In food processing, pasteurization (also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated with mild heat, usually to less than 100 °C (212 °F), to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. Pasteurization either destroys or deactivates microorganisms and enzymes that contribute to food spoilage or the risk of disease, including vegetative bacteria, but most bacterial spores survive the process.

Pasteurization is named after the French microbiologist Louis Pasteur, whose research in the 1860s demonstrated that thermal processing would deactivate unwanted microorganisms in wine. Spoilage enzymes are also inactivated during pasteurization. Today, pasteurization is used widely in the dairy industry and other food processing industries for food preservation and food safety.

By the year 1999, most liquid products were heat treated in a continuous system where heat was applied using a heat exchanger or the direct or indirect use of hot water and steam. Due to the mild heat, there are minor changes to the nutritional quality and sensory characteristics of the treated foods. Pascalization or high-pressure processing (HPP) and pulsed electric field (PEF) are non-thermal processes that are also used to pasteurize foods.

Heating wine for preservation has been known in China since AD 1117 and was documented in Japan in the diary Tamonin-nikki written by a series of monks between 1478 and 1618.

In 1768, research performed by the Italian priest and scientist Lazzaro Spallanzani proved that a product could be made "sterile" after thermal processing. Spallanzani boiled meat broth for one hour, sealed the container immediately after boiling, and noticed that the broth did not spoil and was free from microorganisms. In 1795, a Parisian chef and confectioner named Nicolas Appert began experimenting with ways to preserve foodstuffs, succeeding with soups, vegetables, juices, dairy products, jellies, jams, and syrups. He placed the food in glass jars, sealed them with cork and sealing wax, and placed them in boiling water. In that same year, the French military offered a cash prize of 12,000 francs for a new method to preserve food. After some 14 or 15 years of experimenting, Appert submitted his invention and won the prize in January 1810. Later that year, Appert published L'Art de conserver les substances animales et végétales ("The Art of Preserving Animal and Vegetable Substances"). This was the first cookbook on modern food preservation methods.

La Maison Appert 'The House of Appert', in the town of Massy, near Paris, became the first food-bottling factory in the world, preserving a variety of foods in sealed bottles. Appert filled thick, large-mouthed glass bottles with produce of every description, ranging from beef and fowl to eggs, milk, and prepared dishes. He left air space at the top of the bottle, and the cork would then be sealed firmly in the jar by using a vise. The bottle was then wrapped in canvas to protect it while it was dunked into boiling water and then boiled for as much time as Appert deemed appropriate for cooking the contents thoroughly. Appert patented his method, sometimes called appertisation in his honor.

Appert's method was so simple and workable that it quickly became widespread. In 1810, the British inventor and merchant Peter Durand, also of French origin, patented his method, but this time in a tin can, so creating the modern-day process of canning foods. In 1812, the Englishmen Bryan Donkin and John Hall purchased both patents and began producing preserves. A decade later, Appert's canning method had come to America. Tin can production was not common until the beginning of the 20th century, partly because a hammer and chisel were needed to open cans until the invention of a can opener by Robert Yeates in 1855.

A less aggressive method was developed by 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 honor of Pasteur, this process is 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, before milk was regulated, it was common for milk to contain substances intended to mask spoilage.