Is fresh milk more nutritious than room temperature milk?

The biggest difference between fresh milk and ambient temperature milk is the sterilization method. Fresh milk is obtained by pasteurization, while ambient temperature milk is obtained by ultra-high temperature sterilization.

From a nutritional point of view: fresh milk is sterilized at a low temperature, generally below 80°C. While killing pathogenic bacteria in milk, it can retain more nutrition and flavor, and has a relatively small impact on whey protein in milk, causing only 15.4% of whey protein to denature, and can better retain the immune activity of immunoglobulins. The sterilization temperature of room temperature milk generally reaches at least 132°C, and the loss of nutrients is more than that of fresh milk. However, this difference is small and will not affect the content of core nutrients such as calcium and protein.

Considering that people drink milk mainly to intake calcium and protein, and other nutrients are not dominant in milk, there is no need to worry about it. Just drink whichever you like.

Author｜Science Rumor-Refuting New Media

Review丨Zhang Yu, researcher/PhD, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, national health science expert