Milk for Santa : How to make it safe?

History of Milk and Cookies for Santa?

There are a few variations of the story on how this milk and cookie tradition started. One of the most well-known stories is about the legend of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is a fourth-century Christian Bishop who raised funding for the sick and poor by selling off his personal items. It is believed that on December 6th of one year, immigrants from the Dutch held a feast to honor Saint Nicholas. Since children are not able to stay awake to celebrate, they would leave treats for Saint Nicholas as well as his attendants. In the morning, children are awakened to the presents left in exchange for their kindness.?

When the Protestant Reformation reached Europe, this ceremony was considered extravagant. To continue this tradition, the feast was delayed to Christmas. Eventually, this custom of leaving treats for travelers transformed into the tradition of leaving cookies and milk for Santa.?

Another story of leaving milk and cookies for Santa was said to have originated from an American tradition during the Great Depression in the 1930s. As people were facing a lot of economic hardships, parents would teach their children to share with others and to be grateful for the gifts received during Christmas. In a The New Yorker article, the author Jon Michuad stated that chocolate chip cookies were also invented during the same period of time.??

While there is no concrete answer to why people leave milk and cookies for Santa Clause on Christmas, different countries have their own practices for this tradition. For example, children from Argentina would leave their shoes outside their homes with the hopes that their shoes would be filled with presents the next morning. In exchange for gifts, these children would leave hay and water for Santa’s reindeer. In Germany, children write letters to a gift-bearing angel named Christkind. In Sweden, children would leave a cup of coffee for Tomte who is known as the gift-delivering ‘gnome’. In Australia, Santa is offered a glass of beer alongside the cookies.?

What would happen if Santa drinks raw milk??

According to the CDC, there were 127 outbreaks related to raw milk or raw milk products such as yogurt, cheese or ice cream between the year 1993 to 2012. The results were 1909 cases of people falling ill and 144 of victims being hospitalized. CDC has also pointed out that most of the illness caused by foodborne microorganisms are not a part of recognized outbreaks, and for every reported case, many others occur as well (1).?

There are many myths about unpasteurized milk. Some believe that raw milk is better for lactose intolerant people or easier to digest. Another myth is that raw milk can be used to treat asthma or allergies and can boost the immune system for health. The most common myth of all is that unpasteurized milk has more nutrition as they are not ‘exposed to heat’. All of these myths are wrong. It has been proved that there are not any significant differences in nutritional value of raw and pasteurized milk but raw milk can cause serious health risks to consumers. Pasteurized milk is void of pathogens that can make people ill- especially for those who have weak immune systems, children, elderly adults, and pregnant women.?

What is Pasteurized Milk??

Pasteurization is a commonly used process to eliminate harmful pathogens in milk by heating it up to a particular temperature for a specific period of time. This method was first developed in 1864 by Louis Pasteur and is useful to get rid of harmful bacteria that cause typhoid, diphtheria, tuberculosis, listeriosis, Q fever, and so on. However, it is also important to understand that pasteurization does not make it safe to leave the milk out of the chiller or fridge for a long period of time, especially after it has been unsealed.?

Mechanism of Pasteurizer?

To pasteurize different types of raw materials, a tubular heat exchanger is installed to the pasteurizer and a stirrer or agitator is added to the buffer tank to prevent the material from settling. In MUNINMAX’s pasteurizer systems, automatic CIP (cleaning in place) systems are also installed to reduce human contact as much as possible. This is to increase the safety level of the operator’s process.?Pasteurizer is also controlled by a remote software system which is a combination of automation and measuring devices. This is to reduce the risk of error caused by the operator to achieve maximum results.?

For more details about making Santa’s (and everyone’s) milk pasteurized and safe, contact MUNINMAX for consultation with our sales engineers via [email protected] or visit our website www.muninmax.co.th!?