Method and system for treating packaged products

Abstract

A system and method for decontamination of product is described. An object to be treated, which may be a food product or a medical device, is placed in a substantially closed dielectric container with a working gas. The container is placed in an apparatus capable of producing a controlled electrical discharge so as to create reactive ion species within the package. The object to be treated may be exposed either the immediate products of the electrical discharge or the long lasting reactive ion species, or both, so as to treat the object to reduce or eliminate specific contaminants, which may be biological pathogens or the cause of product spoilage, or inorganic contaminants. The reactive ion species may result from an atmospheric non-equilibrium plasma (ANEP) formed by the apparatus and the treatment may be performed without significantly increasing the bulk temperature of the object being treated.

1 . A method of decontaminating an object, comprising:
 providing a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) device;   providing a container suitable for substantially completely enclosing the object and a working gas;   inserting the object into the container;   disposing a portion of the container with respect to the DBD device such that reactive species are produced in the container by the DBD apparatus; and   activating the DBD device for a first period of time,   wherein the storage volume is disposed such that the object is not disposed between a pair of electrodes of the DBD device.