| 摘要 |
Almonds, other nuts, grains, dried or dehydrated fruits or vegetables, and other agricultural foodstuffs resting on a porous mesh conveyor belt (22, 54) pass continuously through a chamber (20, 60) in which they are contacted by a gaseous oxidizing agent at atmospheric pressure as the conveyor belt and food products move continuously through the chamber. In one embodiment, the chamber is disposed through a barrier (56) which isolates a raw product receiving region from downstream processing facilities to prevent cross-contamination downstream. In another embodiment, the chamber (20) is disposed through a barrier (34) which separates a husker (14) from a downstream Sheller (40) such that the shells are sanitized prior to releasing the nutmeats from the shells. In the preferred embodiment, the gaseous oxidizing agent is hydrogen peroxide at a 1.8 mg/liter concentration which flows up through the belt vibrating the food products without scarring them as the belt conveys the food products through the chamber for a duration of about 15 seconds to achieve a 3 log reduction in human pathogens.
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