Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Beverage or beverage concentrate
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-17
2004-06-15
Weier, Anthony J. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Beverage or beverage concentrate
C426S590000, C131S276000, C424S439000, C424S441000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06749882
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to nicotine or a nicotine-containing composition for ingestion with a beverage, such as coffee.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In many states and countries, there exists a ban on smoking in public premises. Accordingly, a person who wishes to smoke must step outside the premises. The option of leaving the premises, however, is not present for other public places, in particular, public modes of transportation such as buses, trains or airplanes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,574 discloses the use of a nicotine-containing stimulant unit for oral use, in which nicotine is released in a controlled manner. This mode of ingestion, known as “buccal” administration, may involve a substantial amount of time to ingest the desired amount of nicotine.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,647 discloses the use of a tobacco product comprising a propolis tobacco source in which a tobacco leaf is treated with propolis, an extract from a resin found in bee hives. The tobacco leaf can be added to a variety of beverages. This method, however, may result in insufficient extraction of nicotine from the tobacco leaf, as it is well known that commercial methods of nicotine extraction involve overly large amounts of water and/or organic solvents. In addition, if the user adds the tobacco leaf to the beverage, the user will not know how much nicotine is present in the beverage. If a nicotine-containing beverage is sold to a user, the beverage necessarily must be stored containing the nicotine. It is known, however, that nicotine is susceptible to oxidation when stored in a liquid form.
There are many brands of nicotine-containing chewing gum, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,901,248 which discloses a chewable nicotine-containing composition. These products, however, can suffer from poor taste, poor gum texture, or inadequate extraction of nicotine from the gum. Additionally, there may be social situations where the act of chewing a gum is not acceptable.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide nicotine in a known amount which can be ingested in a quick and facile manner without exposing other parties to the hazards of cigarette smoke.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One aspect of the invention provides a beverage comprising a composition dissolved therein. The composition comprises nicotine and a water-soluble filler. In one embodiment, the beverage further comprises coffee.
Another aspect of the invention provides a coffee drink comprising pre-extracted nicotine.
Another aspect of the invention provides a beverage comprising a product of dissolution of a composition. The composition comprises nicotine and a water-soluble filler.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method for preparing a beverage. The method comprises the steps of providing a composition comprising nicotine and dissolving the composition in a beverage.
Another aspect of the invention provides a method for preparing coffee. The method involves providing a composition comprising nicotine and adding the composition to coffee grounds to provide a nicotine-containing mixture. The method further involves allowing hot water to pass through the mixture.
Another aspect of the invention provides an article comprising a coffee bean coated with nicotine.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a composition comprising coffee and nicotine.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
One aspect of the present invention is directed to a composition comprising nicotine for ingestion with a beverage such as coffee. Coffee is a popular beverage and is commonly ingested at any time of the day. Certain aspects of the present invention exploit this popularity of coffee by providing a coffee drink that includes nicotine. The beneficial aspects of this beverage would be readily recognized by smokers, who may be forced to refrain from smoking in a public place. The smoker would not have to leave a social gathering, or cease working by leaving the premises to smoke. Another advantage is that the composition presents a known amount of nicotine to the user, which is an important feature especially if the user is under strict dietary control or is involved in smoking cessation therapy. In addition, by providing the nicotine in a beverage, such as coffee, there is little waste of nicotine and a user can ingest the nicotine in a quick and relatively discrete manner, as opposed to sucking a lozenge or chewing a gum.
One aspect of the present invention features a beverage, such as coffee, which contains nicotine. In particular, this aspect provides a beverage comprising a composition dissolved therein, where the composition comprises nicotine. The beverage typically comprises water, although alcohols or other edible fluids may also be present. Other example beverages include iced coffee, hot or iced tea, hot cocoa, soft drinks or any other beverage known to those of ordinary skill in the art. In one embodiment, the composition contains pre-extracted nicotine, i.e. extracted and isolated nicotine. “Pre-extracted nicotine” refers to commercially available nicotine, or nicotine extracted and isolated by known methods, as opposed to adding a tobacco product to the coffee drink in which the coffee drink itself extracts the nicotine from the tobacco. Thus, pre-extracted nicotine is to be distinguished from adding tobacco directly to the beverage which can result in the addition of other undesired products to the beverage. By using pre-extracted nicotine in the composition, this aspect of the present invention provides the advantageous feature of providing a predetermined amount of nicotine.
Nicotine can be extracted from tobacco as a tobacco alkaloid. “Nicotine” refers to a substance which is provided in many forms, such as in free base form or as a nicotine salt. A nicotine salt refers to any pharmaceutically acceptable acid salt or metal salt. Pre-extracted nicotine is commercially available from a number of companies, such as Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (St. Louis, Mo.). Examples of commercially available forms of nicotine include neat nicotine, 98% or 99% nicotine (yellow liquid), nicotine-di-p-toluoyltartrate salt (white to off-white powder), nicotine free base (yellow liquid), nicotine hemisulfate salt (brown liquid, 40% aqueous solution w/v) and nicotine hydrogen tartrate salt. Other nicotine salts include the hydrochloride, dihodrychloride, sulfate, zinc chloride double salt monohydrate, and salicylate salts. Alternatively, nicotine can be extracted and isolated by a number of published methods, such as described in the Merck Index, Eleventh Edition.
In one embodiment, the composition contains nicotine in an amount from about 0.01% to about 10% by weight of the composition. A typical cigarette provides anywhere from approximately 1 mg to 4 mg of nicotine. In one embodiment, the composition can contain from about 0.1 mg to about 20 mg nicotine, although it is understood that the composition can comprise any desired amount of nicotine. Other exemplary amounts include from about 0.5 mg to about 15 mg, from about 0.5 mg to about 10 mg, or from about 0.5 mg to about 5 mg of nicotine.
In one embodiment, the composition further comprises a filler. Preferably, the filler is inert and water-soluble. In one embodiment, the filler has sufficient water solubility properties such that the composition dissolves in a beverage, or a hot beverage within less than a few minutes, preferably within less than about 1 minute, and even more preferably within less than about 30 seconds. Dissolution can be aided by stirring and/or heating the beverage. It is understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the solubility of the composition can depend on other factors such as temperature of the beverage or other components present in the beverage prior to addition of the composition. With hot coffee, for example, dissolution would be expected to occur rapidly due to the high temperature.
There are numerous possibilities of water-soluble fillers to choose from, and example fillers include sugars such as sucrose, fructose, dextrose, lactose, sorbitol or mannitol. Other fillers include
Weier Anthony J.
Wolf Greenfield & Sacks P.C.
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