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Pasteurization Matters
by Cameron Wiggins, Georgia Department of Public Health
Cameron Wiggins is currently the Director of the Food Service Program for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Cameron has worked for the state of Georgia for more than 10 years, first at the county level, then at the University of Georgia,
and lastly with the Georgia Department of Public Health. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from
Alabama A&M University, a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, a Masters Degree in Public Health from the University of Georgia, and he is a graduate of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI).
When food service establishments offer foods or Pasteurization is a process whereby raw milk is heated
drinks that contain fluid milk, dry milk, or milk products for a set period of time at a set temperature to eliminate
in the state of Georgia, they must be pasteurized. The pathogens within the milk or milk product. Pasteurization
Georgia Food Service Rules and Regulations are based on is recommended for all animal milk consumed by humans
the 2005 Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Model by CDC, FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
Food Code, and it is designed to provide the minimal American Academy of Family Practitioners, the
controls necessary to protect public health. Therefore, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National
sale, offering for sale, or delivery of ungraded milk is Association of Public Health Veterinarians, and many
prohibited for human consumption in the state of Georgia other medical and scientific organizations.
as per the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.)
§ 26-2-242. According to the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk
Ordinance (PMO), the terms "pasteurization",
Raw milk is generally derived from hoofed animals "pasteurized", and similar terms mean the process of
such as cows, bison, goats, or sheep. Since raw milk has heating every particle of milk or milk product, in properly
not been treated to kill potentially harmful bacteria, it can designed and operated equipment, to one of the
become contaminated by various means. Contamination temperatures given in the following chart below and held
can occur from feces, infection, the environment (e.g. continuously at or above that temperature for at least the
feces, dirt, processing equipment), animal diseases (e.g., corresponding specified time1:
bovine tuberculosis), and even from human cross-
contamination. Its consumption poses significant health Temperature Time
risks from pathogens such as shigella producing 63ºC (145ºF)* 30 minutes
Escherichia coli O157, Campylobacter jejuni, and 72ºC (161ºF)* 15 seconds
Salmonella. According to the Centers for Disease Control 89ºC (191ºF) 1.0 second
and Prevention (CDC), infection with these pathogens can 90ºC (194ºF) 0.5 seconds
cause severe, long-term consequences in consumers such 94ºC (201ºF) 0.1 seconds
as hemolytic uremic syndrome or Guillan-Barré 96ºC (204ºF) 0.05 seconds
syndrome, which can result in kidney failure or paralysis, 100ºC (212ºF) 0.01 seconds
respectively.
*If the fat content of the milk product is ten percent
According to a recent analysis by CDC (2012), (10%) or greater, or a total solids of 18% or greater, or if
between 1993 and 2006 more than 1,500 people in the it contains added sweeteners, the specified temperature
United States became sick from drinking raw milk or shall be increased by 3ºC (5ºF)1.
eating cheese made from raw milk. In addition, CDC
reported that unpasteurized milk is 150 times more likely Cameron Wiggins, Director
to cause foodborne illness and results in 13 times more Environmental Health-Food Service Unit
hospitalizations than illnesses involving pasteurized dairy
products. Compilations of outbreaks of milk-borne Georgia Department of Public Health
disease by the United States Department of Health and 2 Peachtree Street NW, 13th Floor
Human Service’s Public Health Service (USPHS) and Atlanta, GA 30303
FDA over many years indicate that the risk of contracting (404) 657-6534
disease from raw milk is approximately fifty (50) times
greater than from milk that has been pasteurized.
1. Source Document: Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, 2009 Revision available at: www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/
UCM209789.pdf.
12 Georgia Environmentalist Volume 36
by Cameron Wiggins, Georgia Department of Public Health
Cameron Wiggins is currently the Director of the Food Service Program for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Cameron has worked for the state of Georgia for more than 10 years, first at the county level, then at the University of Georgia,
and lastly with the Georgia Department of Public Health. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from
Alabama A&M University, a Masters Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, a Masters Degree in Public Health from the University of Georgia, and he is a graduate of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI).
When food service establishments offer foods or Pasteurization is a process whereby raw milk is heated
drinks that contain fluid milk, dry milk, or milk products for a set period of time at a set temperature to eliminate
in the state of Georgia, they must be pasteurized. The pathogens within the milk or milk product. Pasteurization
Georgia Food Service Rules and Regulations are based on is recommended for all animal milk consumed by humans
the 2005 Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Model by CDC, FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
Food Code, and it is designed to provide the minimal American Academy of Family Practitioners, the
controls necessary to protect public health. Therefore, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National
sale, offering for sale, or delivery of ungraded milk is Association of Public Health Veterinarians, and many
prohibited for human consumption in the state of Georgia other medical and scientific organizations.
as per the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.)
§ 26-2-242. According to the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk
Ordinance (PMO), the terms "pasteurization",
Raw milk is generally derived from hoofed animals "pasteurized", and similar terms mean the process of
such as cows, bison, goats, or sheep. Since raw milk has heating every particle of milk or milk product, in properly
not been treated to kill potentially harmful bacteria, it can designed and operated equipment, to one of the
become contaminated by various means. Contamination temperatures given in the following chart below and held
can occur from feces, infection, the environment (e.g. continuously at or above that temperature for at least the
feces, dirt, processing equipment), animal diseases (e.g., corresponding specified time1:
bovine tuberculosis), and even from human cross-
contamination. Its consumption poses significant health Temperature Time
risks from pathogens such as shigella producing 63ºC (145ºF)* 30 minutes
Escherichia coli O157, Campylobacter jejuni, and 72ºC (161ºF)* 15 seconds
Salmonella. According to the Centers for Disease Control 89ºC (191ºF) 1.0 second
and Prevention (CDC), infection with these pathogens can 90ºC (194ºF) 0.5 seconds
cause severe, long-term consequences in consumers such 94ºC (201ºF) 0.1 seconds
as hemolytic uremic syndrome or Guillan-Barré 96ºC (204ºF) 0.05 seconds
syndrome, which can result in kidney failure or paralysis, 100ºC (212ºF) 0.01 seconds
respectively.
*If the fat content of the milk product is ten percent
According to a recent analysis by CDC (2012), (10%) or greater, or a total solids of 18% or greater, or if
between 1993 and 2006 more than 1,500 people in the it contains added sweeteners, the specified temperature
United States became sick from drinking raw milk or shall be increased by 3ºC (5ºF)1.
eating cheese made from raw milk. In addition, CDC
reported that unpasteurized milk is 150 times more likely Cameron Wiggins, Director
to cause foodborne illness and results in 13 times more Environmental Health-Food Service Unit
hospitalizations than illnesses involving pasteurized dairy
products. Compilations of outbreaks of milk-borne Georgia Department of Public Health
disease by the United States Department of Health and 2 Peachtree Street NW, 13th Floor
Human Service’s Public Health Service (USPHS) and Atlanta, GA 30303
FDA over many years indicate that the risk of contracting (404) 657-6534
disease from raw milk is approximately fifty (50) times
greater than from milk that has been pasteurized.
1. Source Document: Grade A Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, 2009 Revision available at: www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/GuidanceRegulation/
UCM209789.pdf.
12 Georgia Environmentalist Volume 36
