There are many products that are made from milk and hence quality of milk is very important for its market value. Milk and milk products being made up of 87% water is prone to adulteration by unscrupulous middlemen and unfaithful farm workers. 
Moreover, its high nutritive value makes it an ideal medium for the rapid multiplication of bacteria, and that is the reason why it doesn’t keep very long. However, its shelf life also depends on how it’s treated.
Most supermarket milk has been pasteurized and if unopened can keep in the fridge for around a week. Heating of Milk to temperatures above 135ºC (275 °F) increses shlf life of milk,which can keep as long as six months at room temperature if unopened. But ultra-high temperature milk doesn’t taste very good.
Scientists have developed a new technique that not only makes milk safer, but also increses the shelf life of milk to keep for nearly two months when refrigerated. And, it tastes as good as fresh milk. In tests, volunteers detected little difference in color, taste or smell up to 36 days after processing.
The technique adds just a fraction of a second to the lowest temperature pasteurization process. Invented by French chemist Louis Pasteur in the 19th century, this involves heating milk to temperatures of between 70 to 120ºC (158 to 248°F) to kill bacteria. The higher the temperature and longer the heating process, the safer the milk. But heating also deforms proteins and destroys vitamins and minerals while making milk taste lousy.
- Pasteurized milk: up to four hours at room temperature if unopened. Five to seven days if refrigerated below 4°C (40°F).
- Filtered milk: Passed through a fine filter to sift out souring bacteria, if unopened filtered milk can be kept up to 45 days when stored at temperatures of up to 7ºC (45 °F).
- Ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk. Heated to at least 135ºC (275°F) for two to four seconds and stored in special packaging, UHT milk can last six months at ambient temperatures if unopened. Once opened, it should be refrigerated and treated like fresh milk.
- Frozen milk: three months.
- Evaporated/condensed milk: one year at ambient temperatures.
- Dried milk: up to one year in powdered form.
Bruce Applegate and colleagues at Purdue University have developed a low temperature short time modification to the pasteurization processthat subjects milk to more heat under low pressure. Using special equipment they took regular pasteurized milk and sprayed it through nozzles at a controlled pressure. They then heated up the resulting tiny droplets to just below 72ºC (161°F) for 0.02 of a second.
There were no signs of the milk going bad (i.e. bacterial growth) for up to 57 days—five weeks longer than standard pasteurized milk. This new process could not only extend the shelf life of fresh milk but also potentially allow it to be transported further, opening up new markets for farmers.
