Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – With biocide or biostat
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-26
2001-10-16
Weier, Anthony J. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
With biocide or biostat
C426S486000, C426S487000, C426S488000, C426S330000, C426S330200, C426S334000, C426S335000, C514S974000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06303172
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to methods of treating antimicrobial products, dairy products, pharmaceutical products, and other products having offensive odors or tastes to remove the off-odors and off-tastes from the products. The method involves exposing a selected commercial grade product containing a small amount of free acid impurities to an ammonia gas to convert the free acid impurities into ammonium salts, thereby eliminating the offensive odors and/or tastes caused by the free acids.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The growth of mold, rope, yeasts and bacteria is a significant problem in packaged or processed foods such as dairy products, margarine, butter, baked goods, fruit and vegetable containing products such as fruit fillings for pies or pastries, and processed meats. The growth of mold, rope, yeasts and bacteria not only significantly reduces the useful shelf life of the product, thus increasing the sellers' direct costs due to stale or moldy products that cannot be sold, but also requires that certain items be refrigerated during shipping and/or at the marketplace, which causes additional indirect expenses for the end seller of the product.
Various food preservatives are on the market. However, when used at concentrations that effectively increase shelf life, the prior art food preservatives impart an off-flavor, odor, color and/or texture to the final product that is undesirable. Consequently, a need exists for a food preservative that increases the shelf life of the product while not requiring refrigeration or causing off-flavor, color, odor and/or texture.
Other products, such as dairy products and pharmaceutical products, also tend to have offensive flavors and odors that are undesirable for consumers. Thus, a need exists for a method of treating such products to remove the offensive odors and flavors without altering the primary composition and effectiveness of the products.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Calcium propionate and potassium sorbate are recognized mold inhibitors. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,900,570 and 4,416,904 both disclose the use of calcium propionate, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate at very low concentrations as optional mold inhibitors. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,570 discloses a maximum usage of calcium propionate of 0.25 parts by weight per 100 parts of flour in the finished dough, with the preferred range being about 0.06 to about 0.12 parts. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,904, similar concentrations are disclosed: 0.04% to 0.10% for sodium benzoate, 0.05% to 0.20% for sorbic acid, and 0.4% for calcium propionate.
The low concentrations of mold inhibitors used in prior art products are necessary due to the off-flavor, odor, taste and/or texture imparted by low levels of free acids that are present as impurities in the antimicrobial products, such as propionate or sorbate. These free acids are particularly noticeable when the concentration levels of the food preservatives are increased. Before the applicant's invention, no one had effectively prepared a food preservative that incorporates either a propionate or sorbate such that, when used at increased levels, it does not impart an undesirable off-flavor, odor, or texture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,570 discloses a process for making yeast leavened bread using, among other things, a “fermentation adjuvant” containing an emulsifying agent, a yeast nutrient, an oxidizing agent such as azodicarbonamide, and a mold inhibitor such as calcium propionate or sodium propionate. The adjuvant is prepared by blending together the emulsifying agent, yeast nutrient, and oxidizing agent until the yeast nutrient and the oxidizing agent are encapsulated by the emulsifying agent. According to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,570, if a mold inhibitor is used, it is added only after the oxidizing agent is encapsulated by the emulsifying agent. The resulting adjuvant is then added to a bread dough, and the dough is cooked at a suitable temperature. U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,570 does not teach that gases, such as those derived from decomposing azodicarbonamide, can be reacted with a suitable mold inhibitor compound to remove the free acids from the compound and, thereby, cleanse the off-flavor and off-odor from the mold inhibitor compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,987 issued to Bland et al. discloses a pathogen inhibitor for animal feeds that uses a mixture of n-butyric acid and propionic acid, each of which is in an aqueous solution and contains a large amount of free acids. The aqueous solution of the acids is reacted with anhydrous ammonia by bubbling the ammonia gas therethrough. The anhydrous ammonia is added in a sufficient quantity to convert the acid mixture into ammonia salts until a buffered mixture is obtained with a neutral pH. The ammonia content in the final product of Bland et al., according to the examples given, is approximately 12.7 wt. %, which indicates that a large amount of free acid was contained in the acid mixture before ammonia was added, and also indicates that a substantial change in the composition and purity of the acid mixture occurred due to the addition of ammonia.
A need exists for a process that removes undesirable odors and flavors from antimicrobial products, dairy products, pharmaceutical products, and various other commercial grade products without causing a substantial change in the composition or purity of the products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a novel process for treating a variety of products to remove the off-flavor and off-odor from the products. In most instances, the commercial grades of the products treated by the applicant's process contain a small amount of free acid impurities, which have been determined to be the cause of the offensive odors and/or flavors in the products. The free acids are converted by the applicant's process into less offensive ammonium salts.
The present invention has evolved through three phases of development, which will be referred to herein as the “inclusion” phase, the “separation” phase, and the “gas” phase of the invention. The applicant first developed the inclusion phase of the invention, which involved mixing azodicarbonamide with an antimicrobial compound and heating the mixture to cause a reaction between the two compounds. Next, the applicant developed the separation phase of the invention, which uses a separator means, such as a stainless steel mesh, to keep the azodicarbonamide separate from the antimicrobial compound. In the separation phase, the azodicarbonamide is heated to cause a reaction between the gases of the decomposing azodicarbonamide and the antimicrobial compound. Next, the applicant developed the gas phase of the invention, which involves reacting a gas, preferably ammonia gas or a mixture containing ammonia gas, with an antimicrobial compound to eliminate the free acids in the compound. The applicant next realized that the gas phase of the invention was also effective to neutralize odors and flavors in other products, such as dairy products, pharmaceuticals, and so forth. The present application is directed primarily to the gas phase of the invention, which will be described below in detail.
In each of the three phases of development of the present invention, an improved product is prepared by eliminating free acids that are present as impurities in the commercial grades of the product. Acids can exist either as a free acid or as one of their associated salts. For example, propanoic (propionic) acid can exist as, but is not limited to, one of the following salts: sodium propanoate, calcium propanoate, magnesium propanoate, potassium propanoate, and ammonium propanoate. The salts of these acids, however, have different properties, for example taste and odor, than do the free acids from which they were derived.
In the food industry, several salts of various acids are employed. Unfortunately, the commercial grades of these salts that are available to the food industry contain a small amount of the various free acids as impurities. These small amounts
Thompson Jeffrey L.
Thompson & Thompson P.A.
Tillin, Inc.
Weier Anthony J.
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