Low temperature sanitization of human pathogens from the surfaces of food and food packaging

A method of sanitizing human pathogens from surfaces of almonds, the method comprising:

• moving in-shell almonds through a microbe impermeable barrier;
• as the in-shell almonds move through the microbe impermeable barrier, killing microbes on shells of the almonds, the microbe impermeable barrier protecting the in-shell almonds that have moved through the microbe impermeable barrier from recontamination by airborne pathogens;
• after killing microbes on the shells, deshelling the almonds and separating the shells from nutmeats;
• moving the nutmeats continuously on a mesh belt;
• while the nutmeats are moving on the belt, contacting the nutmeats with a gaseous oxidizing agent near atmospheric pressure for a sufficient duration to kill human pathogens, the contacting of the nutmeats with the gaseous oxidizing agent being performed on all almond nutmeats entering a downstream production region to prevent downstream cross-contamination.

A method of sanitizing human pathogens from surfaces of agricultural food products, the method comprising:

• moving the food products continuously on a mesh belt through a treatment chamber having an inlet through which the mesh belt carries the food products into the chamber and an outlet through which the mesh belt carries the food products out of the chamber;
• while the food products are moving through the chamber on the belt, supplying a gaseous oxidizing agent for a sufficient duration to kill human pathogens;
• exhausting the gaseous oxidizing agent from the chamber at a flow rate relative to a flow rate at which the gaseous oxidizing agent is supplied to the chamber such that a negative pressure is maintained in the chamber;
• providing a curtain of air across the chamber inlet and outlet to (a) prevent gaseous oxidizing agents from escaping to surrounding areas and (b) to prevent humidity and ambient air from entering the chamber through the inlet and outlet.

A method of sanitizing human pathogens from surfaces of nutmeats, the method comprising:

• moving the nutmeats continuously on a mesh belt;
• while the nutmeats are moving on the belt, treating the nutmeats with a gaseous oxidizing agent near atmospheric pressure for a sufficient duration to kill human pathogens;
• treating packaging materials with a gaseous antimicrobial agent;
• packaging the treated nutmeats in the treated packaging.

An apparatus for sanitizing human pathogens from surfaces of agricultural food products, the apparatus comprising:

• a mesh belt on which the food products are continuously moved;
• a chamber through which the mesh conveyor belt moves continuously, the chamber having an inlet through which the mesh belt carries the food products into the chamber and an outlet through which the mesh belt carries the food products out of the chamber;
• a means for supplying a gaseous oxidizing agent to the chamber, the chamber having a length relative to the conveying speed of the belt such that the food products remain in the chamber for a sufficient duration to kill human pathogens;
• and
• a means for exhausting the gaseous oxidizing vapor from the chamber at a flow rate relative to the flow rate at which the gaseous oxidizing agent is supplied to the chamber such that a negative pressure is maintained in the chamber;
• a means for providing a curtain of air across the chamber inlet and outlet to (a) prevent gaseous oxidizing agents from escaping to surrounding areas and (b) to prevent humidity and ambient air from entering the chamber through the inlet and outlet.

An apparatus for sanitizing human pathogens from surfaces of almonds, walnuts, or other nuts, the apparatus comprising:

• a means for removing husks from the nuts leaving nuts in their shells;
• a means for moving the nuts in their shells continuously on a mesh belt;
• a means for treating the nuts in their shells while the nuts in their shells are moving on the belt with a gaseous oxidizing agent near atmospheric pressure for a sufficient duration to kill human pathogens such that the shells are sanitized;
• a means for removing the sanitized shells from the nuts leaving nutmeats, after the nuts in their shells were exposed to the gaseous oxidizing agent;
• a means for exposing the nutmeats to a gaseous oxidizing agent after the sanitized shells have been removed for a sufficient duration to kill human pathogens on the nutmeats.

An apparatus for sanitizing human pathogens from surfaces of almonds, the apparatus comprising:

• a means for moving in-shell almonds through a microbe impermeable barrier;
• a means for killing microbes on shells of the almonds as the shells move through the microbe impermeable barrier, the microbe impermeable barrier being configured to protect the in-shell almonds which have passed through the microbe impermeable barrier from recontamination by airborne pathogens;
• a means for deshelling the almonds after killing microbes on the shells and separating the shells from nutmeats;
• a means for moving the nutmeats continuously on a mesh belt;
• a means for contacting the nutmeats with a gaseous oxidizing agent while the nutmeats are moving on the belt at near atmospheric pressure for a sufficient duration to kill human pathogens, the contacting of the nutmeats with the gaseous oxidizing agent being formed on all almond nutmeats entering a downstream production region to prevent downstream cross-contamination.