Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Product with added vitamin or derivative thereof for...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-14
2001-06-19
Sayala, Chhaya D. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Product with added vitamin or derivative thereof for...
C426S073000, C426S623000, C426S630000, C426S805000, C426S807000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06248374
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention generally to a stabilized food additive. More particularly, the present invention relates to a particulate food additive premix comprised of a carrier that is a particulate plant seed product having an ash content of less than about 10 percent by weight and a homogeneously admixed food additive.
2. Background of the Invention
In rapidly growing animals, such as chickens, turkeys, and ducks, skeletal abnormalities frequently occur. One common skeletal abnormality is tibial dyschondroplasia (“TD”), which is characterized by an unmineralized, unvascularized mass of cartilage located in the proximal ends of the tibiotarsus and the tarsusmetatarsus. Depending on the extent of TD, this abnormality can sufficiently weaken the animal's bones such that the animal can experience difficulty walking and be prone to falling. These conditions lead to a decrease in the animal's growth rate and in certain instances causes the animal to prematurely die. Weakened bones resulting from TD also hamper the mechanical processing of the animals experiencing this condition.
Several dietary factors have been found to have major effects on the expression of TD. For example, Stark et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,794, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application, describes using 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (“25-HCC”) for treating or preventing TD. Edwards, Jr., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,154,925, 5,316,770, and 5,366,736, describe treating TD by supplementing poultry feed with Vitamin D
3
(cholecalciferol [“CC”]) and certain of its hydroxylated derivatives, such as 25-HCC and 1,25-hydroxycholecalciferol (“1,25-DHCC”).
Each of these patents describes using the supplement (food additive) in conjunction with poultry feed that is primarily formed from ground yellow corn and dehulled soybean meal. Another common carrier for use with the preceding supplements is a mixture of rice hulls, calcium carbonate, and mineral oil.
A problem with poultry feed premixes using CC, 25-HCC, and 1,25-DHCC is that those materials can rapidly degrade after being mixed with the prior art carriers and held at a temperature of 40° C. Degradation of CC, 25-HCC, and 1,25-DHCC limits the useful life of the poultry feed premix.
For example, poultry feed premix with 25-HCC beadlets admixed with rice hulls typically loses approximately 15 to 20 percent of the 25-HCC concentration in about one week when held at 40° C. Nearly half of the 25-HCC initially present in the supplemented poultry feed is degraded in four weeks at a temperature of 40° C. On the other hand, when stored at ambient temperature in a laboratory or warehouse, those compositions exhibited about 2-4 percent loss after two weeks, about 11 percent loss after six weeks and about 19 percent loss after twelve weeks.
The nutritional importance of vitamins that are soluble in fat is known. Goodman et al., “Fat-Soluble Vitamins”,
The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics
, 8
th
ed., pg. 1553 (1993). For example, consuming a diet with adequate levels of vitamins A, K, and E promotes, among other things, metabolism, circulation, and vision.
In an article entitled “Factors Affecting Storage Stability of Vitamin A, Riboflavin, and Niacin in a Broiler Diet Premix”, [
Poultry Science
65:987 (1986)], Zhuge et al. describe studies on the stability of vitamin A, riboflavin, and niacin supplements when dispersed on a number of carriers. These researchers reported stability to be enhanced by using a carrier of either ground corn cobs or rice hulls as compared to ground sorghum or ground corn.
Because of these conditions, the initial level of supplementation must be increased to ensure that the poultry feed contains at least a desired level of the supplement. The increased supplement level increases the cost of producing the supplemented animal feed. The present invention, described hereinafter, provides one solution to the problem of food supplement degradation.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stabilized food additive that is provided as a particulate animal feed premix. The animal feed premix comprises carrier particles and a homogeneously admixed food additive. The carrier is a plant seed product that has an ash content of less than about 10 percent by weight, and preferably less than about 5 weight percent by weight. The food additive is soluble in organic solvents and is water-insoluble. The stabilized food additive is produced by homogeneously admixing an additive-effective amount of the food additive with the carrier particles.
The present invention has general benefits and advantages. One benefit is that degradation of the food additive is substantially reduced when used in conjunction with the carrier of the present invention when compared to the degradation of the food additive used with prior art carriers.
An advantage of the present invention is that a contemplated animal food premix is compatible and readily admixed with usually-used animal feeds. Another benefit of the present invention is that a preferred particulate animal feed premix flows readily and thereby provides easy handling to the user.
Another advantage is that the carrier used in the present invention is a compatible energy and nutritional source as compared to the usually used rice hulls and calcium carbonate that contribute substantially no energy of nutritional value to the animal being fed.
Still further benefits and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill from the description that follows.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particulate stabilized food additive premix. The stabilized food additive premix contains carrier particles that are homogeneously admixed with a food additive. Using the food additive in conjunction with the carrier in a premix of the present invention substantially reduces the rate at which the food additive degrades at elevated temperature when compared to the degradation rate of food additives used in conjunction with prior art carriers.
The carrier used in the present invention is a particulate plant seed product selected to have an ash concentration of less than about 10 percent by weight. Preferably, the ash concentration of the carrier is less than about 5 percent by weight. Unless identified otherwise, all references in the present application to percent are percent by weight.
It has surprisingly been found that using a carrier comprised of plant seed product particles having the specified ash concentration substantially reduces the degradation of the food additive, when compared with the degradation of the food additive observed when used with a conventional carrier, such as a mixture of rice hulls, calcium carbonate, and mineral oil having ash concentrations of about 15 to about 20 percent for rice hulls and 100 percent for calcium carbonate.
A broadly useful particulate carrier having the preceding ash content is preferably obtained from plant seeds in which at least the germ portion has been removed, although whole plant seeds can also be used. Suitable plant seeds for use in the present invention include corn, wheat, rice, barley, rye, oats, and combinations thereof. The ash contents of various plant seed product carriers that are suitable for use with the present invention are set forth in Table 1, below.
TABLE 1
Ash Content of Carriers
Ash content
Material
(percent)
Degermed corn meal
0.4
Whole corn
1.5
Degermed corn flour
0.6
Extruded whole corn
1.5
Soft ground wheat
2.0
Wheat midds
2.4
Ground barley
4.6
High protein soybean
5.8
meal
Rice hulls
15-20
Degermed corn is used in some preferred embodiments as the carrier in one or more of the following particulate forms: extruded whole corn, corn, grits, meal, flour, and starch. Particularly suitable corn product particles for use as a carrier with the present invention are degermed corn meal and degermed corn flour, which can be obtained from Lauhoff Grain Company (Danville, Ill.).
To enhance the ability to use the premix in formulati
Murray Ralph I.
Stark Leonard E.
Sayala Chhaya D.
The Monsanto Company
Welsh & Katz Ltd.
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