Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Foam or foamable type
Reexamination Certificate
1997-04-04
2002-10-01
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Foam or foamable type
C426S519000, C426S522000, C426S584000, C426S590000, C426S407000, C426S661000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06458402
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to milkshake beverage compositions having improved consistency, flavor and physical stability. More particularly, the present invention relates to improved processes of making milkshake beverage compositions involving the elimination or modification of the pasteurization step typically employed in processes for producing such compositions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Milkshake beverages are becoming increasingly popular. Conventional processes for producing shelf-stable milkshake beverage compositions involve the steps of creating a batch made up of the various compositional components, which typically includes modified food starch; subjecting the batch to high temperature short time (“HTST”) pasteurization, or the like; homogenizing the resulting pasteurized composition; filling the homogenized, pasteurized composition into the requisite containers; and subjecting the filled containers to a retorting treatment. The quality of milkshake beverage compositions prepared by such conventional processes is highly dependent on processing conditions. Indeed, a particular product may vary in consistency with respect to mouthfeel and physical stability depending on how the product is made, even though all of the ingredients in the product and their relative proportions stay unchanged.
Various techniques have been attempted in the past to overcome such inconsistencies. For example, a tight control on raw ingredient specifications (e.g., starch, NFDM) and maintaining the same retorting conditions have been tried. These attempts, however, have failed to eliminate such inconsistencies.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Due to the increasing popularity of milkshake beverage compositions, there is a need in the art for processes which overcome the inconsistencies in mouthfeel and stability present in products manufactured by conventional processes. The present invention meets this need by identifying that these inconsistencies stem in great part from the shearing effects that homogenization, a necessary step in the preparation of milkshake beverages, has on swollen starch granules.
It has been discovered that the pasteurization step employed in conventional processes swells starch granules and that the back pressure and shear effect of the subsequent homogenization treatment fragments these swollen starch granules, thus negatively affecting the consistency of the end product. To avoid or minimize such negative fragmentation effects, the present invention provides for:
(1) reversing the sequence of the pasteurization and homogenization steps used in conventional processes for producing milkshake beverage compositions, so that homogenization precedes pasteurization, thus avoiding the shear effect that homogenization has on swollen starch granules;
(2) lowering the temperature used in the pasteurization step typically employed to make milkshake beverages, thus limiting the degree of swelling of the starch granules present; or
(3) omitting the pasteurization step totally, thus eliminating any swelling of the starch granules.
The present invention additionally provides for using the three alternatives outlined above both in HTST pasteurization processes and in ultra-high temperature processes used for aseptic packaging (“UHT processes”). In the case of UHT processes, the first alternative outlined above is preferable. The present invention also provides for beverage compositions produced by such HTST and UHT processes.
Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention are set forth in part in, or will be apparent from, the detailed description of exemplary embodiments which follow, or may be learned through routine practice of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Homogenization is an essential step for providing stability to milkshake beverage compositions. It has been discovered, however, that homogenization imposes shearing effects on swollen starch granules which detrimentally affect product consistency with respect to viscosity and physical stability. Consequently, to avoid such inconsistencies, it is necessary to eliminate or minimize the number of swollen starch granules present during homogenization. The present invention provides three methods for doing so.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the pasteurization and homogenization steps employed in conventional processes for producing milkshake beverage compositions are carried out in reverse sequence so that pasteurization follows homogenization. By doing so, only unswollen starch granules are present during homogenization. It has been found that shear force has no effect on non-swollen starch granules.
In this “reverse sequence” embodiment, a milkshake beverage composition having a pH of from about 6.5 to about 7.0, a viscosity of from about 30 to about 600 centipoise, and a non-fat milk solids content of from about 4.5% to about 10.0% by weight, which is equivalent to a liquid milk content of greater than 50% by weight, is obtained by:
(a) preparing a milkshake batch mixture comprising a milk component and a starch component;
(b) homogenizing the mixture at a pressure of from about 2,000 to about 5,000 psi to form an homogenized mixture; and
(c) pasteurizing the homogenized mixture to form a milkshake beverage composition.
The resulting milkshake beverage composition can be filled into appropriate containers, such as retortable glass bottles or cans, which then undergo retorting treatments.
As noted, homogenization step (b) is carried out under a total pressure of from about 2,000 to about 5,000 psi, with a total pressure of from about 3,000 to about 4,500 psi being more preferred. The use of pressures lower than 2,000 psi may result in undesirable instability, whereas the use of pressures higher than 5,000 psi may be impractical. The use of an homogenization pressure of at least 3,000 psi is preferred to ensure that the final milkshake beverage composition possesses uniformity.
As long as the pressure requirements noted above are satisfied, any conventional homogenization apparatus or technique can be employed in preparing the milkshake beverage compositions of the present invention. In carrying out homogenization step (b), however, it is preferable to use temperatures ranging from about 100° F. to about 130° F., with temperatures of from about 110° F. to about 120° F. more preferred. The use of temperatures lower than 100° F. may not adequately homogenize the cream, whereas the use of temperatures higher than 130° F. might swell the starch granules. The use of the preferred temperatures of from about 110° F. to about 120° F. helps to ensure that the final milkshake beverage composition possesses consistent viscosity.
Pasteurization step (c) of the reverse sequence embodiment described above may be carried out using any of the apparatus or methods conventional in the art. For example, plate-in-frame HTST pasturization may be employed. The temperature used in pasteurization step (c) is preferably from about 160° F. to about 180° F., and more preferably from about 165° F. to about 175° F. Using temperatures lower than 160° F. may inadequately swell the starch granules, whereas using temperatures higher than 180° F. might affect the flavor of the final product. By using temperatures of from about 165° F. to about 175° F., it is ensured that the final milkshake beverage composition possesses uniformity.
The preferable pressure range for pasteurization step (c) in the reverse sequence process is from about 2,000 to about 5,000 psi, with a pressure of from about 3,000 to about 4,500 being more preferred. The use of pasteurization pressures lower than 2,000 psi may result in undesirable stability, whereas the use of pasteurization pressures higher than 5,000 psi may be impractical. Pasteurization pressures of at least 3,000 psi are preferred to ensure that the final milkshake beverage composition possesses uniformity.
According to a second embodiment of the invention, the conventional method of employing
Bhat Nina
PepsiCo Inc.
LandOfFree
Process for making milkshake beverage compositions having... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Process for making milkshake beverage compositions having..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Process for making milkshake beverage compositions having... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2975934