Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Carbohydrate containing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-26
2002-11-19
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Carbohydrate containing
C426S658000, C426S572000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06482465
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to confectioneries, and more particularly to a method of producing a chewy nougat confectionery delivery system for actives in which a fully functionalized mass is obtained without cooking and thus exposing the ingredients therein to high heat. The invention also relates to the novel confectionery systems so produced .
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the art of unique delivery systems for comestibles, especially to confectionery manufacturing and particularly to novel methods of making a functionalized confectionery mass which do not require cooking to dehydrate and products therefrom. More particularly, the invention relates to comestible delivery systems, uncooked confectioneries and nougats, and methods for making same.
It is generally considered a necessity in the art of preparing food or drug delivery systems like confectionery masses such as nougats to use water as a mixing medium and source of hydration for ingredients. Specifically with respect to nougats, a typical recipe calls for soaking egg albumen in water over a period of time, such as overnight, in order to fully hydrate the protein. Following hydration the egg albumen is stirred and strained before being beaten into a stiff foam. Other ingredients such as sugar, honey, and corn syrup are separately cooked with water to a relatively high cooking temperature of from about 135° C. to about 138° C. to achieve the necessary interaction among the ingredients. The cooked mixture is then poured into the egg and beaten with a nougat mixer, which is similar to a marshmallow mixer but generally more robust. Additional parts of sugar and other ingredients must then be added and the mixture beaten or stirred over a hot water bath. This conventional nougat preparation method requires cooking the ingredients and using a significant amount of water to serve as a mixing medium and source of hydration. The amount of water used is much larger than that which would permit the formation of the solid nougat. Consequently, the excessive moisture must be driven off as much as possible to achieve the structural integrity and consistency necessary for the end product.
Conventional art processes require excessive amounts of water to provide a mixing medium and to hydrate the components. With respect to hydration, water is supplied in more than sufficient quantity to ensure that specific ingredients are wetted and functionalized. With respect to use of water as a mixing medium, once again an excessive amount of moisture is generally used so that ingredients can be contacted by suspension or dissolution in the medium. The overall process requires the use of far more moisture than is actually required to provide solubility of the ingredients. Unless the water is forcibly removed, the process will result in an incoherent product having no significant structural integrity.
A consequence of using excessive water to hydrate and as a mixing medium is that the artisan must then reduce the unwanted additional moisture. This is generally undertaken by a combination of mixing and boiling to drive off the moisture and bring the mass to proper viscosity and consistency. This process, however, can be highly energy-inefficient and very costly as it requires heat, excessive handling of nougat masses, flashing off of some critical fluids, and an inability to incorporate heat sensitive materials, as well as a less desirable overall stability of the product. Moreover, it is not effective in completely eliminating a substantial amount of the moisture contained in the confectionery mass.
One of the unwanted results of inefficient dehydration is that water remains as a separate phase in the end product. This water is not bound to other ingredients and can be referred to as free moisture or unbound water. Free moisture can detract from the end product because it weakens the structural integrity and/or reduces the quality of organoleptic perception. Moreover, excessive free moisture results in higher water activity, and thereby provides an environment in which microorganisms can grow. Microbiological growth in food products has also been used to measure the existence of free moisture.
Free moisture has been identified in food art by the term water activity. Water activity is defined as the ratio of the vapor pressure of water in an enclosed chamber containing a food to the saturation vapor pressure of water at the same temperature. Water activity is an indication of the degree to which unbound water is found and, consequently, is available to act as a solvent or to participate in destructive chemical and microbiological reactions.
Many food preservation processes attempt to eliminate spoilage by lowering the availability of water to microorganisms. Reducing the amount of free moisture or unbound water also minimizes other undesirable chemical changes which can occur in foods during storage. The processes used to reduce the amount of unbound water in foods include techniques such as concentration, dehydration, and freeze-drying. These processes often require intensive expenditure of energy and are not cost efficient.
In addition, the goal of producing an acceptable chewy nougat confectionery has been further complicated by the inclusion of one or more active substances such as bioaffecting agents or nutrients. Many of these substances are not only heat-sensitive, but also possess undesirable organoleptic features in the sense that they are bad tasting, have a disagreeable odor, or are difficult to chew or swallow. Of further complication is the fact that many of these actives are extremely difficult to blend into an edible delivery system. Often they are simply not physically compatible with one or more of the confectionery ingredients.
Various attempts have now been made to formulate acceptable confectionery systems containing actives. For example, Yang et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,778,676, 4,882,152 and 4,882,154, describe a chewable delivery system comprising a gummy confectionery in which an active is first pre-coated with large amounts of oleaginous material.
Chau et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,313, is directed to a soft, chewable dosage form in which maltitol syrup (HSH) must be utilized. The dosage forms are described as chewing gums, hard candy, cough drops and breath fresheners.
Peters et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,709, relates to a chewable mineral supplement in which corn syrup, sugar, an edible polyol, water and a mineral supplement are combined.
Becker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,989, describes a chewable comestible product having a frappe component and a syrup component.
Fuisz, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,804,247 and 5,587,198, are directed to a confectionery system which is formed by first flash-flow processing of saccharide material in a centrifugal spinning machine under high heat conditions. The resultant flash-flow processed material is then admixed with a well-hydrated hydrobinder such as gelatin.
Sharma et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,288, is directed to a drug delivery system including a core material containing an active and a hydrophobic matrix coating.
Shaw et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,991, relates to an ingestible aggregate containing a pre-swelled substantially anhydrous hydrocolloid and a substrate.
Many of the foregoing references, however, have not always proven wholly successful in providing both a suitable confectionery delivery system, and an acceptable, cost-efficient method of production.
The present invention overcomes the difficulties set forth above as well as other difficulties generally associated with the aforementioned art references. In particular, both the necessity of cooking the confection to obtain desired physical properties and using excessive water to mix and hydrate one or more ingredients is eliminated, as is the need to overprocess an unpalatable active. In addition, the method and product of the invention are obtained without any need for subsequent dehydration. Heating at high temperatures and mixing to drive off excessive moisture are no longer required. Con
Bayard Claude
Cherukuri Subraman R.
Ghanta Sambasiva
Khurana Amrik
King Peter
Bhat Nina
Biovail Technologies Ltd.
Teskin Robin L.
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