Findings are key for California, the nation’s largest dairy producer
Fresh, or raw, milk transported from farms to dairy processing facilities in tanker trucks contains a diverse mix of microbes, which varies from season to season, report researchers at the University of California, Davis.
Microbes with the potential to cause disease are destroyed during milk pasteurization, but not all bacteria and their associated enzymes are eliminated by that process. The remaining bacteria retain the ability to cause spoilage and quality defects in dairy foods.