Patent ID: 7862843

Claim:
A method for sanitizing a biological food tissue which is possibly infected with prions, the method comprising: (a) selecting ruminant biological food tissue (i) that is contaminated with infectious prions and (ii) that has been exposed to specified risk material tissue from another ruminant, the specified risk material tissue being selected from the group consisting of skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, vertebral column, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia, small intestine, and combinations thereof; and, (b) treating the tissue with an aqueous solution comprising (i) a hydroxide selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal hydroxide, alkaline earth metal hydroxide and mixtures thereof and (ii) a lower alkanol containing 1 to 6 carbon atoms such that any infectious prions in contact with the aqueous solution are inactivated, thereby sanitizing the biological food tissue.