United States raw milk debate temperatures may be used by different processors, pasteurization is most commonly achieved with heating to 161 degrees Fahrenheit (71.7 degrees Celsius) for 15 seconds. Milk is tested following pasteurization to confirm that bacteria have been killed to an acceptable level. Pasteurization kills pathogenic bacteria which occasionally may be present in milk, including those causing tuberculosis ("Mycobacterium bovis"), listeriosis ("Listeria monocytogenes"), Q fever ("Coxiella burnetii"), brucellosis ("Brucella"), campylobacteriosis ("Campylobacter"), salmonellosis ("Salmonella"), and several other foodborne illnesses (e.g., ). Pasteurization may not kill some resistant bacteria, which can eventually cause souring and spoilage of fresh milk. UHT pasteurization (Ultra High Temperature) is
Milk culture is attested to by the numerous expressions embedded in our languages, for example, "the milk of human kindness", the expression "there's no use crying over spilt milk" (which means don't "be unhappy about what cannot be undone"), "don't milk the ram" (this means "to do or attempt something futile") and "Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free?" (which means "why pay for something that you can get for free otherwise"). In Greek mythology, the Milky Way was formed after the trickster god Hermes suckled the infant Heracles at the breast of Hera, the queen of