Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Foam or foamable type
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-12
2004-05-25
Bhat, N. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Foam or foamable type
C426S660000, C426S135000, C426S804000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06740350
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to confectionery compositions and particularly to confectionery compositions containing fiber and to methods for preparing such confectionery compositions.
2. Description of Related Art
The prior art is replete with information about confectionery compositions. For example, Harris et al. (A Formulary of Candy Products, 1991, pg. 69) discloses an economy caramel composition and method for making such composition. This caramel contains typical components for a caramel, e.g., fats, carbohydrates, water, non-fat milk solids, and starch. U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,709, issued to Peters et al. on Apr. 15, 1986, discloses pleasant tasting, soft, chewable mineral supplements based upon caramel or nougat confectionery compositions. Troller (Water Activity and Food) discloses confectioneries protected from microbial spoilage by controlling the water activity. The water activity is controlled to prevent microbial spoilage, particularly due to yeast fermentation. U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,805, issued to Cherukuri et al. on Jun. 28, 1988, discloses the use of encapsulated flavorings for chewing gum. U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,441, issued to Andon et al. on Nov. 5, 1996, discloses vitamin supplements containing bracers and flavanols or green tea solids and possibly carbohydrates. U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,264, issued to Wehling et al. on Jun. 29, 1993, discloses the addition of the mineral magnesium phosphate to products as a dietary supplement. None of these confectionery compositions, however, contain fiber as a dietary supplement.
Medical and nutrition professionals generally agree that dietary fiber is essential for good human health. A low intake of dietary fiber is associated with high incidents of several diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and colon cancer and is often responsible for intestinal irregularity. Proper intake of dietary fiber benefits the human gastrointestinal tract by stimulating bowel movement, slowing down the gastrointestinal transition and digestion process, modifying fat absorption, and increasing bile acids excretion. Additionally, some dietary fibers are known to lower blood cholesterol and benefit the postprandial glycemic response.
The average person in the United States consumes about 15 grams of dietary fiber per day. Most health professionals recommend a dietary fiber intake of 25 grams for people with a diet of 2,000 calories per day and 30 grams for people with a diet of 3,000 calories per day. Thus, an extra 10 to 15 grams of fiber per day is needed to reach the recommended levels. This can be done by increasing the dietary consumption of grains, fruits, and vegetables but would require the consumer to double the dietary intake of such foods. Many, if not most, consumers have been reluctant to adopt a change in lifestyle required to double their intake of fiber from food, particularly given that many food items are highly processed for convenience and easy preparation and therefore contain less fiber than natural foods.
Consumers often look for supplements to complement their diet when a dietary ingredient such as fiber is lacking. Citrucel® brand of fiber from SmithKline Beecham (http://www.citrucel.com/) contains methylcellulose fiber that is promoted to “help you stay regular without excess gas.” The product is sold in varieties that include various fruit flavoring agents, citric acid, sucrose, and other compounds. A sugar-free product contains an artificial sweetener as well as natural fruit flavors. Metamucil® brand of fiber from Procter and Gamble (http://www.metamucil.com/) contains psyllium fiber that is promoted as a product that “may help reduce heart disease risk by lowering cholesterol when part of a heart healthy diet.” The product is sold in varieties that include various fruit flavors and other inactives.
The prior art teaches several other methods for supplementing dietary fiber. U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,370, issued to Meer et al. on Dec. 17, 1991, describes a natural fiber laxative containing psyllium husk, apple fiber, fructose, gum arabic, and flavorants. The psyllium husk and the apple fiber comprise at least 75% by weight of the composition. The particle size is controlled to improve palatability. U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,524, issued to Kais et al. on May 14, 1996, claims an ingestible laxative composition comprising specified amounts of dioctyl sulfosuccinate and bulk fiber selected from the group consisting of psyllium, methylcellulose, polycarbophil, calcium polycarbophil, bran, malt soup extract, karaya, guar gum, and mixtures thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,263 issued to Powell et al. on Mar. 23, 1982, discloses psyllium-based bulk laxatives prepared from powdered husks of psyllium seeds and equal parts of a sugar wetting agent. The compositions are dispersed in water to provide hydrophilic aqueous compositions which adsorb large amounts of water to provide bulk and thus normalize bowel function by improving stool formation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,183, issued to Halow on Jan. 20, 1998, discloses a fiber composition containing polyethylene glycol. Polyethylene glycol is used as a wetting agent to promote dispersion in solvents.
Fiber supplements available to consumers such as those discussed herein have generally consisted of inconvenient and unpalatable fiber compositions that must be dissolved in water and drunk or incorporated into food items and eaten. Preparation of the fiber supplements requires mixing fiber powders in water or other liquids and is often messy and inconvenient. The fiber supplements are viscous and taste bad. Because of lack of availability of alternatives, consumers have been forced to use these forms of fiber in spite of the inconvenience and objectionable tastes and textures. Unfortunately, fiber containing confectionery compositions in convenient and palatable forms are not available to supplement the diet. There is, therefore, a need for convenient and palatable dietary fiber compositions that can provide dietary fiber to a consumer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide convenient and palatable confectionery compositions containing dietary fiber.
It is another object of the present invention to provide methods for making convenient and palatable confectionery compositions containing dietary fiber.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for providing supplementary dietary fiber to a consumer by having the customer consume a convenient and palatable confectionery composition containing fiber.
These and other objects are achieved using novel confectionery compositions containing fiber. The compositions contain confectionery ingredients that make the composition palatable and fiber ingredients that supplement fiber in the diet when the compositions are consumed. The compositions are available to the consumer in convenient, preferably bitesize, forms that can be easily consumed as a supplement. The confectionery ingredients are present in the composition in specific amounts and ratios so that the fiber can be easily incorporated into the composition without adversely affecting the stability, texture, feel, taste, and aftertaste of the composition. Such a composition comprises from about 5 to about 40 wt % of a fiber such as psyllium or mixtures of fibers; from about 3 to about 18 wt % of a fat such as hydrogenated vegetable oil; from about 0 to about 10 wt % of a protein such as whey; from about 40 to about 70 wt % of a carbohydrate comprising at least one reducing sugar such as corn syrup and at least one non-reducing sugar such as sucrose. The reducing sugar and non-reducing sugar are present in a ratio of from about 1:0.2 to about 1:1 (reducing sugar: non-reducing sugar).
In one particular embodiment of the present invention, a confectionery composition comprising a dietary fiber or a mixture of dietary fibers in an amount from about 25 to about 40 wt % of the total weight of the composition; a source of fats; and a source of carbohydrates is provided. The carbohydrates may be p
Bhat N.
Bristol--Myers Squibb Company
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
LandOfFree
Confectionery compositions containing fiber does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Confectionery compositions containing fiber, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Confectionery compositions containing fiber will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3187854