System for decontaminating food articles having a porous outer surface

A system for decontaminating articles having porous outer surfaces, said system comprised of:

• a decontamination chamber;
• a conveyor for conveying said articles through said decontamination chamber;
• a source of sterilant vapor;
• conveying means for conveying a sterilant vapor from said source of sterilant vapor to said decontamination chamber;
• a controller for controlling said conveyor and said source of sterilant vapor, said controller programmed to:
• control said source of sterilant vapor to maintain said sterilant vapor within a predetermined acceptable concentration range and within a predetermined acceptable temperature range;
• and
• control said conveyor to convey said articles through said decontamination chamber at a predetermined speed wherein said predetermined speed is selected such that said articles are disposed in said decontamination chamber for a predetermined period of time;
• and
• heating means for heating said articles wherein said controller is programmed to control said heating means to maintain said articles at a temperature greater than the temperature of said sterilant vapor and less than a maximum acceptable temperature of said articles,
• wherein said predetermined period of time and said predetermined acceptable concentration range of said sterilant vapor are selected such that said sterilant vapor does not penetrate said porous outer surfaces of said articles.