Senior Research

WE ARE TESTING THE GROWTH OF BACTERIA USING PH STRIPS TO TEST THE ACIDITY LEVEL IN 2% MILK, 2% ORGANIC MILK, AND A PLANT-BASED ALTERNATIVE SUCH AS COCONUT MILK. WE WILL BE HOLDING A REFRIGERATED CONTROL AS WELL AS UNREFRIGERATED SAMPLES TO MIRROR THE REAL-LIFE PRACTICES OF MILK, SUCH AS LEAVING MILK OUT ON THE COUNTER. THIS IS CRUCIAL BECAUSE MILK CAN BE GROWING POTENTIALLY TOXIC BACTERIA SUCH AS E. COLI DUE TO THE FERMENTATION WHEN LEAVING MILK UNREFRIGERATED FOR EVEN AN HOUR; IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY AND PERSONAL LIFE. NEARLY ALL MAJOR MILK INDUSTRIES HAVE THE RAW MILK UNDERGO A PASTEURIZATION PROCESS OF ONLY 15 SECONDS TO AT LEAST 161° F. WE BELIEVE THIS PASTEURIZATION PROCESS IS NOT LONG ENOUGH AND THAT THE 2% MILK & 2% ORGANIC MILK WILL SPOIL MUCH MORE RAPIDLY WHEN COMPARED TO A PLANT-BASED ALTERNATIVE SUCH AS COCONUT MILK. 

WE PERSONALLY KNOW MANY INDIVIDUALS TEND TO HAVE STOMACH ISSUES WHEN INGESTING DAIRY-BASED MILK EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT LACTOSE INTOLERANT, THIS RESEARCH EXPERIMENT WILL AID IN IMPROVING THE EDUCATION AND HEALTH OF THE COMMON MILK CONSUMER.

WE ARE TRYING TO EXPLORE WHETHER REGULAR MILK AND A MILK-BASED ALTERNATIVE RAPIDLY GROW BACTERIA AT ROOM TEMPERATURE WHICH COULD HARM CONSUMERS. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT AFTER 3 HOURS THE 2% UNREFRIGERATED MILK AND THE 2% ORGANIC UNREFRIGERATED MILK WILL HAVE THE MOST BACTERIA GROWTH FOLLOWED BY THE UNREFRIGERATED COCONUT MILK WHICH WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER THAN THE 3 MILK REFRIGERATED CONTROLS. WE DECIDED UPON THIS TOPIC DUE TO THE OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF PEOPLE SWITCHING TO MILK-BASED ALTERNATIVES AS WELL AS A PERSONAL CONNECTION IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY THAT TOLD US THEIR MILK TEMPERATURE WAS AT A DANGEROUS LEVEL WHEN UNREFRIGERATED WHICH VIOLATES THE HEALTH CODE IN MICHIGAN. OUR RESOURCES AND PERSONAL CONNECTIONS HELPED US DEVELOP OUR TOPICS AND BELIEFS LEADING TO OUR FINAL RESEARCH IDEA. WE USED GOOGLE SCHOLAR AS OUR MAIN RESEARCH TOPIC FINDER. WE PLAN ON RESEARCHING 4 TRIALS 3 TIMES AND BUILDING DATA ON WHETHER THE BACTERIA GROWTH IS RAPID OR NOT. WE HAVE CONTACTED STARBUCKS SINCE THEY FREQUENTLY HAVE TO FACE OBSTACLES AND REGULATIONS CONSIDERING UNREFRIGERATED MILKS AS WELL AS A MILK FARM IN IDAHO. 

CONDUCTING PRE-TRIALS 

FOR PRE-TRIALS I AND MY RESEARCH PARTNER MILENA HAVE ULTIMATELY DECIDED TO TEST THE RAPID BACTERIA GROWTH OF THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MILK: 2% DAIRY MILK, 2% ORGANIC DAIRY MILK, AND DAIRY-FREE COCONUT MILK. WE HAVE DECIDED TO MAKE THE MINOR CHANGE OF SWITCHING THE UNPASTEURIZED MILK FOR ORGANIC 2% MILK BECAUSE IT IS MORE CONSISTENT WITH THE FAT CONTENT OF THE OTHER MILKS AND IT IS A TYPE OF MILK THAT IS MOSTLY CONSUMED COMPARED TO UNPASTEURIZED MILK - A VARIETY OF MILK NO ONE CONSUMES. WE WENT ABOUT ON TESTING THE RAPID BACTERIA GROWTH BY INITIALLY SETTING UP THE MILK SAMPLES AND THE CONTROL SAMPLES. USING RANDOMIZATION THERE WERE 6 PLASTIC CUPS LABELED; 2 CUPS WERE LABELED 2% MILK, 2 CUPS WERE LABELED 2% ORGANIC MILK, AND THE REMAINING TWO WERE LABELED COCONUT MILK. ONE SET OF THE THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MILK INDICATED THEY WERE GOING TO GO INTO THE FRIDGE TO ACT AS OUR CONTROL WHILE THE OTHER SET OF THREE WERE HAD AN INDICATOR THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE PLACED OUTSIDE TO SIT AT ROOM TEMPERATURE. THEN USING A GRADUATED CYLINDER 50 ML OF EACH TYPE OF MILK WAS POURED INTO ALL OF THE INDICATED CUPS AND THE PH LEVEL, AS WELL AS, THE TEMPERATURE WAS TAKEN OF THE MILK. OVER THE NEXT 72 HOURS, THE PH AND TEMPERATURE WOULD BE RECORDED EVERY 24 HOURS TO TRACK ANY CHANGES IN TEMPERATURE OR SPOILAGE WITHIN THE MILK. THERE WILL BE 15 TRIALS IN TOTAL. DURING THE SECOND WEEK OF PRE-TRIALS, THE PH TEST STRIPS WERE REPLACED WITH MORE ACCURATE PH TESTING STRIPS. 

OUR FINDINGS

THE RAPID BACTERIA WAS CONSISTENT WITH OUR HYPOTHESIS AND THE ONLY PROCEDURES WE HAVE CHANGED IS HOW TO RANDOMIZE THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE MILKS AND THE CHANGE TO THE MORE ACCURATE PH TESTING STRIPS. FRUSTRATING MOMENTS WOULD BE HAVING A VERY DIRTY OR CROWDED WORKSPACE.

OUR IMPROVEMENTS

WE PLAN ON MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE PROCEDURE LIST AND CONDUCTING MORE THAN ONE TRIAL AT A TIME.