Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Gels or gelable composition
Patent
1991-06-05
1994-05-17
Paden, Carolyn
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Gels or gelable composition
426459, 426460, 426412, A23B 916
Patent
active
053126394
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to acid-pasteurised, shelf-stable, rice products and to processes for their production.
By shelf-stable is meant that the product can be stored at room temperature for long periods of time without being subject to spoilage by microbial action, without its organoleptic properties deteriorating an without it acquiring any undesirable flavour. Typically, food products are considered to be shelf-stable if they meet these requirements after at least nine months and preferably after at least twelve or fourteen months of storage at room temperature. The major reason that many food products are not shelf-stable is that the growth of spoilage microorganisms is not inhibited. Therefore, an essential requirement of a shelf-stable food product is that it should not be susceptible to the growth, of spoilage microorganisms.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
At present, rice is available to the public as raw rice, parboiled rice, frozen rice or canned rice. Both raw and parboiled rice have the advantage that they are generally shelf-stable. Raw and parboiled rice are shelf-stable because they have a low water content, generally in the region of about 12% by weight. This is too low to support microbial growth.
Raw rice is generally available as "white" rice, that is the kernel of the rice from which the bran layer and the husk have been removed. Raw rice is also available as "brown" rice, which is the same as "white" rice except its bran layer has been retained. Raw white rice is cooked by boiling it for about fifteen minutes in salted water. Cooking raw brown rice generally takes somewhat longer.
Raw rice is generally acceptable if it is cooked properly. However, it is very easy to over- or under-cook the rice so that an unacceptable product is produced. Moreover, cooked raw rice tends to be very sticky and this has an unacceptable appearance and mouthfeel. Further, raw rice, especially "white" raw rice, has little nutritive value, as most of the nutrients are present in the husk or the bran layer.
Parboiled rice was developed in order to overcome some of the disadvantages of raw rice. The most common method of producing parboiled rice is to soak paddy rice (i.e. rice having the husk and bran layer still present) and then to heat it, for instance by steaming. This causes gelatinisation of the starch in the kernel and also induces many of the nutrients in the husk and bran layer to diffuse into the kernel. A recent development in the production of par-boiled rice is disclosed in EP-A-0 352 939. In the process disclosed in this document, the rice is parboiled by the use of dry heat at a much lower moisture content than is possible using conventional parboiling processes.
Parboiled rice has the advantages that: it is more nutritious than raw rice; on cooking, it does not become sticky; and it is much less susceptible to overcooking than raw rice. It is thus more acceptable both nutritionally and organoleptically and is easier to prepare in acceptable form. However, parboiled rice has the disadvantage that it takes at least twenty minutes, or even longer for brown parboiled rice, to cook. Thus, it cannot readily be used as a convenience food.
In order to overcome the problem of the long cooking times of raw and parboiled rice, frozen rice has been placed on the market. Frozen rice generally comprises raw or, more often, parboiled rice which has been cooked, drained and frozen. As long as it is kept frozen, it is stable for long periods. However, if as it is allowed to warm to room temperature, it will soon spoil. Frozen rice is prepared for eating merely by heating it to the required temperature, for instance in a microwave oven.
Frozen rice has the disadvantage that it requires freezing facilities at the point of production, at the point of sale and at the point of use. It also requires refrigerated transportation. This is very energy-intensive and thus makes the product relatively expensive.
There have been many proposals for the production of shelf-stable rice which can b
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Atherton John
Field Eric S.
Hawkins Michael J.
Howard John G.
Mars Incorporated
Paden Carolyn
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