High-pressure processing as an emerging technology for enhancing dairy product safety and quality: a critical review of latest advances, sustainability impact, limitations, and prospects

High-pressure processing (HPP) is an emerging non-thermal alternative to thermal pasteurization, offering enhanced safety and quality to dairy products. However, the industry demands an update on HPP's progress, sustainability impact, limitations, and prospects. This review analyzed recent progress (2021-2025) in applying HPP as a preservation method by recapping its microbiological, physicochemical, and nutritional effects on dairy products. It also examined HPP's prospects, consumer preferences, sustainability impact, regulatory aspects, and limitations. HPP has reduced microbial loads in milk, cheese, yogurt, and reconstituted milk. At 600 MPa, HPP reduced pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes by 3-5 logs in fresh milk and extended refrigerated shelf-life to 60 days. L. monocytogenes was particularly sensitive to HPP in low-salt white cheese, achieving 8-log reduction. Besides, this emerging technology enhanced food nutrition by maintaining more than 90% of essential vitamins (A, B1-B3, B5-B7, B9, B12, C, D, E) and minerals (e.g., calcium and phosphorus). HPP can preserve milk's pH, viscosity, color, and taste to meet consumer preferences. However, current HPP-based dairy processing has a limited capacity to effectively inactivate spore-forming bacteria at commercial scales. Nevertheless, HPP can redefine dairy preservation by bridging safety, quality, nutrition, and sustainability after developing affordable, scalable systems that align with regional safety standards.