Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Direct application of electrical or wave energy to food... – Treatment with ultraviolet or visible light
Patent
1999-07-14
2000-12-26
Bhat, Nina
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Direct application of electrical or wave energy to food...
Treatment with ultraviolet or visible light
422 24, 99451, A23L 332, A23L 300
Patent
active
061655260
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to the microbial decontamination of food, especially on a small, non-industrial scale such as domestically or in catering. It also relates to apparatus for effecting microbial decontamination in these situations.
The presence of microbes on food has two possible consequences: their growth is often the major determinant of the shelf life of the food, and/or their growth either on the food or on ingestion can be the cause of food poisoning. Microbes may gain access to a food at virtually any stage of the food's manufacture, from harvest of the raw materials (a notable source of contamination by soil-borne microorganisms, including several pathogenic types), through post-harvest storage, processing, and distribution. Good practice throughout the food chain from raw material to finished product is intended to ensure that the food that reaches the consumer is wholesome and, above all, safe to eat, yet outbreaks of illnesses attributable to food-borne pathogenic microbes still arise, implying microbial contamination at some link in the chain before the food reaches the consumer.
Both microbial contamination and growth are likely to continue after the food has reached the consumer, of course. Contamination can occur, for example, during selection of food on display, or similarly during harvesting of home-grown produce; microbial contamination to some degree is practically unavoidable during the domestic preparation of ingredients for inclusion in any dish or meal. Microbial growth is influenced by the entire time/temperature history of the food from harvest to consumption, which includes the conditions between the time the consumer selects or purchases the food and their reaching home, and domestic storage.
Consumers are increasingly concerned about food poisoning. Understandably, food poisoning outbreaks that involve fatalities receive much attention from the media, which heightens this concern. The concern is perhaps particularly marked in those with responsibility for feeding people in groups of known susceptibility to food poisoning, such as the very young or old, or those whose immune system is already compromised.
There is therefore a need for a device capable of achieving microbial decontamination of food, without materially affecting the desirable characteristics of the food, on a small scale; most obviously in the home, but also in many catering situations, and even, where appropriate, at the point of sale. The invention described herein enables one to provide such a device. Preferred embodiments of the invention may be versatile units, being suitable for use in a variety of situations. They may be used to decontaminate food and food ingredients in the home (for example, prior to inclusion as ingredients of a recipe, or before transfer to a domestic refrigerator or freezer), or decontaminating chilled foods intended for eating cold such as salads and fruit; in short, they can be used in most situations where the consumer is aware of, or concerned by, the possibility of contamination or spoilage.
BACKGROUND ART
U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,323 discloses a small-scale apparatus for tenderising meat. A casing contains a grid for supporting meat, and UV tubes for irradiating meat. Irradiation periods of one hour are disclosed, using UV in the range 265-300 nm.
WO94/24875 discloses industrial equipment for the UV-sterilisation of foodstuffs. Batch processing can employ a chamber having a food-supporting grid in a central region, and UV sources distributed around the walls. There may be means for moving the food relative to the grid during irradiation so that portions in contact with the grid do not escape irradiation. WO94/24875 also discloses continuous treatment, as does U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,964. The latter discloses a UV treatment cavity with a roller conveyor for conveying food. Some of the UV sources are below the conveying path, being located between conveying rollers, so that the whole surface of the food can be irradiated.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present inventi
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