JPH03280867A - Method for manufacturing liquid food - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for producing a liquid food that includes high-pressure sterilization in the process, and particularly to a method for producing a liquid food that is injected and filled into a package.

[Conventional technology]

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, various liquid foods that are injected and filled into packages have been distributed, but liquid foods are required to be sterilized from the viewpoint of hygiene and preservation. As a method for sterilizing a liquid food that is filled and held in a package, there is a method of filling a sterilized package with a liquid food that has been sterilized in advance. However, in this method, in addition to sterilizing the liquid food and the package, it is also necessary to maintain the manufacturing equipment and the manufacturing environment in a constant sterile state, resulting in high manufacturing costs. Furthermore, sterilization of liquid foods is carried out by means such as heating, irradiation with radiation, or ultraviolet rays, but there are also problems such as deterioration of quality and loss of texture and nutrients due to heat.

In response to this, a method (retort sterilization method) has been developed in which a sealed package filled with unsterilized liquid food is sterilized by heating and pressurizing it as it is.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the retort sterilization method, the packaging body is required to have heat resistance, which increases manufacturing costs.
There has been a problem in that heating causes deterioration in the quality of liquid foods, and a decrease in texture and nutritional content.

In order to solve these problems, a high-pressure sterilization method has been proposed in recent years, in which objects are sterilized by high pressure (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-66862, etc.). This high-pressure sterilization method applies high pressure to the target object via a pressurized medium to sterilize it.
It has a high bactericidal effect.

Therefore, it is not necessary to heat the object to a high temperature, so that the quality of the object does not deteriorate, the texture or the nutritional content of the object decreases, and the manufacturing cost can be kept low. However, there are restrictions on the packaging because it is required to withstand high-pressure sterilization. Furthermore, it is currently technically difficult to continuously perform high-pressure sterilization treatment, and a batch treatment method has to be used, which has the problem of inferior productivity compared to retort sterilization methods. Additionally, although it is possible to increase productivity by increasing the amount of high-pressure sterilization processed at one time using a batch processing method, there is a problem in that equipment costs become enormous as the high-pressure processing equipment becomes larger. . Furthermore, storing a large amount of liquid food that has been sterilized by high-pressure sterilization in advance in a storage tank and producing liquid food as a final product as needed has the problem that cleaning and maintenance of the storage tank is complicated. there were.

The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and includes high-pressure sterilization treatment in the process, and allows high productivity to be obtained even with a batch processing method. The purpose is to provide a method for producing food.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a plurality of bags each having a spout, at least one of which has two or more spouts, filled with a liquid food and sealed. After that, a first step of sequentially high-pressure sterilizing each bag with a pressurized medium, and a spout of one bag having two or more spouts among the plurality of bags that have undergone high-pressure sterilization. A first sterilized outlet member is connected to one of the bags, and the other outlet of the bag body is connected to the outlet of the other bag body through a communication member which is previously sterilized. 2 and a step 'jlE3 of injecting and filling the liquid foods in the plurality of bags into the package which has been previously sterilized through the take-out member.

[Effect]

A plurality of bags each having a spout are filled and sealed with liquid food, and at least one of these bags has two
Equipped with the above spout, each bag is sequentially pressurized at high pressure in a pressurized medium, and high pressure is applied to the liquid food inside through the bag, sterilizing the liquid food. To,
A take-out member that has been sterilized in advance is connected to one of the spout ports of one bag body having two or more spout ports, and the other bag body to which this take-out member is connected The spout and the spouts of the other plurality of bags are connected through a communication member, and the liquid foods in the plurality of bags are injected and filled into the packaging body which has been sterilized in advance through the ejection member. . Therefore, it is possible to increase the capacity of sterilized liquid foods by connecting multiple bags that have been subjected to high-pressure sterilization of liquid foods using a batch processing method using a communication member. storage tank is formed,
Liquid food can be injected and filled into packages when needed to produce a large amount of liquid food as a final product, improving the productivity of liquid foods injected into packages and filling liquid foods. Since the package itself to be stored does not undergo a high-pressure sterilization process, resistance to high-pressure sterilization is not required, and the materials that can be used for the package can be greatly expanded and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bag used in the present invention, and the second
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the connection of each bag and the injection and filling of the liquid food inside the bag into the package. In FIG. 1, the bag body 1 is the main body 2.
and two spouts 3a and 3b provided in the main body 2. After the air inside the bag 1 is removed and the liquid food is filled, the bag 1 is subjected to high-pressure sterilization treatment in a pressurized medium such as water, and the liquid food inside is subjected to high pressure through the main body 2. It is for sterilizing. The main body 2 is preferably a packaging material that is flexible at least in part and has resistance to pressurized media, trauma resistance, and pinhole resistance, such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer ( A laminate packaging material having at least one inner layer made of EVA) can be used.

The structure of the main body 2 may be a side seal type, a central palm seal type, a square bottom type, etc., and the shape can be determined as appropriate.

The spouts 3a and 3b are arranged on the main body 2 by gluing, fusing, or attaching via a member.

The spouts 3a and 3b are used to fill the main body 2 with liquid food, to form communication between the bags, which will be described later, and to pour out the liquid food in the main body 2 into the package 15.

The pouring ports 3a and 3b have a sealing function after filling the liquid food, a connecting function for the takeout pipe 10 when pouring the liquid food into the package 15, and a communication member for forming communication between the bags. It has 11 connection functions. As such spouts 3a and 3b, various known spout members can be used. In addition, in the illustrated example, two
Although two spouts are provided, they may be provided on different surfaces, and there is no particular restriction on the positional relationship between the two spouts.

Such a main body 2 and two spouts 3a.

As the bag 1 provided with the bag 3b, a known bag such as a bag commercially available as a bag-in-box can be used.

Next, the manufacturing method of the present invention using the bag as described above will be explained step by step.

First, the air inside the plurality of bags 1 is removed.

This air removal may be performed by sucking air from the spout 3a or 3b, or by pressing the main body 2 to expel the air. At this stage, the bag body 1 does not need to be sterilized. This is because the bag body 1 is also sterilized along with the liquid food in the high-pressure sterilization process in the post-process. Next, liquid food is filled into the main body 2 through the spout 3a or 3b of each bag 1, and the spouts 3a and 3b are sealed. Then, each bag 1 is placed in a pressurized medium of a high-pressure processing device and sequentially subjected to high-pressure sterilization treatment. In this high-pressure sterilization process, high pressure is applied to the liquid food through the main body 2 of the bag 1 to sterilize it, and the bag 1 is also sterilized at the same time. As the high-pressure processing device, various known high-pressure processing devices such as one using a reciprocating pump can be used. Further, the pressurizing medium can be appropriately selected from among water, silicone oil, etc. depending on the type of contents, the method of using the package, etc.

In addition, the high pressure sterilization conditions in the present invention include a pressure of 1000
kgl/atd or more, preferably 3000-5000
kgl/al, and the temperature is about 0°C to 80°C. In this way, in the present invention, there is no need to heat the contents to a high temperature, so there is no deterioration in the quality of the contents, or a decrease in texture or nutrients. Moreover, the pressurization time is preferably about 3 seconds to about 60 degrees, and the pressure may be applied continuously or intermittently within this time. When pressurizing intermittently, the pressurization time for one time is preferably 3 seconds to about 30 degrees, the time for one time depressurization is preferably 2 seconds to about 10 degrees, and the pressure during depressurization is 1000 kgl/cd or less. It is preferable to do so. By applying pressure intermittently in this way, even higher sterilization effects can be obtained.

After the high-pressure sterilization process is completed as described above, one end of the take-out pipe 10 is connected to the spout 3a of one bag 1a as shown in FIG. 2 in a sterile atmosphere, and the other end of the take-out pipe 10 is The end is inserted into a package 15 for filling and storing high-pressure sterilized liquid food.

Further, a communication pipe 11 is connected to the spout 3b of this bag 1a and the spout 3a of the other bag 1b, so that the bodies of the bags 1a and 1b are communicated with each other. A plurality of bags 1 are connected by a communication pipe 11, such as the spout 3b of the bag 1b and the spout 3a of the other bag 1c. As a result, even if only one bag can be sterilized in one high-pressure sterilization process, a storage tank with a large capacity several times or tens of times the capacity of one bag is formed. In addition, a take-out pipe 10, a communication pipe 11, and a package 1
No. 5 is used that has been sterilized in advance by using chemicals, heated steam, ultraviolet irradiation, microwave heating, etc. Then, a predetermined amount of sterilized liquid food is injected and filled into the package 15 from the spout 3a of the bag 1a through the takeout pipe 10. In this way, the liquid food in each bag 1a, 1b, lc flows in the direction of the bag 1a through the communication pipe 11, and the liquid food in the form of a final product filled and stored in the package 15 is delivered in large quantities as needed. Manufactured in Here, the package 15 is for filling and storing sterilized liquid food and is not subjected to any pressure or other treatments, so there are few restrictions on the materials that can be used.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the connection of each bag and the injection and filling of the liquid food in the bag into the package, showing another embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 3, the bag 1a is the same as the bag in the embodiment described above, and has two spouts 3a.

3b, but the other bag 1' has only one spout 3a. One end of a take-out pipe 10 is connected to the spout 3a of the bag 1a as in the above embodiment, and the other end of the take-out pipe 10 is connected to a package 15 for filling and storing high-pressure sterilized liquid food. is inserted inside. However, the spout 3b of the bag 1a is connected to a communication pipe 12 for communicating with each spout 3a of the other plurality of bags 1'. ′
The bodies of the two are connected to each other. That is, in the above-mentioned embodiment, each bag is connected in series, but in this embodiment, a plurality of other bags 1' are connected in parallel around the bag 1a. Further, the arrangement shown in FIG. 2 and the arrangement shown in FIG. 3 may be combined, and the number of bags to which the takeout pipe 10 is connected is not limited to one, but may be plural. . Incidentally, in FIG. 3, the same members as those in the above-mentioned embodiment are given the same numbers, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the connection of each bag and the injection and filling of the liquid food in the bag into the package, showing another embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 4, as shown in FIG.
Among the plurality of bags l communicated by the bag 1a, the bag 1a,
The package 15 into which the other end of the take-out pipe 10 is inserted is
Both are placed inside the filling chamber 20. A gas supply member 21 is attached to the filling chamber 20, and this gas supply member 2
An inert gas atmosphere is formed in the filling chamber 20 by supplying an inert gas into the filling chamber 20 from the filling chamber 1 . Then, the sterilized liquid food in the bag 1 is injected and filled into the package 15 in this inert gas atmosphere. Inert gases include nitrogen (N2) gas and carbonic acid (CO2).
Gas, argon (Ar) gas, etc. can be used.

Incidentally, in FIG. 4, the same members as those in the above-mentioned embodiment are designated by the same numbers, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

Liquid foods to which the present invention can be applied include milk, vegetable juices, fruit juices, soups, drinks, mineral water, cocoa, coffee, black tea, green tea, sencha, oolong tea, and other beverages; alcoholic beverages such as alcohol and wine; soy sauce,
Seasonings such as sauces, sauces, seasonings, dressings, yuzu,
Examples include seasoning fruit juice foods such as kabosu and sudachi.

Experimental example-1 Two bags with a capacity of 200 m1 as shown in Figure 1 were used, and after removing the air from the inside of these bags, they were filled with mineral water as a liquid food and the spout was opened. It was sealed. The main body of the bag is polyethylene (PE)/EV
A/A three-layer laminate packaging material of polyethylene (PE) was used. Next, the above-mentioned bag filled with mineral water was placed in the processing chamber of a high-pressure processing equipment (Kobe Steel, Ltd.), and after filling this processing chamber with water, the bag was heated to 3,000 kg at room temperature.
High-pressure sterilization treatment was performed for 10 minutes under a pressurized condition of 1/ad.

Apart from this, there is a take-out pipe, a communication pipe, and a polyethylene terephthalate (PE) pipe that can be connected to the spout.
T) A container (capacity 1.5j') was sterilized and prepared by gamma irradiation.

Then, in a sterile atmosphere, connect the extraction pipe to one of the spouts of one bag, and connect it to the other spout of this bag.
A communication pipe was connected to one of the spouts of the two bags. Next, about 2
00mj of mineral water was poured into the container and the container was sealed. In addition, the mineral water at this point was tested for bacteria. Next, the two bags connected by a communicating pipe and the PET container filled with mineral water were placed at a temperature of 20°C and a humidity of 40°C.
% condition for 60 days. Thereafter, the remaining mineral water in the bag and the mineral water in the PET container were tested for bacteria, but the number of bacteria was almost the same as that immediately after high-pressure sterilization, and no increase in the number of bacteria was observed.

Experimental Example 2 High-pressure sterilization was performed in the same manner as Experimental Example 1 except that raw sake was used as the liquid food. In addition, a connectable take-out pipe, a communication pipe, and a PET container were prepared in the same manner as in Experimental Example-1. Then, as shown in Fig. 4, in the filling chamber, in the N2 gas atmosphere, PE
Namazake was poured into the T container, the container was sealed, and the PET container was left alone. Thereafter, the raw sake in the PET container was tested for bacteria, but the number of bacteria was almost the same as that immediately after high-pressure sterilization, and no increase in the number of bacteria was observed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the present invention, a large capacity storage tank for sterilized liquid food can be created by connecting each bag that has been subjected to high-pressure sterilization of liquid food using a batch processing method using a communication member. It is possible to produce a large amount of liquid food as a final product by injecting and filling the liquid food into the package when needed, which improves productivity, eliminates the need to increase the size of high-pressure processing equipment, and further improves productivity. The final effect is that the range of material selection for the packaging body for filling and storing liquid food is expanded, making it possible to reduce manufacturing costs.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a bag used in the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of connection of each bag and injection and filling of liquid food in the bag into the package, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a bag used in the present invention. An explanatory diagram showing the connection of each bag and the injection and filling of the liquid food inside the bag into the package, showing an example;
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the connection of each bag and the injection and filling of the liquid food in the bag into the package, showing another embodiment of the present invention. 1, la, lb, lc, 1'--bag body, 2... main body, 3.3a, 3b... spout, 10... take-out pipe, 11.12... communication pipe, 15 ...packaging body, 20...filling chamber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of bags each having a spout, at least one of which has two or more spouts, after filling and sealing a liquid food into the bag. a first step of sequentially performing high-pressure sterilization treatment with a pressurized medium for each bag; a second step of connecting a pre-sterilized take-out member and connecting another spout of the bag and a spout of the other bag of the bag via a pre-sterilized communication member; and a third step of injecting and filling liquid foods in a plurality of bags into packages that have been sterilized in advance via the take-out member. 2. The method for producing a liquid food according to claim 1, wherein the third step is performed in an inert gas atmosphere.