JPH0790221B2 - Method for manufacturing bottled sterile mineral water - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for producing a bottled sterile mineral water in which a mineral water is not heat-sterilized and the bottle is filled with a mineral water containing no bactericide. Is.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, there has been a demand for delicious water, and water from various regions is filled in containers and sold in large quantities. Usually, in this case, sterilization may propagate and multiply in the pumped natural mineral water, so chlorine is conventionally added to the pumped mineral water to prevent the subsequent propagation of sterilization. (JP-A-57-32779). However, it is said that when chlorine is added to mineral water, the natural flavor of the mineral water is impaired and harmful substances such as trihalomethane are generated from residual chlorine. On the other hand, when chlorine is added, treatment with activated carbon has been proposed, but this method also impairs the natural flavor of mineral water. Although heat sterilization is an effective method, it has a drawback that the original flavor of mineral water is impaired.

Therefore, after the mineral water is pumped up, it is possible to effectively prevent the propagation of sterilization in the mineral water after filling the bottle without adding a sterilizing agent such as chlorine or without heat sterilization. Is desired.

On the other hand, plastic bottles such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles used for filling mineral water are sterilized by spraying a sterilizing agent such as hydrogen peroxide on the inner and outer surfaces of the bottle. However,
According to this method, since the bactericide remains in the bottle, there are problems that the flavor of the contents is impaired and that the residue impairs the health of the food consumer.

Therefore, various proposals have been made in order to solve such problems. For example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-138931, after spraying a sterilizing agent, a sterilizing and drying step of blowing hot air to the container to dry the sterilizing agent and washing and removing the sterilizing agent adhering to the inner and outer surfaces of the container. And a cleaning step to perform. Further, JP-A-60-99828 proposes a method of spraying a cleaning liquid after spraying a sterilizing liquid. However, these methods have drawbacks that the bactericide cannot be completely removed unless the amount of the cleaning liquid is increased and the process is complicated.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a bottled sterile mineral water excellent in preservability without sterilizing the pumped mineral water by heating and without adding a bactericide.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to the present invention, each of the plastic bottle and the cap is subjected to heat and heat sterilization treatment under specific conditions, and a pore size of 0.22
It was made based on the finding that the above problems can be efficiently achieved by filling mineral water filtered through a filtration membrane of μm or less under aseptic conditions of class 100 or less.

That is, the present invention is a method for producing a bottled sterile mineral water in which a mineral water is subjected to heat sterilization treatment, and the bottle is filled with a mineral water containing no bactericide, wherein each of the plastic bottle and the cap has an inner wall thereof. Heat and sterilization treatment under heat and moisture at a temperature not higher than the heat resistant temperature of the bottle or cap, which is equivalent to the condition of being held at 70 ° C. for 10 seconds, and then filtered through the bottle with a filtration membrane having a pore size of 0.22 μm or less. After filling mineral water under aseptic conditions of class 100 or less,
Provided is a method for producing a bottled sterile mineral water, which comprises covering the cap.

First, in the present invention, the bottle and the cap are heat-sterilized under heat and humidity under the above conditions corresponding to the condition that the inner walls of the bottle and the cap are held at 70 ° C. for 10 seconds and at a temperature not higher than the heat resistant temperature of the bottle or the cap. The conditions equivalent to the conditions of holding at 70 ° C. for 10 seconds can be calculated by the following formula.

[In the formula, x is the temperature (° C.) of the inner wall of the bottle or cap, and y is the holding time (seconds). That is, since the heat resistant temperature of plastic bottles and caps is generally low, such sterilization conditions are preferable because they can be efficiently sterilized without being deformed. If the sterilization temperature is lower than 70 ° C., or if the temperature is kept at this temperature for 10 seconds or less, sufficient sterilization effect may not be obtained. Further good sterilization effect can be obtained by treating the bottle and the cap under the conditions in which the inner wall of the bottle and the cap are 75 ° C. or higher or equivalent to the condition that the inner wall is held at 75 ° C. for 10 seconds.

In the present invention, examples of the bottle to be sterilized include blow molded plastic bottles such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Of these, PET bottles are particularly preferable. Examples of the cap include the above-mentioned plastic cap and a metal cap such as aluminum. Of these, aluminum is particularly preferable.

In sterilizing the bottle with moist heat, from the mouth of the plastic bottle with the mouth facing downward, insert a hot water injection nozzle into the inside of the bottle, and the hot water discharged from the nozzle is A method is preferred in which hot water is discharged upward so that it flows from the bottom wall to the side wall and is washed away from the mouth, and the temperature of the inner wall of the bottle is raised to the sterilization temperature for sterilization. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the mouth 2 of the bottle 1 is directed downward, preferably right below, and the hot water injection nozzle 3 is inserted into the bottle 1 from the mouth 2 of the plastic bottle in this state. . Next, the hot water 4 is discharged upward from the bottom wall 5 of the bottle 1 through the side walls 6 and 6 so as to be discharged from the mouth 2 to the outside, and the temperature of the inner wall of the bottle 1 is raised to the sterilization temperature. Let At this time, the hot water injection nozzle 3 is inserted into the bottle 1 so that the tip of the hot water injection nozzle 3 does not come into contact with the hot water W flowing down from the bottom wall of the bottle 1 along the side wall. Good. That is, according to this method, the hot water discharged from the nozzle 3 does not come into contact with the hot water W that comes in contact with the inner wall of the bottle and returns, so that the tip of the hot water injection nozzle 3 is not contaminated. In addition, hot water having a predetermined amount of heat can efficiently flow from the bottom wall of the bottle 1 along the side wall. Therefore, according to this method, the inner wall of the bottle can be stably heated to the sterilization temperature.

Further, when the cylindrical hot water injection nozzle 3 is used, the hot water can efficiently flow from the bottom wall to the side wall of the bottle 1.

In order to achieve the above sterilization conditions, a cylindrical nozzle 1 having a nozzle inner diameter of 8 to 10 mm, preferably 9 to 10 mm is used as the hot water injecting nozzle 3, and the hot water injecting nozzle 3 has a temperature not lower than 70 ° C. and not higher than the heat resistant temperature of the bottle 1. It is better to inject hot water at a temperature. in this case,
Hot water of 75-90 ℃ 0.2 per bottle capacity
~ 2 times, preferably 0.5 to 1 times the amount used,
Hot water is preferably discharged from the nozzle 3 at a rate of 10 to 30 / min. With this, the inner wall of the bottle can be uniformly and efficiently sterilized.

On the other hand, the cap can be sterilized by moist heat by, for example, injecting hot water into the cap, passing through the hot water, contacting with steam or hot air, as in the case of a bottle. For example, a metal cap may be sterilized by bringing steam into contact with the inner wall, in this case 95-100.
It can be passed through a steam tunnel kept at ℃ for 3 to 15 seconds.

By the above method, by performing the internal sterilization treatment of the bottle and the cap, it is possible to perform sufficient sterilization without using a bactericide, and at the same time, the inner wall of the bottle can be washed, but the sterilization efficiency is improved. In order to further increase the temperature, it is preferable that the temperature of the inner wall of the bottle and the cap is raised to the sterilization temperature by hot water, and the outer walls of the bottle and the cap are heated to keep them at the sterilization temperature for a predetermined time.
Specifically, it is preferable to heat the outer wall of the bottle by bringing hot water, steam, or hot air into contact with the outer wall of the bottle. In particular, when heating the outer wall of the bottle with hot water, it is effective to shower the hot water into the bottle from above and / or in the lateral direction of the bottle. According to this method, the temperature can be easily controlled and the bottle does not deform, which is preferable to the case of using steam or hot air. Further, a method of showering hot water from above the bottle to below is preferable because the hot water can be uniformly transferred to the outer wall of the bottle. The same applies to the case of the cap.

When the external sterilization treatment was performed while the temperature rise of the bottle and the inner wall of the cap was maintained by the internal sterilization treatment, the temperature was raised to the sterilization temperature by the internal sterilization treatment. For example 70
This means that the bottle heated to 90 ° C is kept at the sterilization temperature for a certain period of time.

In the above method, 70 to 95 ° C per bottle, preferably
75-90 ℃ hot water 10-1000 for 1-20 seconds, preferably 3
It is good to shower for ~ 15 seconds. When steam is used instead of hot water, 0.2 to 0.5 kg / cm ² (gauge pressure) of steam is often blown on the outer wall of the bottle for 3 to 15 seconds. When hot air is used, It is advisable to blow hot air at 80-100 ° C on the outer wall of the bottle for 3-15 seconds.

According to the above method, since the internal sterilization treatment and the external sterilization treatment are used in combination, extremely efficient and complete sterilization can be achieved.

The bottle sterilization treatment can be continuously performed industrially by using, for example, the apparatus 10 shown in FIG. Here, 11 is a conveying device, and bottle 1 is a hot water injection nozzle 3
Thus, while the hot water is being injected into the inside of the bottle, and while the hot water shower section 12 showers the hot water from above the outside, the bottle is conveyed in the direction shown in the drawing.

In the present invention, the bottle sterilized by the above method, the pore size
Mineral water filtered through a 0.22 μm or smaller filtration membrane is filled under aseptic conditions of class 100 or lower, and then sealed with a cap sterilized by the above method.

Specifically, water is pumped up and mineral water with a pore size of 0.22
Using a micro filter of μm, for example operating pressure 1.
It is preferable to filter at 0 to 2.0 kg / cm ² and a water flow rate of 5 to 20 / min.m ² . According to this method, since the mineral water is not heated at all, the taste does not change, and the original taste of the mineral water can be provided. In other words, when using a filtration membrane with a pore size of 0.22 μm or less,
This is because all the sterilization present in the mineral water can be efficiently removed, and the same sterilization effect as high temperature heat sterilization can be obtained.

Generally, pumped mineral water is stored in a tank for a long period of time after being pumped and before filling,
In addition, since it is transported to the filling field by the tank truck, in order to prevent bacteria from growing during this period, the pumped mineral water is kept at 12 ° C or lower, preferably 10 ° C.
Hereinafter, it is particularly preferable to cool to 5 ° C. or lower to prevent the growth and proliferation of bacteria and the like from the pumping up to the time of filling the bottle. In addition, the above-mentioned conditions refer to the conditions where the mineral water does not freeze at the temperature. In other words, the temperature of mineral water pumped from underground is almost constant throughout the four seasons.
Although it is constant at 15 to 17 ° C, various bacteria are contained in the pumped water due to its origin or by being mixed from the air or the like during the pumping operation.

In the cooling, it is preferable to forcibly cool the mineral water as soon as possible after pumping the mineral water from underground.

The above-mentioned cooling can be carried out by a conventional method, but it is preferable to carry out it using a Put type cooler.

Furthermore, the pumped mineral water has a pore size of 0.45 μm.
It is preferable to compulsorily remove Gram-negative bacteria and water-insoluble matter which may be present in mineral water by filtration through the following filtration membrane. According to this method, harmful microorganisms can be removed before the sterilization treatment (the filtration treatment with the filtration membrane having the pore diameter of 0.22 μm or less), which is preferable. The filtration with the filtration membrane is
For example, it can be performed by the same method as in the case of using a filtration membrane having a pore diameter of 0.22 μm or less. A commercially available microfilter can be used as the filtration membrane. Among these, it is preferable to use a microfilter having a pore size of 0.45 μm, which is easy to filter. Both the cooling treatment and the filtration treatment may be performed, and the order in this case does not matter.

It is preferable to keep the treated mineral water at a low temperature of 12 ° C. or lower until it is sterilized. Therefore, for example, when the mineral water is transported to the bottling plant by the tank truck after pumping, it is desirable to maintain the above low temperature even during the transportation by the tank truck. It is desirable to maintain the temperature in the tank at the above low temperature.

Next, the mineral water thus kept at a low temperature is treated with the above-mentioned filtration membrane having a pore diameter of 0.22 μm or less to bring about a state in which contaminants are completely removed.

In the present invention, the mineral water sterilized in this manner is filled in the sterilized bottle described above under an atmosphere of class 100 or less and sealed with the sterilized cap described above.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for producing a bottled sterile mineral water excellent in preservability without subjecting the pumped-up mineral water to heat sterilization and without adding a bactericide. Therefore, the mineral water produced by the method of the present invention can provide the natural taste itself.

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to examples.

〔Example〕

Example 1 Sterilization treatment of bottles The shape is almost the same as that shown in FIG. 1, the inner diameter of the mouth is 21 mm,
A PET bottle having an internal capacity of 1,500 cc was subjected to internal washing and external washing treatment under the following conditions using the apparatus shown in FIG.

Inner washing treatment With the PET bottle mouth facing downward, set it on the transport device, and insert the hot water injection nozzle into the bottle from the mouth in the circular direction on the front side of Fig. 2. The hot water discharged from the nozzle was discharged upward so that it flows from the bottom wall of the bottle to the side wall and flows out from the mouth. In this case, the hot water release treatment was performed by releasing hot water 1200 cc at 85 ° C. from the nozzle at a rate of 13,000 cc / min. The hot water injection nozzle is a cylindrical nozzle having an inner diameter of 9 mm. The inner wall of the bottle was kept at 80 ° C. for 3 seconds by the above-mentioned inner washing treatment.

External washing PET bottles are sent to the hot water shower section from the above position, and 10,000cc of hot water is showered on the bottle from the upper shower board for 5 seconds to perform external washing. Got a bottle The above external washing treatment was started in the latter half of the internal washing treatment.

Sterilization of the cap A cap made of aluminum with an inner diameter of 28 mmφ and a height of 18 mm
The cap was sterilized by supplying it into a sterile chamber in the true state and bringing 100 ° C. steam into contact with the entire surface of the cap for 5 seconds. By the above treatment, the inner wall of the cap is 80 ℃
Held for 3 seconds.

Sterilization of mineral water Mineral water pumped from the well (water temperature immediately after pumping
After removing foreign matter with a filter cloth, the water was pumped up by a plate cooler and then cooled to 5 ° C. The mineral water after the above cooling treatment was microfiltered with a filtration membrane having a pore diameter of 0.45 μm. The treated mineral water was transported to a bottling factory by a tank truck and put in a storage tank in the factory. The mineral water was kept at a water temperature of 10 ° C. or lower until the water was stored in the storage tank after being pumped and before being stored in the storage tank.

Mineral water stored in a storage tank for about 8 hours
After treated with activated carbon, microfiltered with 0.22μm pore size filter membrane, filled it into the sterilized PET bottle container under aseptic conditions of class 100 or less, and sealed it with the sterilized cap. A sterile mineral water mixture was obtained.

The obtained mineral water could be stored at room temperature for about 18 months, and had a good flavor when it was drunk after being stored at room temperature for 12 months, for example.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where the inside of a bottle is sterilized by the sterilization method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of an apparatus for performing the sterilization method of the present invention. . In the figure, 1 is a bottle, 2 is a bottle mouth part, 3 is a hot water injection nozzle, 4 is hot water, and 5 is a bottle bottom wall.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Seki 1-5-7 Mikitei-cho, Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture House Food Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takaaki Shimizu 1-chome, Mikitei-cho, Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture No. 5-7 House Food Industry Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A 63-59392 (JP, A) JP-A 2-95491 (JP, A) JP-A 47-43266 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mineral water is not heat-sterilized,
And a method of manufacturing a bottled sterile mineral water filled with a mineral water without a bactericide, wherein each of the plastic bottle and the cap corresponds to the condition that their inner walls are held at 70 ° C for 10 seconds or more. And heat and sterilize at a temperature not higher than the heat resistant temperature of the bottle or cap, and then the bottle has a pore size of
A method for producing a bottled sterile mineral water, which comprises filling mineral water filtered with a filtration membrane of 0.22 μm or less under aseptic conditions of class 100 or less and then covering the cap.