Louis Pasteur

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is a calibrated thermal intervention that stops microbial spoilage in liquids by killing vegetative bacteria and deactivating enzymes — without sterilising. It works because Pasteur proved microbes cause spoilage, not oxidation or time. Its limits are strict: spores survive, and efficacy depends on uniform heat delivery to every particle. It changed food safety from craft tradition to measurable process — but only where temperature can be controlled, verified, and sustained.