JP2002332018A - Method and apparatus for sterilizing food packaging container or food filling system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus which enable sterilization of a surface of a food packaging container or a line pipe of a food filling system, equipment or an inside part of the container within a short period of time without increasing a concentration of a disinfectant or without a malign influence against the line pipe of the food filling system, equipment and an inner wall of it or the like without generating any irritating odor. SOLUTION: Chlorine-based disinfectant including hypochlorous acid with its pH adjusted to 4 to 8 is brought into contact, under a heated state of 40 deg.C to 80 deg.C, with either a surface of a food packaging container or a line pipe of a food filling system, equipment or an inside surface of the container.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to the surface of food packaging containers such as PET bottles and plastic cups filled with various foods and drinks such as drinking water, juice, oolong tea and milk coffee, or to the line piping, equipment or food filling system. Regarding the method and apparatus for disinfecting indoor surfaces, in particular, it has a constant disinfecting power against a wide variety of bacteria, is easy to handle, and corrodes the surfaces of line piping, equipment, rooms, etc. of food filling systems for a long time. There is no method and apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a PET bottle is sterilized using a peracetic acid-based disinfectant containing hydrogen peroxide, the PET bottle is disinfected by filling the PET bottle with a disinfectant. I have. After this sterilization, the filled sterilizer is discharged from the PET bottle, and the PET bottle is discharged.
The bottle is washed with sterile water (washing step) to remove the germicide in the PET bottle.

[0003] In order to prevent hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid from remaining after the above-mentioned washing step, there is a demand to reduce the concentration of hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid to be used. However, if the concentration of hydrogen peroxide or peracetic acid used is kept low, the disinfectant cannot exert a strong disinfecting effect, and if sufficient sterilization is to be performed, the disinfecting time will inevitably increase. Time uneconomics becomes a problem.

[0004] As a method for disinfecting a PET bottle which solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, there is an invention described in Japanese Patent No. 3080347. According to the sterilization method of the present invention, a peracetic acid-based disinfectant containing hydrogen peroxide and having a peracetic acid concentration of 1000 ppm to 1500 ppm is heated to 60 ° C. or higher, and is injected by a nozzle onto at least the inner surface of the PET bottle. .

[0005]

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Patent No. 3080347
The invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-260,197 discloses a method of heating a bactericide to 60 ° C. or higher, so that the concentration of the bactericide can be reduced in a short time without increasing the concentration of the bactericide.
Successfully sterilized the ET bottle. However, the disinfectant used in the present invention is a peracetic acid-based disinfectant mixed with hydrogen peroxide, and has strong acidity. , PH treatment, etc., so that there is a problem that the cost is increased. In addition, the bactericide has a pungent odor due to the peracetic acid system, and is difficult to store and handle, and cannot be easily handled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and does not increase the concentration of a disinfectant and can be applied to line piping, equipment, interior walls and the like of a food filling system. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus capable of sterilizing a food packaging container surface or a line piping, a device, or a room of a food filling system in a short time without causing an adverse effect or an irritating odor.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present inventors adjusted the pH of a chlorine-based germicide containing hypochlorous acid (HClO) to 4 to 8 on the surface to be sterilized and at 40 ° C to 40 ° C.
By heating to 80 ° C and bringing it into contact with the surface to be disinfected, it does not increase the concentration of the disinfectant, and may cause problems or irritating odors on the surface of the food filling system line piping, equipment, rooms, etc. The present inventors have discovered that a wide variety of bacteria can be sterilized, and have arrived at the present invention.

According to the method for sterilizing a food packaging container or a food filling system of the present invention which achieves the above object, the pH is adjusted to 4 to 8 on the surface of the food packaging container or the line piping, equipment or room of the food filling system. The method further comprises contacting the chlorinated bactericide containing hypochlorous acid at a temperature of 40 ° C to 80 ° C.

In one aspect of the present invention, the chlorine-containing fungicide containing hypochlorous acid has an effective chlorine concentration of 200 ppm to 20 ppm.
It is characterized by being adjusted to 00 ppm. In another aspect of the present invention, p is applied to the surface of a food packaging container or a line plumbing, equipment or room of a food filling system.
It is provided with a disinfectant contact means for contacting the hypochlorous acid-containing chlorine-containing disinfectant adjusted to 4 to 8 by spraying, dipping, spraying, or the like in a state of being heated to 40 ° C to 80 ° C. A sterilization device for a food packaging container or a food filling system is provided.

[0010] In another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided aseptic water contact means for washing the sterilizing agent contact surface with aseptic water by spraying, dipping, spraying or the like after contact with the hypochlorite-containing chlorine-based sterilizing agent. A sterilization device characterized by the following is provided.

[0011]

According to the present invention, the pH of a hypochlorite-containing chlorinated bactericide is adjusted to 4 to 8 and the bactericide is brought into contact with the surface to be sterilized while being heated to 40 to 80 ° C. It is possible to effectively sterilize a wide variety of bacterial species without increasing the concentration of the bacteria. In particular, by setting the pH of the disinfectant near neutral, the maximum disinfecting effect can be obtained, and since the pH of the disinfectant is near neutral, no special device is required for waste liquid treatment. In addition, it can be handled easily with little pungent odor. Furthermore, the object to be sterilized can be extended not only to food packaging containers, but also to line piping, equipment, or indoor surfaces of a food filling system.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The bactericide used in the present invention has a pH adjusted to 4 to 8 and a temperature of 40 ° C to 80 ° C.
It is a hypochlorite-containing chlorinated fungicide heated to ℃. The disinfectant preferably has little pungent odor and does not undergo any special treatment for waste liquid treatment. In addition, as a method for obtaining this disinfectant, it can be obtained using sodium hypochlorite, chlorine gas, ash powder, sodium dichloroisocyanurate, or the like.

The hypochlorite-containing chlorinated fungicide of the present invention comprises:
In order to suppress the generation of chlorine gas and to adjust the pH of the disinfectant to near neutral from the viewpoint of obtaining a safe and good disinfection effect, the pH is adjusted to 4 to 8 using a pH adjuster. pH
5-8 are preferred, pH 5-7 is more preferred, and especially p
H6 or more and less than 7 are preferable. In particular, it is desirable to adjust the pH immediately before the disinfectant is brought into contact with the object to be disinfected. The pH regulator used for this purpose is preferably a food additive such as succinic acid, citric acid, gluconic acid, L-tartaric acid and the like.

The hypochlorite-containing chlorinated fungicide of the present invention must be heated to 40 ° C. or higher.
Further, it is preferable that the temperature is raised above 50 ° C., and it is most preferable that the temperature is raised to a range of 65 ° C. to 80 ° C.

[0015] The hypochlorous acid-containing chlorine-based disinfectant of the present invention comprises:
The effective chlorine concentration is preferably from 200 ppm to 2000 ppm, and more preferably from 200 ppm to 600 ppm.

The hypochlorite-containing chlorine-based disinfectant of the present invention is preferably brought into continuous contact with the surface of the object to be disinfected for 10 seconds or more, particularly preferably for 60 to 120 seconds. The hypochlorite-containing chlorinated fungicide of the present invention is effective against a wide variety of bacteria by adjusting the pH and heating.
In the case of Cillus circulans, it was found that the bacteria did not die even when contacted at normal temperature for 120 seconds, and that the sterilization could be sterilized in a short time of about 60 seconds by preheating the disinfectant to 65 ° C. or higher. Therefore, in order to exert a more sufficient bactericidal effect, it is necessary to sufficiently examine not only the pH of the bactericide but also the heating time, and also the contact time.

The object to be sterilized in the present invention is the inner and outer surfaces of food packaging containers such as PET bottles and plastic cups.

In the PET bottle aseptic filling system, aseptic water lines in the bottle rinser, caps in the cap sterilizer, aseptic water lines in the cap rinse chute, equipment installed in the filling room, and the interior surfaces of the room, etc. Be subject to sterilization. In addition, the present invention can be applied to an aseptic filling system such as a plastic cup aseptic filling system and a hot pack filling system, in addition to a PET bottle aseptic filling system.

Since the bactericide of the present invention is a hypochlorite-containing chlorinated bactericide whose pH has been adjusted to near neutrality, a small amount of the bactericide remains on the inner surface of the food packaging container after the sterilization. There is no particular harm to the human body, and depending on the type of food to be filled, the washing process of the food packaging container with sterile water after the sterilization process can be omitted, which has a great effect on shortening the manufacturing process and saving the manufacturing cost. .

In order to further improve the bactericidal effect,
A small amount of a surfactant can be added to the germicide to use as a mixed germicide.

Hereinafter, as an embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the sterilization method according to the present invention, an apparatus in which the present invention is applied to a PET bottle aseptic filling system will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, a PET bottle aseptic filling system 1 is provided with a PET bottle transfer device 2 constituted by a belt conveyor or the like, and a sterilization chamber 3 is filled from upstream to downstream in the bottle transfer direction. Room 4
It has. The sterilization chamber 3 and the filling chamber 4 are each maintained at a sterility level of class 10000. In the sterilization chamber 3, a bottle sterilizer 5 and a bottle rinser 6 are provided from the upstream side.
The filling chamber 4 is provided with a filler 7, a temporary winding machine 8, and a capper 9 from the upstream side.
Reference numeral 20 denotes an operation room.

The bottle sterilizer 5 constituting the germicide contact means of the sterilizer according to the present invention is for sterilizing the inner surface or both the inner surface and the outer surface of the PET bottle. The system disinfectant is brought into contact with the surface of the PET bottle to be disinfected. The bottle sterilizer 5 is supplied with a disinfectant from a disinfectant supply tank 12 via a pipe 11, and the bottle sterilizer 5 includes a first nozzle 10 and a second nozzle 10 attached to the pipe 11, as shown in FIG. Sterilization is performed by spraying a sterilizing agent from the nozzle 20 onto surfaces to be sterilized such as the bottom inner surface 31, the bottom outer surface 32, and the inner surface 33 of the peripheral wall of the inverted PET bottle 30. Further, the bottle sterilizer 5 may be configured so that the PET bottle is immersed in a germicide tank filled with a germicide, or the germicide is sprayed on the surface of the PET bottle to be sterilized to perform the sterilization. The sterilization time is preferably about 10 seconds to 120 seconds.

Aseptic water is supplied to the bottle rinser 6 from a sterile water tank 14 installed in a sterile atmosphere via a pipe 13. The bottle rinser 6 is provided with a sterile water injection nozzle (not shown), and injects sterile water into the sterilized PET bottle to wash away the sterilizing agent remaining on the PET bottle surface. Thereafter, the PET bottle is supplied to the filler 7 while returning to the upright state again. Bottle rinser 6, piping 1
3. The aseptic water tank 14 and the aseptic water injection nozzle constitute aseptic water contact means of the apparatus according to the present invention.

The filler 7 is a device for filling a PET bottle with a drink such as drinking water or juice, and a drink is supplied from a drink tank 16 via a pipe 15. The PET bottle cap discharged from the cap supply device 17, sterilized by the mixed germicide in the cap sterilizer 18, and washed by the cap rinse chute 19 is supplied to the temporary winding machine 8. The temporary winding machine 8 places the supplied cap on the head of the filled PET bottle immediately after being discharged from the filler, rotates the cap lightly to perform temporary winding, and then sends the cap to the capper 9. The capper 9 fastens the cap tightly and fixes it to the PET bottle.

The PET bottle is supplied from a PET bottle supply source (not shown) to the bottle sterilizer 5 in the sterilization chamber 3 by the PET bottle transport device 2, and the germicide is sprayed, immersed, or sprayed. It is brought into contact with the surface to be sterilized for a predetermined time. The sterilized PET bottle is sent to the downstream bottle rinser 6, where the sterilizer is washed off with sterile water. Next, the PET bottle is sent to the filler 7 in the filling chamber 4 and filled with the beverage. The PET bottle filled with the beverage is temporarily wound with the cap by the temporary winding machine 8, and finally the cap is wound with the capper 9, and is conveyed out of the system.

The above shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a PET bottle aseptic filling system. When the present invention is applied to a plastic cup filling system, the PET bottle is replaced with a plastic cup and a cap. It is only necessary to change the lid material and the capper to a sealer (a temporary winding machine becomes unnecessary).

[0028]

EXAMPLES (Example 1) In order to show the effectiveness of this sterilization method, the sterilization effect was determined by taking the sterilization effect on the inner surface of a PET bottle as an example in food packaging materials, line piping, equipment or indoor surfaces. .

As a method of preparing a bactericide, one of chlorine-based bactericides is prepared by diluting sodium hypochlorite with water as follows.
A preparation (bactericide) containing a sufficient amount of acid in the final use solution so as to obtain H was prepared.

The test bacterium was attached to the inner surface of the PET bottle so as to have a density of 10 ⁴ cfu / bottle (target) and was subjected to PET under the following test conditions.
The inside of the bottle was sterilized. The sterilized bottle was filled with a medium (bacterial spore; standard liquid medium), capped with a sterile cap, and stored for 1 week (bacterial spore; standard liquid medium).
The bactericidal effect of the adherent bacteria was determined by visually determining the medium after storage. In the table, + indicates that adherent bacteria survived, and-indicates that no adherent bacteria survived.

[0031]

[Table 1]

[0032]

[Table 2]

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, the pH of the hypochlorous acid-containing chlorine-based disinfectant is adjusted to 4 to 8 and the surface of the disinfection target is heated to 40 ° C. or more. By contacting, sterilization can be performed in a very short time without increasing the concentration of the germicide. Also, the disinfectant pH
Is 4 to 8, the maximum sterilizing effect can be obtained, and further, no special device is required for waste liquid treatment, and it is easy to handle with little pungent odor. And the sterilization target is not limited to food packaging containers,
It can also be extended to line plumbing, equipment or indoor surfaces of food filling systems.

Further, since the germicide of the present invention is harmless to the human body, the washing step of the food packaging container with sterile water after the germicidal step can be omitted depending on the type of food to be filled, and the manufacturing step can be shortened. And it can contribute to saving of manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of an apparatus for performing the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a method for sterilizing a plastic bottle according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Bottle sterilizer (disinfectant contact device) 6 Bottle rinser 7 Filler 8 Temporary tightening machine 9 Capper

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Chikako Sunohara 1-1-70 Yamu, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Toyo Seikan Co., Ltd. Technology Headquarters (72) Inventor Shigeru Sakai 1 Yamu, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 1-70, Toyo Seikan Co., Ltd.Technology Division In the laboratory (72) Inventor Noboru Matsuo 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama Pref.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A pH of 4 to 4 is set on the surface of a food packaging container or a line of a food filling system, equipment or a room.
Hypochlorous acid-containing chlorine-based disinfectant adjusted to 8
A method for sterilizing a food packaging container or a food filling system, wherein the method is brought into contact with the food packaging container at a temperature of 80 ° C. 2. The sterilizing method according to claim 1, wherein the effective chlorine concentration of said hypochlorite-containing chlorine-based disinfectant is adjusted to 200 ppm to 2000 ppm. 3. A pH of 4 to 8 on the surface of the food packaging container or the line piping, equipment or room of the food filling system.
Hypochlorous acid-containing chlorinated fungicide adjusted to 40 ° C ~ 8
A sterilizing device for a food packaging container or a food filling system, comprising: a sterilizing agent contacting means for contacting by spraying, dipping, spraying, or the like while being heated to 0 ° C. 4. A sterile water contacting means for washing a sterilizing agent contact surface with sterile water by spraying, dipping, spraying or the like after contact with a hypochlorite-containing chlorine-based sterilizing agent. The disinfection device according to the above.