Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Normally noningestible chewable material or process of... – Packaged – structurally defined – or coated
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-02
2004-11-23
Hendricks, Keith (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Normally noningestible chewable material or process of...
Packaged, structurally defined, or coated
C426S285000, C426S304000, C426S305000, C426S658000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06821535
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a process for the hard panning of chewable cores in a rotary pan wherein a syrup containing crystallizable sugar(s) and/or polyol(s) such as xylitol is intermittently sprayed over a bed of the cores and the cores are dried between sprayings with a flow of air. The invention relates especially to the improved control of the panning process which enables a faster panning and thereby a considerable saving in the time required for providing cores with hard coatings. The invention also relates to cores panned by a process according to the invention and especially to chewing gums coated with a hard coating of xylitol.
The art of coating or panning is described generally e.g. in the article “Crystallisation and drying during hard panning” by Dr. Richard W. Hartel (Manufacturing Confectioner, February 1995). According to the document too fast drying causes problems and for proper results it is important that the crystallization and drying are in balance. Crystallization and drying should proceed at the same speed so that each layer is set before the next layer is sprayed on. If drying is too rapid, a rubbery skin is formed on the surface trapping the water in the layers below.
Consequently, the panning technology has provided long drying times to allow the crystallization to proceed properly in the layer. On the other hand long drying times increase the cost of panning. With compounds such as xylitol and sorbitol, the solubility and viscosity of the compound require low -temperature panning (see “Coating with sorbitol. A Comparison of properties of sorbitol-mannitol other polyols and sugars” by Francis Devos, Roquette Freres, Manufacturing Confectioner, November 1980).
The panning or coating with xylitol and other polyols is described also in the following patent publications:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,086 (Devos, assigned to Roquette Freres)
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,790 (Silva, assigned to Warner-Lambert Company)
U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,797 (Bousier, assigned to Roquette Freres)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,508 (Reed et al, assigned to Wm. Wrigley Jr.)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,061 (Reed et al, assigned to Wm. Wrigley Jr.)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,389 (Reed et al, assigned to Wm. Wrigley Jr.)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,511 (Yatka, assignee Wm. Wrigley)
EP 813 817 (Cerestar Holding)
In these patents various panning techniques with polyols such as sorbitol, xylitol and mannitol are discussed. In many cases the coating is regarded as being complex, slow and costly. This concerns especially xylitol.
Xylitol is rather broadly used in non-cariogenic chewing gums, confectionery and pharmaceuticals. For proper panning a fairly low temperature, such as 20 to 25° C. is used and care is taken to dry the cores properly between sprayings. This provides a good and hard coating but requires long process times. If the panning procedures could be speeded up, the capacity of the equipment could be increased and cost savings could be obtained. Thus, there exists a need for a quicker and more efficient coating process for polyols such as xylitol, and also for other coating compounds.
It has been found that most of the heat needed for the drying during panning derives from the drying air, and that only a minor part comes from the heat of crystallization. Thus, it is possible to control the panning procedure by controlling the drying conditions.
The present invention seeks to provide improvements in panning procedures to alleviate the problems discussed above and to provide a product with equal or improved quality and shelf-life. The present invention has been worked out primarily with xylitol but in its broadest sense it is applicable also to panning with other polyols and for the control of panning with sugars.
The present invention is defined in the appended claims which are incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, the present invention relates to a process for the production of chewable coated cores by hard panning of chewable cores in a coating pan or drum wherein a syrup containing crystallizablc polyol(s) and/or sugar(s) is intermittently sprayed over a rotating bed of the cores and the cores are dried between sprayings with a flow of air. The invention is characterized in that the drying of the cores between sprayings is controlled by controlling parameters of the drying air in such a way as to intentionally leave a substantial residual moisture in the drying coating layer at the start of a subsequent spraying phase.
The term “substantial residual moisture” as used throughout this specification and claims is intended to mean a moisture which is substantially higher than the moisture left in the coating layer in conventional panning procedures. In conventional panning it is considered necessary to dry the sprayed coating layer to a fully dry condition before the next layer is sprayed. It is also considered necessary to perform the drying slowly so that the crystallization and drying are in balance. A moist and/or improperly crystallized layer is considered to provide a very poor product. Thus, a normal coating is performed slowly and does not stop until the drying is substantially complete to avoid having sticky cores which adhere to each other. On the other hand a good panner also knows that the drying should not continue for too long since then the cores will become brittle and will start to produce dust which impairs the surface of the coating.
When a new process is developed in practice the level of dryness of the cores is tested manually. The door of the panning apparatus is opened and the feel of the cores is tested by hand. An experienced panner will know the feel of the cores when they have reached the correct fully dry condition.
The drying of the cores may also be monitored by measuring the humidity in the bed or in the drum or the humidity of the outlet air. The drying is complete when the humidity does not change anymore and its gradient reaches a plateau.
In the present invention the control is preferably made by monitoring the relative humidity of the outlet air. The drying would be complete by conventional standards when the relative humidity gradient has reached a plateau. This plateau indicates what in the specification and claims is called the “basic level”. This basic level is the humidity level that the conventional panning would aim at. In the present invention the drying is stopped before the humidity reaches its basic level and its gradient flattens out to a plateau. Thus, compared to the conventional technique, a residual moisture is intentionally left in the cores. This may be seen in that the air is still effectively although slowly removing moisture from the cores and the humidity of the outlet air keeps decreasing.
The present invention is based on the realization that it is not necessary to dry the cores completely. The critical maximum level of residual moisture or rather the critical minimum level of dryness that must be reached is the level where the outer surface of the cores is completely dry. At the point when the outer “skin” of the last sprayed layer is dry, the layer underneath it still contains a substantial amount of its moisture. This residual moisture has in the prior art been substantially completely removed and drying has continued until all of the syrup has crystallized or at least solidified. Removing this moisture is slow and hence it stows down the whole process.
In the present invention a substantial amount of residual moisture is left in the core. Surprisingly this does not cause the expected problems in the final product provided that the drying is controlled by parameters of the drying air.
The drying air parameters are preferably selected from air humidity, air temperature, air flow speed, air flow time and- air flow direction. A combination of two or more of the parameters may be required to provide the desired control. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the drying is performed with air having a higher temperature than what has been conventionally used and the residual moisture is retained in the core layer by stopping the blowing of drying air t
Bond Mike
Fairs Ian
Nurmi Juha
Oravainen Juha
Pepper Tammy
Hendricks Keith
Xyrofin Oy
LandOfFree
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