A system for safe flash-heat pasteurization of human breast milk

Abstract

We present ongoing development of a low-cost system to improve the flash-heat pasteurization process for human breast milk currently utilized in resource-constrained developing regions. Flash-heat was designed for low-resource environments, is simple to use and requires minimal infrastructure. It is currently used at a small-scale to provide safe breast milk to vulnerable infants with special needs. Safety concerns have limited the adoption of this method for use in human milk banks. The system presented in this paper improves the safety and procedural compliance of the flash-heat process by continuously monitoring the temperature of milk as it is being pasteurized, providing feedback to the user performing the procedure and bringing-in remotely-located quality assurance personnel into the process-approval loop. In partnership with PATH, a Seattle-based NGO, the system will be piloted at a human milk bank in South Africa later this year. The longer-term vision of the project is that the improved monitoring, feedback and reporting capabilities will help scale-up the adoption of cost-effective flash-heat pasteurization for establishing human milk banks in developing countries. We present results from in-lab experiments that have helped us assess the feedback capabilities of our system and have validated the need for having a temperature monitoring and feedback system to enhance the safety of the flash-heat process.