<P> A less aggressive method was developed by the French chemist Louis Pasteur during an 1864 summer holiday in Arbois . To remedy the frequent acidity of the local aged wines , he found out experimentally that it is sufficient to heat a young wine to only about 50 -- 60 ° C ( 122 -- 140 ° F ) for a short time to kill the microbes , and that the wine could subsequently be aged without sacrificing the final quality . In honour of Pasteur , the process became known as `` pasteurization '' . Pasteurization was originally used as a way of preventing wine and beer from souring , and it would be many years before milk was pasteurized . In the United States in the 1870s , it was common for milk to contain substances intended to mask spoilage before milk was regulated . </P>
<P> A less aggressive method was developed by the French chemist Louis Pasteur during an 1864 summer holiday in Arbois . To remedy the frequent acidity of the local aged wines , he found out experimentally that it is sufficient to heat a young wine to only about 50 -- 60 ° C ( 122 -- 140 ° F ) for a short time to kill the microbes , and that the wine could subsequently be aged without sacrificing the final quality . In honour of Pasteur , the process became known as `` pasteurization '' . Pasteurization was originally used as a way of preventing wine and beer from souring , and it would be many years before milk was pasteurized . In the United States in the 1870s , it was common for milk to contain substances intended to mask spoilage before milk was regulated . </P>
who invented the process that destroys harmful bacteria in milk
who invented the process that destroys harmful bacteria in milk
French chemist Louis Pasteur
French chemist Louis Pasteur