Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Surface coated – fluid encapsulated – laminated solid... – Animal meat derived component
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-31
2001-10-30
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Surface coated, fluid encapsulated, laminated solid...
Animal meat derived component
C426S093000, C426S104000, C426S623000, C426S630000, C426S635000, C426S805000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06309682
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to food compositions, particularly to food compositions for pets and more particularly, to dry pet foods, and to the structure and texture of the food compositions, particularly structure and texture imparted by extrusion-cooking procedures and the manner in which the extrusion-cooked food is manipulated during and after extrusion from an extrusion device which includes one or more screws.
Traditionally, dry pet foods are produced by extrusion (croquettes). These products are expanded and do not resemble meat. Other extrusion and spinning techniques are well known and used in the art. The products thus obtained are indeed moisture-containing or dried meat analogues, but these technologies require formulas with high protein levels in order to texture the material (levels greater than 40%).
French Patent Application Publication No. 2,274,235 relates to a dry food having a tender and soft texture and appearance and comprising a mixture of fatty substances, proteinaceous binders and a plasticizing agent while limiting the starchy ingredients to 25%, but the texture is not lamellar and crunchy and the formulas are specific. Japanese Patent Document Publication No. 61-224941 relates to textured products, of high densities, with protein levels greater than 40%, manufactured solely in twin-screw extruders.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the present invention is to develop a dried meat analogue from a traditional formula for pets, that is to say containing less than 40% protein, requiring no addition of proteinaceous binders, plasticizing agent or sugars and having a crunchy texture.
The invention relates to a dry pet food obtained from an extruder. The extruder which will be described more precisely below is a system with one or two screws of variable or constant pitch housed in a barrel which works under pressure and at high temperature.
The invention provides a dry pet food which, by weight, has a lamellar structure which has a moisture content of between 2 and 15%, a protein content of between 14 and 35%, a carbohydrate content of at least 25% and a lipid content of between 2 and 20% and which has a density of between 0.3 and 0.6 g/cc.
The lamellar structure is in the form of layers each having a thickness of between 1 and 6 mm. The carbohydrate content is between 25 and 70%.
The invention also provides a process for producing the dry food composition described above, in which the basic ingredients, as mentioned above, are mixed, the mixture is cooked in an extruder or expander, the product is discharged from the extruder or expander in the form of a band, or strip, having layers which is cut to the desired size into pieces, and the pieces are dried to obtain a moisture content of between 4 and 15%. After mixing the basic ingredients, preconditioning may be carried out to obtain a moisture content of between 13 and 25%.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The product according to the invention is obtained by a conventional mixing of cereals, vegetable protein extracts, animal meals and vegetable by-products. Normally, the cereal content is between 40 and 70%, that of vegetable proteins between 5 and 25%, that of animal meals between 5 and 30% and that of vegetable by-products between 10 and 20%. Cereals are understood to mean any species of cereals regardless of their presentation or the products obtained by processing the farinaceous kernel of the cereals. Vegetable protein extracts are understood to mean any product of plant origin, whose proteins have been concentrated by an appropriate treatment, which contain at least 50% crude protein relative to the dry matter and which may have been restructured. Animal meals are understood to mean any product and by-product obtained from the processing of animals or animal parts.
Vegetable by-products are understood to mean by-products obtained from the treatment of plant products, in particular cereals, vegetables, leguminous plants and oil seeds.
It has been observed that the palatability of the product according to the invention is equivalent to, or even better than that of the dry foods obtained conventionally, that is to say by cooking-extrusion.
The dry food is intended both for cats and for dogs. Preferably, this food is intended for dogs. It contains between 18 and 35% protein, or between 20 and 30% and a moisture content of between 8 and 12%. It is provided in the form of pieces of lamellar texture having sizes in the three dimensions of between 5 and 40 mm. The pieces have a weight of between 0.5 and 25 g.
Before mixing the various ingredients, they are ground to the desired size. The mixture thus obtained has a moisture content of the order of 10%. The mixture is then introduced into a feed hopper comprising a metering screw used to regulate the throughput of the process.
The mixture supplied by the metering screw is then optionally preconditioned with water and steam. The preconditioner is a chamber equipped with one or more axles with blades. The objective of the preconditioner is to moisten the mixture initially by about 10% in order to obtain a moisture content of between 13 and 25% or from 13% to 20%. Another objective of the preconditioner is to preheat the mixture by means of the energy supplied by the steam. The rotation of the axles causes intense mixing between the mixture, the water and the steam. The residence time in the preconditioner is between 20 and 200 seconds. At the outlet of the preconditioner, the mixture drops into the extruder.
The cooking is carried out in the said extruder. The extruder comprises one or two screws housed in a barrel. The screw(s) are rotated by a motor. The configuration of the screw is variable or constant and depends on the desired result. At the inlet of the extruder, the screw pitch is quite large in order to allow good supply of the said extruder, then the pitch becomes smaller in order to create the frictions necessary for the mixing and shearing of the mixture. The screw may consist of a single or double thread depending on the filling rate and the desired frictions. It is also possible to envisage injecting steam into the extruder, so as to speed up the cooking of the mixture. The mixture becomes pasty and it is conveyed towards the outlet of the extruder so as to be shaped.
The outlet of the extruder comprises a die, whose dimensions and shapes will allow the pasty mixture to take the shape and the appearance characteristic of the product, according to the invention. To allow the product to be shaped, an annular or flat die is actuated by hydraulic means. An adjustable opening makes it possible to create a pressure of 10 to 50 bar required to shape the product. At the level of this die, the temperature of the pasty mixture is about 80 to 140° C. It is also possible to envisage the use of a die without adjustable opening, that is to say with a fixed opening. In this case, the thickness of the product band or bands leaving the die outlet is determined by the geometry of the die. The moisture content of the product at the outlet of the extruder is about 12 to 20%. At the outlet of the die, the product bands already have the appearance of dried meat.
The extruder used is preferably a single-screw extruder, but it can be replaced by a twin-screw extruder or an expander. An expander has a single archimedean screw, in general with a constant pitch and with no neck zones. The single-screw extruders have more complex screw patterns and are capable of generating more friction and pressure.
From the extruder, a band can be extracted which will then be cut in a dicer, for example of the URSCHEL type. It is also possible to extract several bands generated by fixed knives arranged inside or at the outlet of the die. These knives may be vertical and/or horizontal. These bands will then be cut by a rotating knife. These operations are designed to convert the bands of product into pieces of the desired sizes which vary from 5×5 mm to 40×40 mm.
The pieces are finally dried in order to obtain a total moisture content of
Janot Denis
Martin Thierry
Toppano Marco
Corbin Arthur L.
Nestec S.A.
Winston & Strawn
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