to consume the milk as a hot beverage, it is advised that it should be warmed slightly.

 UHT-treated milk vs Loose Milk

Mothers need to be sensitized regarding improper boiling practices as it depletes milk of nutrients. At the same time, they should be aware of technologies that best protect milk, like UHT packaging where they consume milk directly without boiling as mentioned earlier. Also, certain myths revolving dairy products need to be broken. As mentioned earlier, packaged milk goes through heat treatments. It is because of this, no preservatives are needed by the dairy product to stay fresh. Thus, packaged milk containing preservatives is only a myth. Also, the sentences like packaged milk are not nutritious or that it is not suitable for kids also are myths. Considering these facts, you should also know which milk you are actually buying. Reputed brands always use these techniques get their products packaged, but the same cannot be stated about local brands. Thus, always ensure to buy branded and high-quality products.

So, stop wasting your time and resources in boiling your milk. It is completely safe to drink packaged milk without boiling it. Where to find packaged milk? It is right here AweSomeDairy.com