Improving Pasteurization to Preserve the Biological Components of Donated Human Milk.

Antoni Gayà,Javier Calvo

doi:10.3389/fped.2018.00288

Antoni Gayà, Javier Calvo

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2018.00288

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Abstract

Donor human milk (DHM) in human milk banks (HMB) is routinely subjected to heat treatment to ensure microbiological security, most guidelines recommending a temperature of 62. 5°C for 30 min. However, this procedure negatively impacts on milk quality, due to the destruction of biological components. Different studies have called for a more respectful treatment of DHM to preserve its properties, and have explored the use of alternative technologies. There is also clear evidence that bacterial and viral contamination in human milk can be effectively destroyed by temperatures lower than that currently recommended (62.5°C). Thus, a simple option would be to optimize the conventional pasteurization technique so the treated milk is free of infectious elements yet retains a maximum amount of biological components. An advantage of this approach is that it would be unnecessary to replace the pasteurization equipment currently available in most HMB. On the basis of a literature review, we here analyze and discuss evidence that pasteurization of human milk at a temperature below 62.5°C results in an improved preservation of its properties without compromising safety regarding the transmission of infectious agents.

Highlights

There is general agreement that breastfeeding is the optimal nutritional source for infants [1, 2]
Despite data showing that this degree of heat is more than adequate to eradicate tuberculosis bacilli from cow’s milk and that pasteurization at 62.5◦C for 30 min may be excessive for rendering human milk bacteriologically safe [11], Holder pasteurization (HoP) is widely recommended in most current guidelines
We focused on how the temperature applied in HoP could be considered excessive for the effective removal of bacterial contamination and stability of the main biological components of breast milk

Summary

INTRODUCTION

There is general agreement that breastfeeding is the optimal nutritional source for infants [1, 2]. Despite data showing that this degree of heat is more than adequate to eradicate tuberculosis bacilli from cow’s milk and that pasteurization at 62.5◦C for 30 min may be excessive for rendering human milk bacteriologically safe [11], HoP is widely recommended in most current guidelines This point is especially relevant, as several authors have shown that the processing temperature determines the degree of inactivation of the biological components of milk [12, 13]. According to a recent report, UV-C irradiation inactivates the cytomegalovirus in human milk under the right conditions [29] These techniques are commonly used in the food industry, there are no specific devices designed to manage the low volumes of milk usually processed in a milk bank. Since it has been clearly demonstrated that temperatures below 62.5◦C have a less negative effect on human milk properties, it is useful to assess temperature modification in the pasteurization process

A NEED TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HMB PROCESSING

Findings

CONCLUSIONS