Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Fat or oil is basic ingredient other than butter in emulsion...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-29
2003-04-08
Paden, Carolyn (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Fat or oil is basic ingredient other than butter in emulsion...
C426S611000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06544578
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns reduced calorie spoonable dressings that exhibit freeze-thaw stability. More specifically, the invention relates to spoonable dressings wherein some or all of the blended salad oil has been replaced with a fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions having from about 3 to about 16 oxypropylene units per unit of glycerin wherein the ratio of total fatty acid carbon number to degree of fatty acid unsaturation (herein referred to as the (“FACN:DU Ratio”) is less than about 120, preferably less than about 90 for fatty acid esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions having unsaturated fatty acids or the ratio of a total fatty acid carbon number to propoxylation number (herein referred to as the “FACN:PO Ratio”) is less than about 6, preferably less than about 5, for fatty acid esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions that do not have unsaturated fatty acids. Replacement of the blended salad oil with these fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions provides the spoonable dressing with exemplary freeze-thaw stability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional spoonable dressings, such as full fat mayonnaise, lack freeze-thaw stability. Dressings made with blended salad oil, such as soybean oils or other lipid based fats, will incur complete emulsion break after being frozen. The freeze-thaw characteristics of such dressings, like mayonnaises, are undesirable, for example, when storage and transportation occurs in climatic conditions wherein temperatures are below freezing. The lack of freeze-thaw stability of conventional dressings limits transportation and storage options available for full fat spoonable dressings. Conventional dressings, if frozen after a period of time, will separate when thawed thus rendering the dressing un-marketable.
It has now been found that certain fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions can be employed as a substitute replacement for some or all of the blended salad oil in spoonable dressings such as mayonnaise. The compositions have a bland flavor and the ability to form a stable emulsion. The use of fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions as a partial replacement for all or some of the fat surprisingly provides the dressing with freeze-thaw stability. The freeze-thaw stability of the dressings improves as increased amounts of blended salad oil is replaced with the fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions. The dressing comprising the fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions as full or partial replacement for blended salad oil has reduced calories compared to full fat dressings. Thus, fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions can be used to make fine tasting, premium quality spoonable dressings having smooth texture, good spreadability and reduced calories with freeze-thaw stability.
Since fats make up approximately forty percent of the diet and provide about twice the amount of calories per gram compared to proteins or carbohydrates, research efforts have focused on ways to produce low fat and no fat foods that provide the same functional and organoleptic properties as their full fat counterparts, but not the calories. These efforts have led to the development and utilization of carbohydrate and protein based fat extenders for non-heated applications (e.g. mayonnaise) and the development of lipid based fat replacers for both non-heated and heated applications. Drawbacks to the utilization of carbohydrate and protein based fat extenders, however, include potential flavor and taste problems, substandard texture and lack of “fatty” mouthfeel.
Fat replacement compositions which have been developed for use in low calorie fat containing foods are known. An early development employing sugar fatty acid esters is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,186.
Low fat and no fat mayonnaise prepared with lipid based fat replacers are described in the art, and examples include acylated glycerides (U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,715), sucrose octaesters (U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,300), alkyl glycoside fatty acid polyesters (U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,815), polysiloxane oil (U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,413), cyclohexyl diol diesters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,351), long chain diol diesters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,126), amide ether derivatives (U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,075), complex linked esters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,678), alcohol amine esters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,142), amide linked fat mimetics (U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,807), acylated amino acid ester derivatives (U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,782), primary amide esters (U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,783) and fat mimetics having mineral core with fatty coating (U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,913). However, no mention has been made that the substitution of vegetable oil with these fat replacers in mayonnaise improves product quality or stability, including providing the mayonnaise with freeze-thaw stability. All of the low calorie fat replacement compositions discussed above have drawbacks either in the processes which employ them, or the flavor and mouthfeel characteristics of the finished reduced fat products.
Esterified propoxylated glycerin fat substitutes said to be resistant to gastrointestinal side effects are the subject of European Patent Application 0 571 291 A2. These fat substitutes generally have 3 to 20 oxypropylene units per equivalent of glycerine, a fatty acid acyl group content such that at least 40 mole percent of the acyl groups are derived from C
20
to C
24
saturated linear fatty acids and a solid fat index at 27° C. of at least 30. There is no mention that use of these EPG compounds provide freeze thaw stability, and these EPG compositions do not uniformly meet the FACN:DU Ratio and FACN:PO Ratio which characterize the fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions useful for the freeze thaw dressings described herein.
Reduced calorie food compositions containing fat-type organoleptic ingredients are known wherein an esterified epoxide-extended polyol is employed as a full or partial replacement for vegetable oils and fats. Fat substitutes of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,613 to White et al. (referred to herein as “White” and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety).
An application of the assignee of the invention involving the replacement of conventional fat in nut butters with fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin, Low Calorie Nut Butters and Processes for their Production, Ser. No. 09/466,471, filed Dec. 17, 1999, is currently pending. An application of the assignee concerning partially digestible fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions is also pending, Reduced Calorie Fat Mimetics with an Average Number of Oxyalkylene Groups per Molecule of No More than Five, Ser. No. 09/333,546 filed Jun. 15, 1999. These applications do not involve dressing preparations or the effect of fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions on freeze-thaw characteristics.
In the present specification and claims, all parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The fatty acid-esterified propoxylated glycerin compositions (sometimes referred to herein as “EPG” in the singular form and as “EPGs” in the plural form) are made by incorporating propylene oxide (sometimes referred to herein as “oxypropylene” or “PO”) groups into a typical triglyceride fat as described in White. The average number of PO groups which are incorporated into a triglyceride is called the propoxylation number. The melting profile and other characteristics of the composition can be modified by adjusting the propoxylation number of a triglyceride, combining (i.e., employing as ingredients in a recipe) two or more different EPGs (i.e., having different propoxylation numbers) with the same fatty acid composition, combining two or more EPGs having different fatty acid compositions and having the same or different propoxylation numbers, and any combination thereof which provides the desired melting profile characteristics.
The i
Golden Rosemary Antoinette
Sekula Bernard Charles
LandOfFree
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