In the processing of poultry, particularly chickens, the industry has had to deal with problems concerning bacterial contamination of the processed birds. During the process of dressing poultry, the birds are susceptible to contamination, self-inflicted and cross-contamination by the handling of the mass of birds in a typical day. The bacteria may arrive at the facility clinging to and growing on the exposed surfaces of the live birds, including in the feather follicles. Evisceration of the birds creates an opportunity for microbes to contaminate freshly exposed muscle and other internal tissues. The problem may be somewhat mitigated at the processing stage where the birds are being chilled in an immersion chiller, wherein the birds are chilled from approximately normal body temperature down to the mid thirty degrees Fahrenheit. At this stage, liquid in the chiller may wash off some contamination. However, unacceptable levels of contamination may remain on the product.
Some of the common pathogenic bacteria found in poultry are Salmonella, E. coli and others. While antiseptic additives may be included in the liquid of the chiller for a significant reduction of the bacteria, there is a hazard that bacteria may be passed with the birds on to the marketplace where the dressed products are distributed to the public. Fortunately, poultry products typically are cooked thoroughly and the bacteria are eradicated during the cooking process. However, there still is a hazard of the bacteria may be passed on to the public, for instance by handling raw products.
While the addition of antibacterial substances to the liquid in the chiller have had success in reducing the surface bacteria on poultry carcasses, most procedures are not successful in removing all pathogenic bacteria from the contaminated carcasses. For example, it is more difficult to vigorously apply the liquid and its antibacterial contents to the cavities of the birds and to the feather follicles of the birds and these areas of the birds might retain more bacteria than other portions of the birds.
Because of the need to reduce the temperature of the birds while in the chiller tank, the birds require a long dwell time in the chilled liquid. Because of the long dwell time the concentration of the antibacterial substances in the liquid cannot be very high so as to avoid organoleptic degradation of the product that produces unacceptable changes in taste, aroma, appearance, or texture.
Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The present disclosure relates to a decontamination tank with improved efficacy to decontaminate food products. The decontamination tank can be used, for example, to apply anti-microbial solutions to food products. In some examples, treatment in the decontamination tank can precede or follow treatment of the food products in a chiller. In various embodiments, a decontamination tank has a plurality of chambers so that the product can be subjected to treatment via a series of different anti-microbial solutions. In various embodiments, a decontamination tank has one or more pumps or other liquid flow components integrated into the tank to circulate or pump an anti-microbial solution past the product at a high flow rate with a low pressure drop. In some embodiments, a decontamination tank with a plurality of chambers can include one or more integrated liquid flow components.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) continues to push poultry processors to reduce the quantity of microbial contaminants in the food supply offered to the public. Antimicrobial agents such as peracetic acid (PAA), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), chlorine, ozone, or salt are more or less effective against various species of microbes including Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli, and Listeria. It may be desirable to use a combination of antimicrobial agents to treat a broad spectrum of contaminants. However, if two or more antimicrobial agents are mixed in a common solution, there is a potential that they will react or interfere and thereby degrade efficacy.
The efficacy of each type of antimicrobial solution can be generally enhanced by providing more aggressive agitation of the food product within the solution. Previous attempts to agitate the solution using external pipes can require relatively high-powered pumps that are difficult to clean. Furthermore, since the tanks are relatively compact to begin with, arranging for flow to return to the pump inlet can be challenging when the entire volume of liquid in the tank is being circulated every minute or two.
Attempts to agitate with air injected directly into the solution sometimes create undesirable foam in the tank. Furthermore, some antimicrobial agents can off-gas into the agitation air creating a personnel hazard around the treatment system when the agitation air leaves the tank.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure comprise a decontamination tank having a series of chambers for holding liquid(s) and unloaders for lifting product out of the chambers.
Food product 106, such as edible portions of poultry, vegetables, fruits, or other types of food products, is deposited into a first chamber 103a of the decontamination tank 100 via an inlet chute 107. The first chamber 103a contains a first liquid 109a such as an antimicrobial solution. A first unloader 112a located in the first chamber 103a lifts the product 106 out of the first chamber 103a and deposits the product 106 onto a first discharge chute 115a conveying to a second chamber 103b. In some embodiments, one or more belts or chutes can be used to transfer the food product 106 from the unloader 112a to the second chamber 103b. The second chamber 103b can be sealed from the first chamber 103a to prevent the liquids 109 (e.g., liquids 109a, 109b) contained in the respective chambers 103 (e.g., chambers 103a, 103b) from mixing.
The second chamber 103b can contain a second liquid 109b of a composition different from the liquid 109a in the first chamber 103a. A difference in composition can be: (a) a difference in chemical species in solution, (b) a difference in concentration of the same chemical species, (c) both (a) and (b), or (d) negligible concentrations of any active ingredient in one of the liquids 109. For example, the liquids 109 can differ in pH content such that mixing the liquids 109 together would render one or both to be less effective or ineffective. Also, the order of treatment may be significant. That is, it may be required or preferable that the food product 106 be treated with a first liquid 109a before being treated with a second liquid 109b instead of being treated with the second liquid 109b before being treated with the first liquid 109a. A second unloader 112b in the second chamber 103b lifts the product 106 out of the second chamber 103b and deposits it onto a second discharge chute 115b that directs the product 106 away from the second chamber 103b. The rotational speed of the unloaders 112 can be selected based upon an optimal treatment time for each of the respective liquids 109. The time that a liquid 109 remains on the product 106 before the liquid 109 drains off or is rinsed off may count toward the time of the treatment.
The decontamination tank 100 may comprise more than two chambers 103 and two unloaders 112. The unloaders 112 may be driven by individual motors. In other embodiments, some or all of the unloaders 112 may be coupled by one or more drive shafts 118 and driven by a single motor 121. A speed reducer 122 may be used to convert the rotational speed of the motor 121 into a lower rotational speed with higher torque for the drive shaft 118. The selected rotational speed for can be achieved using a speed reducer 120 for a particular unloader 112. In various embodiments, the chambers 103 of the decontamination tank 100 may correspond to distinct tank units that are coupled together.
In some embodiments, the product 106 is rinsed with a rinsing solution such as water between immersion in a first antimicrobial solution and a second antimicrobial solution. The rinsing solution is selected to rinse or neutralize the first antimicrobial solution and/or the second antimicrobial solution. Such rinsing may take place in a separate rinse chamber 103 interposed between the first chamber 103a and the chamber 103b. The separate rinse chamber 103 may be similar in construction to treatment chambers 103 described above. In other embodiments, rinsing may take the form of sprays of water or a waterfall directed at the product 106 on the first discharge chute 115a before the product 106 enters the second chamber 103b, as shown in the example of
In some embodiments, each chamber 103 (e.g., chambers 103a, 103b) may be divided into a product area 124 (e.g., product areas 124a, 124b) and an overflow or recirculation area 127 (e.g., recirculation areas 127a, 127b) separated by a respective partition 128. Generally, a liquid 109 can be pumped from an overflow area 127 through one or more passages 130 in a partition 128 to a product area 124. Liquid 109 may overflow a weir 133 (i.e., an opening) in or on the partition 128 to return to the overflow area 127. In some examples, liquid 109 may flow through a screen positioned in an opening or weir 133 in or on the partition 128 to prevent product 106 from entering the overflow area 127. In either of these embodiments, the discharge chute 115 extends from the partition 128 to the next chamber 103 or the outlet of the decontamination tank 100. The discharge chute 115 can be perforated to allow any liquid 109 discharged with the product 106 from the unloader 112 to drain into the overflow area 127, rather than spill over into the next chamber 103.
In various embodiments, the decontamination tank 100 may include a respective liquid flow component 136 integrated into a corresponding chamber 103 to move or recirculate the liquid 109 from the overflow area 127 to the product area 124. The liquid flow component 136 can refer to various types of pumps, a fan or propeller driven pump or component, an impeller driven pump or component, or another type of component that pumps, moves, or circulates liquid 109. The respective liquid flow component 136 may be driven by a respective motor 139, such as a motor that drives a propeller, impeller, etc., to cause a pumping force, or a pump motor. In other embodiments, one or more external pumps may be used to circulate the liquid 109 in a corresponding chamber 103. In some cases, a separate liquid flow component 136 may be in each chamber 103. Where multiple liquid flow components 136 are used, the liquid flow components 136 may be driven by individual motors 139 or by a single motor 139 coupled to a common driveshaft. While various components and contents of the decontamination tank 100 can be described with respect to a particular one of the chambers 103, each of the respective chambers 103 can include a corresponding component as described.
In this example, the first chamber 103a can include or otherwise be fed product 106 through an inlet chute 107. The unloader paddles 206 can lift the product 106 out of the product area 124a. The deflector 306 can guide the product 106 over the discharge chute 115a and into the product area 124b. The discharge chute 115a can have holes that allow a liquid 109a (
The shape and position of passages 130 between the forced liquid area 509 and product area 124 can be significant. In certain parts of the partition 503, the unloader paddle 206 is pressing product 106 against the partition 503. If passages 130 in this area are simple holes that have exposed edges, product 106 may get cut or damaged as the product 106 moves past the passage opening.
The liquid flow component 136 can be a propeller type liquid flow component 136 to move a large volume of liquid 109 against a relatively low discharge head. Such designs can use smaller motors and can be easier to clean.
The coupling shaft 512 portion of the drive shaft 118 of the unloader 112a is configured to facilitate attachment to a receiving portion of the hub 212 of the unloader 112b (
Referring next to
In box 909, the food product 106 is transferred from the first chamber 103a to the second chamber 103b via an unloader 112a. In some embodiments, the food product 106 can be rinsed via a rinsing solution before the food product 106 is deposited in the second chamber 103b. In one embodiment, the food product 106 is sprayed with the rinsing solution before the food product 106 is deposited in the second chamber 103b. In another embodiment, the food product 106 is transferred via the unloader 112a in the first chamber 103a to a third chamber 103 of the plurality of chambers, the food product 106 is immersed in the rinsing solution in the third chamber, and the food product 106 is transferred via an unloader 112 in the third chamber 103 to the second chamber 103b.
In box 912, the food product 106 is immersed in a second antimicrobial bearing liquid 109b in the second chamber 103b. For example, the second antimicrobial bearing liquid 109b in the second chamber 103b can be recirculated by pumping the second antimicrobial bearing liquid 109b from a return liquid area 506 to a forced liquid area 509. The second antimicrobial bearing liquid 109b can then exit the forced liquid area 509 under pressure through a plurality of openings in the second partition 503. The second antimicrobial bearing liquid 109b can return from the product area 127 via at least one opening in the first partition 128. In box 915, the treated food product is discharged. In some cases, the food product 106 can subsequently be treated in a chiller, where the chiller has a liquid capacity for chilling the food product 106. Thereafter, the flowchart 900 ends.
Disjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, or Z,” unless specifically stated otherwise, is otherwise understood with the context as used in general to present that an item, term, etc., can be either X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and/or Z). Thus, such disjunctive language is not generally intended to, and should not, imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least one of Y, or at least one of Z to each be present.
It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit and principles of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/283,943, filed on Nov. 29, 2021 and entitled “DECONTAMINATION TANK AND METHOD FOR TREATING FOOD PRODUCTS,” the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63283943 | Nov 2021 | US |