Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Contacting food in liquid or solid state with exteriorly... – Applied material is biocidal or disinfecting
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-02
2001-01-09
Cano, Milton (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Contacting food in liquid or solid state with exteriorly...
Applied material is biocidal or disinfecting
C426S321000, C426S331000, C426S335000, C426S532000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06171625
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques and devices for the decontamination and preservation of food products exposed to spoiling microorganisms and/or toxins. The invention more particularly relates to the use of ozone in the detoxification of agricultural products contaminated with mycotoxins.
2. Background of the Related Art
Mycotoxins are naturally occurring chemical compounds produced by certain species of fungi (e.g. Aspergillus sp., Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp.) which commonly grow on and infest plant materials such as grains, oilseeds and grasses. They are most often produced in the field under conditions of environmental stress on the plant (e.g. heat, insects, and drought). Aflatoxins are prevalent mycotoxins that present remarkable toxicity and hepatocarcinogenicity, that is, aflatoxins can cause diverse toxic effects on virtually all organs, eventually leading to the development of cancerous tumors capable of spreading throughout the entire body. There are four major aflatoxins (AfB
1
, AfB
2
, AfG
1
and AfG
2
) that contaminate crops, with aflatoxins AfB
1
and AfG
1
having greater toxic potential than aflatoxins AfB
2
and AfG
2
. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has particularly noted the major forms, AfB
1
and AfG
1
, as potent carcinogens, linked primarily to cancer of the liver. Thus, the amount of aflatoxin allowed in human and animal food is regulated by state and federal agencies.
Fumonisin B
1
is a mycotoxin that occurs almost exclusively on corn and can cause toxic effects in horses and swine. fumonisin B
1
has been linked to esophageal cancer in humans and has been shown to be a cancer initiator and promoter in rodents. Tricothecenes (e.g. T-2 toxin, deoxynivalenol or ‘vomitoxin’), ergot, zearalenone, cyclopiazonic acid, patulin, ochratoxin A, and secalonic acid D are mycotoxins that can negatively impact human and animal health due to their diverse toxic effects. The toxic effects caused by these mycotoxins may be classified as acute or chronic, depending on the level and duration of mycotoxin exposure and species sensitivity.
Virtually all animals in the food chain can be affected by exposure to contaminated food and feed, including humans, who can be exposed directly to toxins through grain handling and consumption or indirectly through consumption of an unmetabolized parent compound or toxic metabolic products in contaminated meat or livestock products (e.g. milk and cheese.) As a result, mycotoxin contamination of agricultural commodities, such as corn, wheat, rye, rice, barley, oats, peanuts, pecans, soybeans, cottonseed, apples, grapes, alfalfa, clover, sorghum, and fescue grass forages, can result in severe economic loss at all levels of food production (e.g. cost of pre-harvest prevention, post-harvest treatment, down-grading, loss of contaminated grain, decreased animal productivity and increased loss of livestock, health care costs, etc.) Thus, a need has long been recognized for techniques, methods, and devices that would help reduce the levels of multiple mycotoxins in feeds for livestock and food for human consumption.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,774, Vidal et al. disclose a method for preventing sprouting and mold and fungi proliferation in stored grain having moisture content in excess of 15%. The disclosed energy intensive methods of stored grain preservation include heating the grain and reducing the moisture content to below 15%. Treatment with 1% propionic acid has also been shown to prevent microbial growth, however, the color texture and taste of the grain may be affected and thus grain treated by the methods disclosed by Vidal et al. can only be used in the treatment of animal feed.
Vidal et al. also disclose a method wherein sulfur dioxide gas is bubbled through a propionic acid solution. The gas is used to transport the vapor pressure qualities of the acid to the grain mass. After a given period of time, the grain is perfused with ammonia gas. The process is designed to prevent the formation of
A. flavus
(a fungus) during storage, thus preventing the formation of mycotoxins. However, the process is not capable of removing aflatoxins that are present on the grains before being placed in storage.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,518, Carmona et al. disclose a method particularly adapted for the treatment of nuts contaminated with aflatoxins. The nuts are placed in a 0.10% sodium hydroxide solution at a temperature of 212° F. for 10 minutes. The nuts are then removed and washed in water until a neutral pH is attained. During this washing, the skins of the nuts are loosened by the sodium hydroxide and washed away allowing for color differentiation between the lightly colored uncontaminated peanuts and the deep dark contaminated peanuts. The color differences allow the contaminated and uncontaminated nuts to be sorted electronically. However, this process does not allow detoxification of the food contaminated with aflatoxins.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,651, Henderson et al. use a flotation method to separate the contaminated grains or kernels. The authors describe methods that can be used to reduce the amount of aflatoxin contaminated material from feeds by physically removing them. The contaminated seeds rise to the top in a flotation medium while the uncontaminated seeds sink to the bottom. These processes present at least two drawbacks: 1) the high cost of removing and disposing of the contaminated materials in accordance with environmental guidelines, and 2) the difficulty of achieving complete removal of the contaminated kernels, seeds, etc. without wasting significant portions of the uncontaminated product.
Another method of removing mycotoxins is by altering them chemically by structural degradation following chemical treatment, or by physical absorption onto a reactive substrate. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,160, Gross et al. use microwaves and an applied vacuum to extract oil and moisture from seeds and nuts. The disclosed methods are designed as conventional continuous-type processes for the treatment of contaminated nuts. The contaminated food passes through a vacuum chamber where the microwaves are applied. The methods are based on the assumption that oil and water vapor fractions absorb the aflatoxins thus removing them from the food matrix. The water/oil/aflatoxin vapor is then condensed and removed. The aflatoxins can then be decontaminated before the mixture is discharged. One caveat presented by this technique is the need for extraordinary caution not to overheat the foods which necessitates that the microwave power be decreased incrementally along the chamber. Also, the heating process does not successfully destroy the aflatoxins (aflatoxins are relatively heat stable) nor does the treatment with microwaves.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,946, Taylor et al. describe an inorganic animal food additive that chemically binds to and inactivates aflatoxins by combination in the gastrointestinal tract of the animal. A phyllosilicate clay is produced in pellet form and fed to livestock along with the mycotoxin contaminated meal. The aflatoxin binds to the clay during digestion and is excreted in the feces of the animal.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,431, Lindner describes a method of detoxifying mycotoxins by an energy intensive process. Timed or untimed pulses of ultrasonic radiation are passed through an aqueous solution containing a suspension of grains or ground meal. In some cases, addition of alcohols, dilute acids and ammonia water to the aqueous suspension has been found to be somewhat beneficial. The radicals that are produced by the microcavition reaction attack the epoxide region of the various trichothecene mycotoxin molecules.
Treatment of grain with ammonia gas or ammonium hydroxide liquid has been found to reduce aflatoxin levels in corn, peanut meal, whole cottonseed and cottonseed products. Two procedures have been used in the ammoniation process: (1) High Temperature/High Pressure treatment, (HP/HT), and (2) Atmospheric Pressure/Ambient Temperature treatment, (AP/A
Andrews Craig C.
Denvir Adrian J.
Hitchens G. Duncan
McKenzie K. Scott
Miller Douglas R.
Cano Milton
Lynntech Inc.
Streets Jeffrey
Streets & Steele
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