Surface decontamination of frankfurters and other cooked sausage and processed meat and poultry products

Abstract

Food products, such as precooked meats, raw meats, and poultry are treated with a decontaminant solution to remove surface microorganism contamination. The decontaminant solution contains peracetic acid at a concentration of from about 100 to 4000 ppm and has broad spectrum activity against a variety of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, such as Listeria monocytogenes.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment, the invention is now claimed to be:  
     
         1 . A method of treating a food product comprising: 
 contacting an exterior of the food product with a decontaminant solution containing an antimicrobial agent which includes peracetic acid for a sufficient time to microbially decontaminate the exterior of the food product.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further including: 
 rinsing the microbially decontaminated food product to remove the decontaminant solution.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further including: 
 sterile drying the decontaminated food products.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the peracetic acid in the decontaminant solution is at a concentration of from about 100 to about 4000 ppm.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the peracetic acid concentration is from about 1000 to about 2000 ppm.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of contacting the food product with the decontaminant solution includes spraying the decontaminant solution over the food product.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the food product is sprayed with the decontaminant solution for a period of from about 10 seconds to 5 minutes.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the food product is sprayed with the decontaminant solution for a period of from about 1 to 2 minutes.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the step of contacting the food product with the decontaminant solution includes transporting the food product on a conveyor past spray nozzles which spray the decontaminant solution over the food product.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6 , further including: 
 recirculating the sprayed decontaminant solution.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the food product comprises hot dogs and the method further includes, prior to the step of contacting the exterior of the food product: 
 removing the hot dogs from casing skins.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 3 , further including, after the step of drying the food product: 
 aseptically packaging the food product.    
     
     
         13 . A method of treating a food product comprising: 
 a) spraying the food product with a solution comprising peracetic acid in a first chamber; and    b) drying the food product in a second chamber.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further including: 
 c) after step a), rinsing the food product with a rinse fluid in a third chamber intermediate the first and second chambers.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further including: 
 conveying the food product through the first and second chambers on a conveyor system.    
     
     
         16 . An apparatus for treatment of a food product comprising: 
 a first chamber;    spray nozzles disposed in the first chamber for spraying a decontaminant solution over the food product, the decontaminant solution including peracetic acid;    a source of the decontaminant solution;    a pump fluidly connected with the source of the decontaminant solution and the nozzles for supplying pressurized decontaminant solution to the nozzles;    a second chamber;    a source of a drying gas connected with the second chamber for drying the decontaminated food product; and    a conveyor system which conveys the food product through the first and second chambers.    
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , further including: 
 a third chamber intermediate the first and second chambers, the conveyor system conveying the food product through the third chamber;    a source of a rinse fluid connected with the second chamber which delivers a rinse fluid to the second chamber for rinsing the decontaminated food product.    
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , further including: 
 a recirculation system which recirculates the sprayed decontaminant solution to the nozzles.