Methods and cleaning solutions for removing chewing gum and other sticky food substances

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10450534-B2
Application number	US-201715654176-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2017
Priority date	Jul 19, 2016
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

Cleaning compositions and methods for removing chewing gum, its components and other sticky soils from surfaces, especially production facilities, are disclosed. Cleaning composition solutions that do not require a rinse step are disclosed and suitable for treatment of surfaces having indirect food contact. In an aspect, the cleaning compositions and methods employ a scraping-spraying-wiping procedure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning composition for application on a chewing gum residue or other sticky substance comprising:
a) about 1 wt-% to about 50 wt-% of a diluent;
b) about 5 wt-% to about 40 wt-% of a polyol;
c) about 10 wt-% to about 50 wt-% of an alkyl ester comprising ethyl lactate, ethylene acetate, polysorbate or a combination thereof; and
d) a sodium acetate buffer, wherein:
i) the ratio of the polyol to alkyl ester is from about 10:1 to about 1:10;
ii) the composition is free of any material that is not considered to be a GRAS or food additive ingredient, and
iii) the cleaning composition removes the chewing gum or other sticky substance from a surface.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein a ratio of the polyol to alkyl ester is from about 6:1 to about 1:2.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polyol is propylene glycol, glycerin, or a combination thereof.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polysorbate comprises polysorbate 80, polysorbate 20, polysorbate 60, polysorbate 85, or a combination thereof.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the composition is free of d-limonene.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the diluent is selected from the group consisting of water, benzyl alcohol, methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, and mixtures thereof.

7. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising at least one additional functional ingredient.

8. The composition of claim 7 , wherein the additional functional ingredient is a dye, a fragrance, or a combination thereof.

9. The composition of claim 1 , comprising about 1 wt-% to about 40 wt-% of diluent, about 5 wt-% to about 30 wt-% of the polyol, and about 10 wt-% to about 40 wt-% of the alkyl ester.

10. The composition of claim 1 , comprising about 1 wt-% to about 50 wt-% of water as the diluent, about 5 wt-% to about 35 wt-% of propylene glycol as the polyol, and about 15 wt-% to about 30 wt-% of polysorbate 80 as the alkyl ester.

11. A method of removing chewing gum residue and/or other sticky food substances comprising:
optionally scraping a surface to remove excess chewing gum or other sticky food substance; and
contacting the surface with a use solution of the cleaning composition or the cleaning composition of claim 1 ; and
removing the chewing gum or other sticky food substance from the surface,
wherein the surface has a soil left by chewing gum or other sticky food substances.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the pH of the use solution or the cleaning composition is between about 3 and about 12.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the use solution or the cleaning composition is at a temperature between about 70° F. and about 100° F.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the contacting step is for a period of time to remove the soil, wherein the period of time is from 1 second to 30 minutes, from about 30 seconds to 5 minutes, from about 60 seconds to 10 minutes, or from about 2 minutes to 5 minutes.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the method does not include a rinse step and the removing step is wiping the surface.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the surface is a food processing or production surface or hard surface.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the surface is one of stainless steel, plastics, polyethylene, polypropylene, aluminum, marble, granite, rubber, and concrete.

Assignees

• Ecolab Usa Inc

Inventors

• Hunt Jr Clinton
• Tristan Garza Tanya Paola
• Tevis Mallory Jo
• Malwitz Mark Andrew
• Rasinen Marne Colleen
• Ditzel Eric Joseph
• Burnett Scott Lyman
• Garza Sara Trevino

Classifications

• C11D7/266

  Esters or carbonates · CPC title

• C11D7/261 Primary

  Alcohols; Phenols · CPC title

• C11D7/50

  Solvents · CPC title

• B08B2220/02

  Chewing gum · CPC title

• C11D3/2065 Primary

  Polyhydric alcohols · CPC title