Meaning & use
pasteurized
Last updated
“pasteurized” is a form of “pasteurize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Treated with a short period of heat so that harmful germs are killed, used especially of milk and juice.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after be: pasteurized milk; the cheese is pasteurized.
Patterns
- pasteurized milk
- be pasteurized
Pregnant women are often advised to eat only pasteurized cheese.
The label says the juice is pasteurized to keep it safe.
Most shops sell only pasteurized milk.
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of pasteurize: heated a liquid or food to kill germs.
Grammar: Takes an object: the dairy pasteurized the milk.
Patterns
- pasteurize something
- something is pasteurized
The dairy pasteurized the milk at a high temperature for fifteen seconds.
Before bottling, the cider was pasteurized to extend its shelf life.
Word forms
| base form | pasteurize |
|---|---|
| third person singular | pasteurizes |
| -ing form | pasteurizing |
Common combinations
- pasteurized milk
- Pasteurized milk lasts longer than raw milk.
- pasteurized cheese
- Brie made from pasteurized milk is considered safer.
- pasteurized juice
- Pasteurized juice can be stored on a shelf until it is opened.
- be pasteurized
- The eggs must be pasteurized before they go into the dressing.
- fully pasteurized
- The product is fully pasteurized and ready to drink.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sterilized
- Sterilized is stronger, since sterilizing kills nearly all microorganisms, whereas pasteurizing only reduces them enough to be safe.
- heat-treated
- Heat-treated is a broader, vaguer phrase that may include methods other than pasteurizing.
- UHT
- UHT milk is heated to a far higher temperature than pasteurized milk, so it can be kept unopened for months.
Opposites
Word family
- pasteurize verb
- to heat food to kill germs
- pasteurization noun
- the heating process itself
- pasteurizer noun
- a machine that pasteurizes
- unpasteurized adjective
- not treated with heat
Commonly confused: pasteurized or sterilized?
pasteurized vs sterilized
Sterilized means all living organisms have been destroyed. Pasteurized means only that harmful ones have been reduced.
Practice
The label said the cheese was made from ___ milk, so it was safe for pregnant visitors.
Choose one answer.
Pasteurized milk has been heat-treated to kill harmful germs. Unpasteurized and raw milk have not, so they are the opposite of what the sentence needs.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pasteurized”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.