Compositions

Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Treatment of live animal

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Details

426602, 426262, 426604, 426540, 426541, 426 73, A23L 1275, A23L 242, A23D 706, A23B 414

Patent

active

056077076

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to liquid compositions comprising of oil-soluble ingredients for use in the maintenance and/or promotion of health. In particular the invention relates to compositions for colouring products for internal or external use by humans or animals, such as beverages, processes for preparing such compositions and products containing them.
Brightly coloured food and drink products have considerable consumer appeal. In the case of beverages of the `health` or `energy` type, a clear product is also highly desirable for the product as it enhances the `clean and fresh` image of such products. A clear product also has benefits in terms of assisting the detection of spoilage by certain microorganisms.
To produce clear and brightly coloured yellow/orange/red beverages it is known to use any one of a number of synthetic dyes which are permitted for food use such as Tartrazine, Sunset Yellow FCF and Carmoisine. The `azo` colourants are particularly useful in largely water-based beverages in view of their solubility in water and stability to light. These chemical and physical characteristics have allowed the production of many commercially successful products containing these colourants as principal colouring ingredients.
A major disadvantage of using these azo-colourants is the fact that they are artificial products as opposed to-naturally occurring products. Because of the increasing consumer awareness of the use of artificial additives in food and media interest in food products there is increasing pressure on manufacturers to offer consumers the choice of products coloured with permitted, non-azo food colours with a particular preference for `naturally-occurring` colours. Unfortunately, the colouring of transparent, water-based products with many non-azo colours is extremely difficult because the majority of the available yellow and or orange colourants are oil soluble.
Carotenoids are naturally-occurring yellow to red pigments of the terpenoid group which can be found in plants, algae and bacteria. They include `carotene` (a mixture of .alpha. and .beta.-carotenes but mostly .beta.-carotene),.alpha.-carotene, .beta.-carotene, .gamma.-carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthin, lutein (a xanthophyll), bixin (eg. from solvent extracted annatto), capsanthin (paprika), canthaxanthin, astaxanthin, actinioerythrol, violerythrin, .beta.-8'-apo-carotenal (apo-carotenal), .beta.-12'-apo-carotenal and esters of hydroxyl- or carboxyl-containing members thereof. Many of the naturally occurring colourants can be made synthetically, for example much of the .beta.-carotene used commercially has been made synthetically. Many of the carotenoids occur in nature as cis and trans-isomeric forms, while synthetic compounds are frequently racemic mixtures.
Carotenoids have been of interest as a source of added colour for food and drink products. However, their insolubility in water and poor solubility in the conventional oils used in food products and their sensitivity to oxidation has limited their use, particularly in water-based products such as beverages and syrups and products to which water is to be added.
UK patent specification 1 407 779 (Hoffman-La Roche) describes a carotenoid colouring composition which is dispersible in water to form optically clear aqueous dispersions. These known compositions essentially contain large amounts of the emulsifiers polysorbate 60 and 80 along with a particular mixture of low molecular weight saturated coconut fatty acids and saturated fractions of coconut oil triglycerides. However it is generally undesirable to have large amounts of these emulsifiers present. In particular polysorbate 80 has undesirable taste characteristics such that if used in the amounts specified the predominantly `oily` or `fatty` taste would be inappropriate for most beverages. Also the amounts required would add significantly to the cost. We have now developed a composition which does not rely on large amounts of fatty acids, triglycerides and emulsifiers to create a stable formulation.
The present inventio

REFERENCES:
patent: 3886294 (1975-05-01), Emodi
patent: 3998753 (1976-12-01), Antoshkiw et al.
patent: 4435427 (1984-03-01), Hoppe et al.
patent: 4504499 (1985-03-01), Finnan
patent: 5023095 (1991-06-01), Kirk
patent: 5185719 (1993-02-01), Dhong et al.
patent: 5290605 (1994-03-01), Shapira

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