LOW TEMPERATURE SANITIZATION OF HUMAN PATHOGENS FROM THE SURFACES OF FOOD AND FOOD PACKAGING

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.