Pasteurization began in the United States as early as 1893, when private charity milk stations in New York City began to provide pasteurized milk to poor children through the city health department, a movement that spread to other cities.
In 1914, the discovery of tuberculosis in cows in a certified milk farm proved that pasteurization was the only way to produce safe milk. As early as 1908, Chicago was the first major US city to require pasteurization of milk.
In 1914, New York and Philadelphia required pasteurization of milk. In 1917, most major US cities required that all milk be pasteurized.
By the 1920s, pasteurized milk was commonly available throughout the United States and Canada and was considered compulsory in most large city.
By the second decade of this century, the United States was pioneering in commercial pasteurization as its method of guaranteeing a clean infant food supply.
History of pasteurization process in United States
