Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Building up units from diverse edible particulate material...
Patent
1996-05-15
1998-06-30
Cano, Milton
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Building up units from diverse edible particulate material...
426312, 426317, 426588, 426443, 426453, 426474, 426491, 99452, 34377, 34378, 34379, A23G 900
Patent
active
057730610
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a method and a plant for the preparation of agglomerated milk products and milk-like products, e.g., baby food, in a two-stage agglomeration process comprising spray drying of a concentrated premix which is pre-agglomerated by return of fine particles to the atomizer and, in a subsequent step, post-agglomeration by wetting and drying in a fluidized bed.
The invention specifically relates to the manufacture of agglomerated baby foods known as infant formula and follow-up formula and to the manufacture of whey protein concentrates. The manufacturer of such products must be able to meet a number of requirements from authorities and from the end-users. The gross composition of such products is often controlled by local recommendations. However, in the case of baby food, the manufacturer may vary the individual constituents in a wide range to give a good resemblance of mother's milk or to add specific healthy ingredients. Therefore, the chemical composition of the before-mentioned milk and milk-like products may vary within wide limits.
Next, the agglomerated powders must satisfy a series of physical requests from the end-user, i.e. the powder must be immediately soluble in luke warm water, it must not cause any small lumps in the bottle, it must be easily and accurately dispensed, have a certain bulk density, be dust free, have a long shelf life etc.
Since the physical properties of an agglomerate are most dependent on the chemical composition, an apparatus for the manufacture of these milk-like products must be very flexible.
It is a well known process to manufacture a powdered baby food by spray drying a concentrated premix and agglomerating the powder by recirculating all fine particles to the atomizer. The obtained agglomerates are subsequently dried in a fluidized bed.
This process is e.g. explained by Haugaard Sorensen et al. in Scandinavian Dairy Information 4, 1992. The disadvantage of the process is that it is very difficult to avoid some formation of oversize particles which tend to form lumps when redissolved. In addition, the agglomerates produced in this way are very unstable.
Further, it is a known technique to manufacture agglomerated baby food by the so called re-wet agglomeration in which previously spray dried powders are wetted with 8-10% water in a special wetting chamber and dried in a separate fluid bed. This process, e.g. described by Masters, Spray Drying Handbook, 1985, p. 602, has the disadvantage of requiring high rates of water and corresponding additional drying, and it is claimed to be suitable for production of small agglomerates only.
Further, the applicant has for many years manufactured and sold re-wet agglomerators for agglomeration and drying of baby foods. This apparatus is a fluid bed in which one or several series of flat spray two-fluid nozzles are arranged transversely in a first section of a vibrated plug flow fluid bed. The nozzle slit is vertical. This agglomerator is flexible, however, has the disadvantage of also requiring 8-10% added water and a corresponding large area with warm air for drying out this water.
Further, it is known in the dairy industry to agglomerate milk and milk-like powder products in an integrated fluid bed spray dryer, using low outlet temperature. This agglomeration is claimed to take place mainly in the fluid bed. The fluid bed handles powder of high residual moisture which in the subsequent stage is removed in a traditional fluid bed dryer. (Masters, Spray Drying Handbook, 1991, pp. 615 and 597).
It is a common problem, using the prior art, that agglomeration of certain products in the milk industry and some milk-like baby food formulations is very difficult, especially if the liquid premix was atomized from a nozzle atomizer and that manufacture of stable, non dusty powders with customer requested functional properties requires substantial additional water evaporation and operator skill.
The present invention of a two-stage agglomeration process eliminates these drawbacks.
The concentrated liquid premix is
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Andersen Gert G.
Getler Jens
Hansen John Ib
APV Anhydro A/S
Cano Milton
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