pasteurize

American  

[pas-chuh-rahyz, pas-tuh-] / ˈpæs tʃəˌraɪz, ˈpæs tə- /

especially British, pasteurise

verb (used with object)

pasteurized, pasteurizing

1. to expose (a food, as milk, cheese, yogurt, beer, or wine) to an elevated temperature for a period of time sufficient to destroy certain microorganisms, as those that can produce disease or cause spoilage or undesirable fermentation of food, without radically altering taste or quality.

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pasteurize British  

/ ˈpɑː-, -stjə-, ˈpæstəˌraɪz /

verb

1. to subject (milk, beer, etc) to pasteurization

2. rare to subject (a patient) to pasteurism

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Other Word Forms

• pasteurization noun
• superpasteurized adjective
• ultrapasteurized adjective
• unpasteurized adjective

Etymology

Origin of pasteurize

First recorded in 1880–85; Pasteur + -ize

Explanation

To pasteurize food is to sterilize it, or heat it until harmful bacteria is killed, making it safe to eat. Most dairies pasteurize their milk before bottling it. When food producers pasteurize their products, they are making it safer for large numbers of people to eat or drink them. When they pasteurize apple cider, for example, it's heated to a certain temperature for a specific length of time and then cooled before being put in containers for sale. The word pasteurize comes from the name of the French chemist who invented this process, Louis Pasteur.

Example Sentences

"Our milk supply is extremely safe. We pasteurize it, but occasionally you'll get people who, for whatever reason, drink unpasteurized milk."

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2024

Gas is used across a range of processes that most people never see — to forge steel to make cars, make glass bottles and pasteurize milk and cheese.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 20, 2022

Then the banks thaw the milk, pool it, pasteurize it, test it, refreeze it, and send it where it’s needed.

From Slate • Feb. 9, 2022

“For them, solar cooking can reduce deforestation and soil erosion, and they can also use the cookers to pasteurize water where there’s a problem finding a potable supply.”

From The New Yorker • Sep. 23, 2019

Hess for example has found that the temperature used to pasteurize milk continued for some time, is more destructive to the vitamine than boiling water temperature continued for only a few minutes.

From The Vitamine Manual by Eddy, Walter H.

Related Words

• castrate
• decontaminate
• disinfect
• neuter
• sanitize
• spay