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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10689602-B2
Application number	US-201916565707-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2019
Priority date	Jul 19, 2016
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

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:
about 1 wt-% to about 50 wt-% of a diluent;
about 5 wt-% to about 40 wt-% of a polyol; and
at least about 10 wt-% of an alkyl ester comprising at least two of ethyl lactate, ethylene acetate, and polysorbate;
wherein:
the ratio of the polyol to alkyl ester is from about 1:1 to about 1:3;
the composition is free of any material that is not considered to be a GRAS or food additive ingredient; and
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 1:1.5 to about 1:2.5.

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 20, polysorbate 60, polysorbate 80, 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 water, benzyl alcohol, methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, or mixtures thereof.

7. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising a buffer made from an organic acid, salt thereof, or mixture thereof.

8. The composition of claim 7 , the buffer is made from sodium of acetate.

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

10. The composition of claim 9 , wherein the additional functional ingredient is a dye, a fragrance, or a combination thereof.

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

12. The composition of claim 1 , comprising about 1 wt-% to about 50 wt-% of water as the diluent and about 10 wt-% to about 20 wt-% of the propylene glycol as the polyol.

13. 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.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pH of the use solution or the cleaning composition is between about 3 and about 12.

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

16. The method of claim 13 , 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.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the method does not include a rinse step and the removing step is wiping the surface.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the surface is a food processing or production surface or hard surface.

19. The method of claim 13 , 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

• C11D7/261 Primary

  Alcohols; Phenols · CPC title

• C11D3/2093

  Esters; Carbonates · CPC title

• C11D7/50

  Solvents · CPC title

• C11D3/2065 Primary

  Polyhydric alcohols · CPC title

• B08B2220/02

  Chewing gum · CPC title