JPH03275426A - Sterilization of container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sterilize outer surface of bulk packed containers by a method wherein the containers are wrapped with temporary packing material and hydrogen peroxide is made to exist within a substantially sealed space formed by the temporary packing material and the outer surfaces of the containers. CONSTITUTION:A prescribed number of stages of plastic containers 10 are placed with a separate sheet 12 interposed between each of the stages, the upper surface of the plastic containers 10 on the top stage is covered with another separate sheet 12 and an upper frame 13, and plastic bands 15 bind the whole to form a bound body. The bound body is surrounded and covered by a stretch film 14, an upper film 16 and the like so that the inside of the package can be airtight. Hydrogen peroxide is made to exist within a substantially sealed space formed by a temporary packing material and the outer surfaces of the containers 10. In this instance, hydrogen peroxide of 1 to 35% is usually employed, and the volume of the hydrogen peroxide is preferably 0.1g per 1m<2> or more. The most simple and effective method to make hydrogen peroxide exist within the space is to use separate sheets attached on both surfaces with hydrogen peroxide as the separate sheets 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for sterilizing containers, and particularly to a method for sterilizing the outer surface of containers such as plastic bottles and cans.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, P has been used as a packaging container for various food and drink products.
Plastic containers such as ET bottles and cans have become widely used. Generally, such plastic containers, etc. are manufactured in a manufacturing factory and then stacked in several tiers on a pallet with paper or plastic sheets called separate sheets interposed between them, and the outer periphery is wrapped in a plastic film. It is packaged in a form called packaging and delivered to a food and beverage filling factory.

On the other hand, when food and drink products are filled in aseptic conditions using these plastic containers, after the above-mentioned bulk packaging is opened, both the inner and outer surfaces of the plastic container are sterilized in the filling system. In this case, it is desirable that the degree of bacterial contamination of the containers carried into the filling system be as low as possible in order to ensure the sterility of the food and drink and to prevent the filling system from being contaminated by microorganisms.

As a method for preventing microbial contamination of containers manufactured in a manufacturing factory, for example, the method described in JP-A-63-82930 is already known, and the applicant has also disclosed a method for sterilizing molded containers in JP-A-1-16371. Publication, JP-A-1-25452
The method described in Publication No. 3 has already been proposed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above-mentioned method, the object of microbial contamination prevention or sterilization is limited to the inner surface of the container, and no measures are taken against bacteria adhering to the outer surface of the container. Therefore, when transporting containers into the filling system,
There was a problem in that the filling system could be contaminated by bacteria adhering to the outer surface of the container.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a container sterilization method that can sterilize the outer surface of bulk-packaged containers before they are introduced into a filling system. The purpose is to provide.

[Means to solve the problem]

To achieve this objective, the method for sterilizing the outer surface of a packaging container of the present invention involves surrounding the container with a temporary wrapping material and making hydrogen peroxide solution exist in a substantially sealed space formed by the temporary wrapping material and the outer surface of the container. It was configured as follows.

[Effect]

According to the present invention having the above configuration, the hydrogen peroxide solution existing in the substantially sealed space surrounded by the temporary packaging material evaporates and acts on the outer surface of the container, killing bacteria attached to the outer surface of the container. annihilate. This allows the container to be delivered to the filling factory with the outer surface of the container in a substantially sterile state.

Furthermore, since the hydrogen peroxide vapor decomposes after a predetermined period of time, it does not remain on the outer surface of the container during use.

〔Example〕

An embodiment embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a packaging state of a bulk package for carrying out the container sterilization method according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, plastic containers 10 are typically placed on a pallet 11.
A plurality of containers are placed regularly through, for example, a separate sheet 12 as a separating member, and the first stage container placement is completed. Next, the first container placement is completed in this way.
A plurality of plastic containers 10 are placed above the tier with a separate sheet 12 interposed therebetween, and a second tier is similarly formed. Thereafter, plastic containers 10 are similarly placed on the required number of stages.

When a predetermined number of stages of plastic containers 10 have been placed,
After the upper surface of the uppermost plastic container 10 is covered with a separate sheet 12 and an upper frame 13, the pallet 11 and the upper frame 13 are bound together by a pallet binding plastic band 15, as shown in the figure, to form a bundle. Thereafter, this bundle is surrounded and covered with temporary wrapping materials such as the stretch film 14 and the upper film 16. That is, the side surfaces of the bundle are covered with stretch film 14, and the top surface of the bundle is covered with upper film 16. Such bulk packaging (stretch film 14 and upper film 16) ensures airtightness within the package.

A hydrogen peroxide solution is allowed to exist in a substantially sealed space within this bulk packaging, that is, a substantially sealed space formed by the temporary packaging material and the outer surface of the container. In the present invention, 1 to 35% hydrogen peroxide solution is usually used. The amount of hydrogen peroxide used is preferably 0.1 g or more per 1 m 9 , and the upper limit is not particularly limited as long as the hydrogen peroxide is completely evaporated when the package is opened. In the present invention, any method can be used to make the hydrogen peroxide solution exist in the packaged space, but the above-mentioned bulk packaging is performed using the separate sheet 12 with hydrogen peroxide solution adhered to both sides. This is the simplest and most effective method.

Experimental example The present invention will be further specifically explained below by giving experimental examples.

188 PET bottles for 1.51 are placed on each stage,
The above-mentioned bulk packaging was performed by stacking six layers. During this bulk packaging, as shown in FIG. 2, aluminum pieces 24 each have 103 Bacillus subtilis spores attached to the outer surfaces of the neck 21, body 22, and bottom 23 of the container 20.
Two or three containers pasted with the material were inserted into each row at arbitrary locations.

As a separate sheet, a 10% hydrogen peroxide solution was applied to both sides of the sheet using a two-fluid spray nozzle so that the amount of adhesion was 5 g/m'. To check the amount of hydrogen peroxide adhering to the separate sheet, spray hydrogen peroxide with a 10 cm square polyester film placed on the separate sheet, peel off the polyester film, and wash with 500 cc of pure water. , by quantifying the hydrogen peroxide concentration in the cleaning solution.

In addition, as a comparison sample, bulk packaging was also created using a separate sheet to which no hydrogen peroxide solution was attached. Regarding the preparation of this comparative sample, the conditions other than the separate sheet were the same as those for the above-mentioned bulk packaging of the present invention.

After leaving these bulk packages at 25°C for 2 days, the packages were unwound, the aluminum pieces previously attached to the outside of the PET bottle were collected aseptically, and this was placed in a trypto soy broth medium. The cells were cultured at 37°C for 7 days, and the presence or absence of viable bacteria was determined.

The results are shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Culture results *However, 0/15 means that out of 15 samples, there were 0 samples in which bacteria remained. According to the results of Table 1, according to the present invention, the neck of the PET bottle,
It was found that complete sterilization was possible in both the body and the bottom, and it became clear that both the outside and the outside of the container could be completely sterilized.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, the outer surface of the container in bulk packaging is already sterilized at the time of delivery to the filling factory.

Therefore, it is possible to minimize the microbial contamination of the filling system, which is the next process, and to simplify the sterilization of the outer surface of the container in the filling system.

20...PET bottle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method for sterilizing a container, which comprises surrounding the container with a temporary packaging material and allowing hydrogen peroxide solution to exist in a substantially sealed space formed by the temporary packaging material and the outer surface of the container. . 2. Sterilization of containers, which is characterized by surrounding containers stacked in several tiers with a temporary packaging material via isolation members, and causing hydrogen peroxide solution to exist in a substantially sealed space surrounded by the temporary packaging material. Method. 3. The method for sterilizing containers according to claim 2, characterized in that an isolation member is used which has been sprayed with hydrogen peroxide solution in advance.