IL25958A - Apparatus and process for pasteurizing egg products - Google Patents

Description

PATENT ATTORNEYS REINHOLD COHN MICHAEL COHN ISRAEL SHACHTER 24745 PATENTS AND DESIGNS ORDINANCE SPECIFICATION Apparatus and process for pasteurizing egg products BALMS a corporation of State of of 40 North 2nd do declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement This invention relates to consumed by and to the of such matter for various purposes including rendering the same suitable for combination with other for to render the same ready for and relates to method and apparatus employed in such The invention relates particularly to egg products to the treatment of such egg to the removal of deleterious pathogenic organisms such as and to the reducing of such eggs to powder form as is common for the preservation and delayed use of the The problem of adequately processing foods in order to facilitate the killing of pathogenic bacteria and rendering the product fit for consumption with a minimum deterioration of the functional quality of the finished product has been indeed perplexing to the food The advent of food technology and microbiology has served to eliminate and control of the problems encountered by industry an excellent example of which raents is in the dairy Heat either by itself or combined with another has probably become most widely used method for the killing of bacteria in One of the greatest drawbacks with the use of heat is best illustrated in its applications to the heat labile egg Present methods of heating egg whites prior to pasteurization quire an adjustment of the This tion of the raw whites is done to stabilize the and the viscosity of the whites at erate heating The addition of and inum salts is required to stabilize the conalbumin Without these recommended adjustments and additions to the egg undesirable changes will occur to the physical properties as a result of the There are distinct disadvantages in this method of stabilislns the whites prior to heat The used to stabilize the e can an accelerated growth rate the 10 small number of organisms that survive the heating Whole to be pasteurised may undergo without the necessary additions required by whites The fact that the whole egg can be without coagulation may be attributed to its lower and to the fact that there is enough iron already present in the yolk to react with the and thus stabilize the egg white portion of the whole the cessor would want a product after would retain most of its raw properties yet free of an 0 viable Salmonell Prior to the present tion onl one of these criteria could be at one time with any degree of It is an object of the invention to provide a relatively method of an apparatus for the heat cessing or pasteurization of egg including egg in a practical and efficient manner effectively destroying Salmonella and other undesirable organisms out altering the characteristics of the Another object of the invention is to provide a of and an apparatus for the heat processing and teurization of eggs and egg products utilizing in addition to a high temperature plate or other type of a vacuum to remove air which insulates the egg terial from the heat in the thus enabling the effective kill of heat stabile Salmonella at lower tures and insuring more intimate and thorough heat treatment or at least minimizing any coagulation of the egg products or plate burn due primarily to the natural foaming qualities of whites during the heat Another object of the invention is to provide a method of and an apparatus for processing or isation of eggs which not only takes into consideration heat stabile Salmonella organisms and their relation to the cipal properties of the processed eggs but also takes into consideration another and no less important condition the overall bacterial quality of the fnished product in view of the heating limitation that the whites require to reduce the total bacteria count without overheating and A further object of the invention is to use a system which includes a vacuum a teurizer with a heatin unit or a and a and also equipped with a holding of an appropriate size as determined by the holding time required having an automatic flow diversion valve adjusted to temperature near check valves and a sealed vacuum Other objects and advantages will be apparent the following description to be considered in tion with the drawings layout of an air removal and ising system in accordance with the present a somewhat different layout of the same systems a so ewha different layout of a system for the same result but with the sealed chamber in the system following the irst heating a somewhat different layout of the system of Briefly the inventio is an apparatus and process for the pasteurization of egg products to pathogenic as Salmonella and others from egg whites and includes removal of excess air which would tend to insulate and interfere with The invention also includes the of the egg whites or other egg products to heat to produce pasteurization and the combination and use of elements in the apparatus in a manne to produce the desired The apparatus includes means for maintaining a low liquid level the vacuum for removing liquid against the operation of the the controlling of the removal from the vacuum the arrangement of the heating and cooling units heat exchange of maximum as well as the maintenance of the product at the desired temperature for a sufficient length of during the the practice of the invention there is vided a system which includes a feed or supply tank 10 for containing the egg whites or egg products to be pasteurized or otherwise This tank preferably is of stainless steel or nay be of plastic or of any other desired it being necessary that the entire system terior surface inert to In this tank the egg whites or egg products to be treated are introduced at a temperature of approximately or approved operating The product is drawn this tank 10 through a discharge line 11 by means of a pump 12 and the product discharged through a line 13 for such line being with a check valve permitting flow only one The system of the present Invention may a sealed vacuum chamber the upper portion of which may connect with the 13 in the or the uum chamber may be located further along in the system after a heating The chambe 15 is reduced as near as possible to a perfect it having bee found that in the process pasteurization much useless and ine ient work is performed when air and gases are present while on the other hand in pasteurization the absence of air and most efficient work can be accomplished and at a lower Referring to the first system of 1 and a jet type 16 is connected by a line 17 with the upper end of the vacuum 15 is a elongated cylinder with its axis being provided for maintaining a liquid level 18 within the lower end of by suitable which may include a float 19 may include other which will hereina ter be Liquid is removed through a line 20 the chamber by means of a removal puzap 21 and liquid said pump is discharged through a line a throttle or volume control valve a check valve and a line 25 into a timing from which it is discharged through a line 27 into a regenerating unit 28 with a heater holding tube and chiller 31 constitute the principal of the The timing pump 26 is correlated with the removal pump 21 in a manner to maintain the level 18 in the vacuum Liquid discharged by timing pump will pass into the regenerator at approximately the temperature of the liquid i the feed or supply where temperature will be subjected to heat raise its temperature from F to The liquid at this elevated temperature will pass through an opening into the heater 29 where its temperature will be elevated to approximately Liquid F will be retained in a holding tube 30 for approximately minutes to effect killing of the Salmonella or other undesirable After its retention in the holding tube the liquid will pass through a diversion valve 32 where any liquid below the temperature will be returned through a line 33 to the feed or supply tank while quid at the temperature will be returned through a line 34 to the regenerator 28 where it will into heat exchange relation with liquid entering through the supply 27 at thus reducing the F ture back to near after which the liquid will pass through a passage into the chiller 31 where the temperature will be further reduced to a temperature of approximately F prior to discharge the cooling unit through a line As stated instead of the liquid from the supply or feed tank being discharged directly into the chaos ber 15 it may be discharged directly into the regenerator 28 as illustrated in and the regenerator the liquid may low through the line 13 and check valve 14 to the vacuum chamber Thereafte liquid may driven the vacuum through the line 20 by means of removal pump 21 whence it can pass through line throttle valve check valve and line 25 to the ing pump 26 and then through a lin to the heater heater 29 the liquid can flow into the holding tube 30 then to the diversion valve 32 with liquid that is too cold passing directly through line 33 to the feed or supply tank and liquid at the proper temperature can pass through line 34 and then into the regenerator 28 and then through a direct connection into the chiller and be discharged therefrom through line Practice of the invention with the vacuum chamber before and after the regenerating chamber has been tried to the ect of the temperature o air removal either procedure being The more air the more thorough was the heating at a given The egg whites used in the initial study freshly all were taken from the same lot and they were in three holding tanks weighing pounds each and chilled to a temperature of approximately P to evaluate the terialogical properties of the process with suspension of known concentrations of organisms mixed and added to two of the three pound The uncontaminated tank of egg whites was processed by the method of and 2 A raw sample was taken as well as three samples during the process at varying temperatures and rates of The results of these samplings TABLE I SALMONELLA TOTAL DESCRIPTION ISOLATION COUNT COUNT Uncontaminated 10 heat treated Uncontaminated 10 heat treated Uncontaminated heat treated Heat Hold The second holding tank to be processed the first was contaminated with a mixed culture Salmonella and agitated for 2 Raw samples were and samplings were throughout the The tabulated results are present in Table 2 as TABLE 2 SALMONELLA TOTAL COLIFORM DESCRIPTION ISOLATION COUNT COUNT TNC control prior to heat Contaminated 830 10 heat treated Heat Hold Contaminated 780 10 treated 1 Heat Hold Contaminated raw sample Contaminated 650 10 heat treated Heat Hold TNC sample Contaminated 10 heat treated Hold Heat Contaminated raw sample Contaminated 10 heat treated Hold Heat At this point the apparatus and rinsed before disassembling and arranging for the of the charaber after the regenerator A before was taken from the 3rd tank contaminated and Further samplings the egg whites were taken after during the at intervals of varied rates of flow and These results are presented in Table 3 as TAB S 3 SALMONELLA TOTAL NUMBER DESCRIPTION ISOLATION COUNT Uncontaminated TNC control Raw Tripolyphosphate Triacetin Uncontaminated TNC Control Raw Contaminated 10 Heat treated Hold Contaminated 10 Heat treated F Hold Contaminated 10 Heat treated Hold Heat treated Hold Contaminated TNC Raw Contaminated 10 Heat treated Hold The results thus in readily show the effectiveness of this apparatus It s found that the second method effected a kill than the and that physical properties of the eggs appeared more exactly where the bacteria were being killed the second a series of pet cocks attached to the apparatus at varied A fourth lot of whites and during the process samplings were raw after regeneration before vacuum chamber after regeneration and vacuum chamber before heat at valve chilled The results of are in Table 4 on the following TABLE 4 DESCRIPTION ISOLATION COUNT COUNT Control After regeneration TNC Before vacuum After regeneration TNC and treatment After heat 10 at valve Final product 10 After regeneration TNC Before chamber After regeneration TNC and treatment After heat 10 ment at valve Final product 10 V7ater Before 10 Water After 10 results of running vshites through air at heat side afte the regenerator section are sented in Table as TABLE 5 TANK SALMONELLA TOTAL NUMBER DESCRIPTION ISOLATION COUNT COUNT Raw liquid egs whites broken sent to out cooling liquid to Liquid after beginning of tank Liquid whites after middle of Liquid whites after bottom of tank run at at flow rate of on Sample and at on 3 and Liquid whites after at and flow TANK liquid whites before Liquid whites after of tank Liquid whites after of tank Liquid whites after bottom of tank to preceding Table At pasteurization temperature of hold minutes kill based on total count was and at for utes the kill was At a of for hold the kill based on total count was Since no Salmonella was found in liquid we cannot determine effectiveness on It will be apparent the foregoing that atus and process or method are provided for the treatment of egg products at a low heat to the functional thereof while at the time effectively stroying Salmonella and other undesirable By means of the apparatus and process set forth air and gases are removed from the and tha product is heat with such heat treatment simplified by tha absence of air and gases rendering unnecessary the use of stabilization It will be apparent from the foregoing that changes in the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope therefore the invention is not limited to that which illustrated i the drawings and described in the speci cation but only as indicated in the accompanying insufficientOCRQuality

Claims (11)

s

1. A process for treating, egg products to destroy deleterious pathogenic organisms which includes removing a major portion of the trapped air in the egg products while they are at a temperature below that at which they coagulate and pasteurising the egg products*

2. Process according to Claim 1» wherein the trapped air is removed by subjecting the egg products to a partial vacuum.

3. * Process according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the pasteurisation temperature is maintained for approximately 3£ minutes.

4. Process according to any preceding claim, wherein the egg products are egg whites.

5. Process according to any preceding claim wherein the egg products are subjected to a pre-pasteurisation heat treatment at 40°F. £o 104°P.

6. Process according to any one of claims X to 5» wherein the egg products are subjected to a pre-pasteurisation heat treatment by passing them in heat exchange with the pasteurised egg -and- products and in which the trapped air is removed by subjecting the egg products to a partial vacuum between the pre-pasteurisation heat treatment and the pasteurising step.

7. A process according to Claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. Θ.

8. Egg products treated by a process claimed in any preceding claim. o - 16 -

9. An apparatus for pasteutfeing liquid egg products comprising a regenerator having a first part for pre-heating the egg product prior to pasteurisation in heat exchange with a second part for cooling the product after pasteurisation, a pasteurising heater and holding tubes connected in series between the first generator part and the second /generator part, means for cooling the product after it is discharged from the second regenerator part, and means for subjecting the product to a partial vacuum before the product is subjected to the action of the pasteurising heater.

10. * Apparatus according to Claim 9 wherein the last mentioned means is located between the first regenerator part and the pasteurising heater.

11. An apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. For the Applicants SR. REH5H0LD COHN AND PARTNERS