Hyperpasteurization of food
AssigneeOED, Inc.
InventorsJames P. Cox, Jeanne M. Cox, Robert W. Duffy Cox
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods of treating liquid, semiliquid and solid foods to make them safer to eat and/or to improve the keeping quality of the product. Among the steps that can be employed are: the use of a biocidally active form of oxygen to reduce the population of indigenous microbes, the removal from the food of indigenous gases which may cause spoilage, the replacement of gases removed from the product with gases which are chemically inert or biologically sterile or both, and the asceptic packaging of the treated product. The selected process steps are carried out for a time and at a temperature sufficient to facilitate production of substantially more natural and safer foods than can be obtained if traditional methods of pasteurization are employed.
Claims51
A method for making a shell egg safer to eat, said method comprising the steps of:
- heating said shell egg at a process temperature of greater than 129.9.degree. F. and for a time longer than 15 minutes to reduce the microbial count in the egg while leaving the egg white substantially uncoagulated;
- and
- while it is at the process temperature, treating the shell egg with an infusate comprised of one or more of the following biocidally active gases to promote the reduction in the bacterial population of the egg:
- sterile air;
- filtered air;
- an atomic, molecular, or peroxide form of oxygen;
- ozone;
- or carbon monoxide.
A method of making shell eggs safer to eat and for improving the keeping quality of such eggs, said process comprising the steps of:
- removing indigenous gases from within the shell of the egg;
- introducing into the egg a biocidally active agent in an amount effective to reduce the internal microbial count and at a temperature and for a time sufficient to reduce said internal microbial count;
- removing said agent from within the shell of the egg after the microbial count in the egg has been reduced;
- and
- introducing into the egg through said shell a gas which will-retard spoilage of the egg.
A process as defined in claim 19 which includes promoting the destruction of harmful microorganisms in the egg by holding the egg at a temperature higher than 129.9.degree. F. for a period of more than 20 minutes while the biocidally active gas is in the egg.
A method of making shell eggs safer to eat and for improving the keeping quality of such eggs, said process comprising the steps of:
- removing indigenous gases from within the shell of the egg;
- thereafter providing in the egg a biocidally active agent in an amount effective to reduce the internal microbial count and at a temperature and for a time sufficient to reduce said internal microbial count;
- removing said agent from within the shell of the egg after the microbial count in the egg has been reduced;
- and
- thereafter treating said egg to keep it safe to eat by inhibiting the growth of microorganisms remaining in said egg and/or recontamination of the egg by microorganisms present in the environment of the egg.
A method of so processing a shell egg as to improve its appearance, said method including the step of infusing into said shell egg an effective amount of an inert gas which has the ability to improve the Haugh value of the white of said egg, the shell egg being held at a temperature of about 139.degree. F. for a time of about 60 minutes while the inert gas is infused.
A method of making shell eggs safer to eat and for improving the keeping quality of such eggs, said process comprising the steps
- removing indigenous gases from within the shell of the egg;
- introducing into the egg a biocidally active agent in an amount effective to reduce the internal microbial count and at a temperature and for a time sufficient to reduce said internal microbial count;
- removing said agent from within the shell of the egg after the microbial count in the egg has been reduced;
- and
- introducing into the egg through said shell a gas which will retard spoilage of the egg, said gas being selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and mixtures of the foregoing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.