pasteurized
Pasteurized (adjective) means of milk, juice or another liquid food: heated to a controlled temperature for a set time to kill harmful bacteria, then cooled, so that it keeps longer and is safe to drink. Example: “Only pasteurized milk is sold in the supermarket chiller.”
How to Use Pasteurized
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishHeated just enough to kill the germs that could make you ill.
Everyday word on food labels; the -ized spelling is the American headword form.
Homogenised is a different process — it stops cream separating and has nothing to do with safety.
Trace the full origin ↓Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
Only _____ milk is sold in the supermarket chiller.
Etymology
Named after the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur, who developed the heating process in the nineteenth century.
Antonyms
Related Words
Rhymes for pasteurized
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between pasteurized and sterilized?
Pasteurising uses moderate heat to kill most disease-causing microbes while preserving flavour, so the product still needs refrigeration and spoils in days. Sterilising uses much higher heat to kill essentially everything, giving a long shelf life at room temperature but a cooked taste.
Is pasteurized milk still nutritious?
Yes. Pasteurisation causes only small losses in some heat-sensitive vitamins and leaves protein, fat, calcium and most other nutrients intact.
Is it spelt pasteurized or pasteurised?
Both are correct. 'Pasteurized' is the standard American spelling and 'pasteurised' the usual British one, though -ize is also accepted in British English.