The anti-bacterial effect of high pressure homogenisation (HPH) on milk is widely reported but the shelf-life of HPH-treated milk, as reported in this communication has not been studied thus far. Raw whole milk was homogenised at 200 or 250 MPa at 55 or 70 degrees C and counts of total bacteria (TBC), psychrotrophs, pseudomonads, coliforms, lactobacilli, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus were determined throughout subsequent storage for 14 days at 4 degrees C. Immediately after HPH treatment, counts of all bacteria were below the level of detection but after storage for 14 days at 4 degrees C, TBC, psychrotroph and pseudomonad counts had reached similar to 10(8) cfu mL(-1) in all samples treated with HPH. The limited shelf-life obtained indicates that HPH of milk at these processing parameters it is not a suitable alternative to pasteurisation for extending the shelf-life of milk. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved..