Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Foam or foamable type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-02
2002-04-16
Bhat, Nina (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Foam or foamable type
C426S565000, C426S586000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06372280
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to stable, acidic foams, such as frozen whipped toppings, having a pH less than about 4.0, and preferably in the range of about 2.5 to about 3.5. More particularly, the present invention is directed to providing formulations that can produce stable foams in a high acid environment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Compositions and processes for preparing either dairy or non-dairy frozen whipped toppings are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,431,717 to Lorant; U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,926 to Trumbetas et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,251,560, 4,451,452, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,943 to Dell et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,867 to Zobel et al. relate to such compositions and processes. The disclosures of these patents enable the production of freeze-thaw stable, frozen whipped toppings which are distributed as frozen products, which are thawed prior to use, and which can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 21 days without textural breakdown. The aforementioned prior art patents relate to frozen whipped toppings wherein the fat content is about 20 percent or more. U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,076 to Gonsalves et al. discloses milk solids and phosphate salt-containing formulations and processes which have enabled the production of comparably stable, frozen whipped topping having a fat content reduced to 15 percent or below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,146 to Gonsalves et al. is directed to frozen whipped topping formulations containing milk solids and glassy sodium polyphosphates having an average chain length of at least 18 to 50. U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,677 to Gonsalves et al. is directed towards a fat-free/low-fat frozen whip topping formulated with 0.5 to 3 percent starch. To prevent exposing the starch to high shear conditions, the starch was added to an homogenized emulsion in the form of an aqueous preblend.
PCT Publication WO 97/05788 relates to a food dressing containing of an aqueous phase and 0 to 40 weight percent fat and/or oil, further containing a non-ionic thickening agent and an electrolyte having a pH not greater than 4, and which also contains 3 to 8 weight percent of heat denatured globular protein. This dressing is prepared by a process comprising the steps of: (a) dissolving a globular protein, a non-ionic thickening agent and an electrolyte in water, (b) adjusting the pH to less than 4 by adding acid, (c) heating and slowly stirring the solution so that protein denaturation occurs, (d) cooling, (e) optionally admixing other ingredients, where, optionally, step (d) follows step (e).
The above-described prior art relating to frozen whipped toppings universally provide a frozen whipped topping having a pH of greater than about 4. Under some circumstances and using certain flavors, it is desirable to provide a frozen whipped topping having a low pH (i.e., less than about 4.0 and preferably in the range of about 2.5 to about 3.5). It is also desirable to provide a frozen whipped topping made with dairy or dairy-derived proteins and which has a low pH (i.e., less than about 4.0 and preferably in the range of about 2.5 to about 3.5). Examples of products which are especially suitable for the practice of this invention include frozen whipped toppings containing fruit, fruit flavors and/or fruit coloring and frozen whipped toppings for use with acidic beverages or acidic desserts, such as gelatin gels and yogurt (as a topping or in a parfait-type product).
For many years, the factors that provide and/or contribute to food emulsion and foam stability have been discussed extensively in the literature. The stability of food emulsions and foams is very complex because it covers a wide variety of systems, such as whipped toppings, ice creams, confections, dressings and sauces, and beverages. It has been found that foam and emulsion film formation, structure, and stability are controlled by short and long range forces operating between the two film surfaces. These, in turn, are generally influenced by the properties of surfactant absorbed layers and surfactant micelles or other colloidal particle volume fraction. The makeup of the adsorbed layer or layers are greatly dependent on the types and/or concentrations of the surface active ingredients. The more surface active chemical emulsifiers in whipped toppings are preferentially adsorbed. Such adsorbed emulsifiers restrict the amounts of other surface active ingredients which are adsorbed.
Foam properties are also strongly dependent upon foam film properties. Proteins serve as the principle surfactant and foam film membrane in many food emulsions and foams. Most food proteins lose solubility and surface activity at low or reduced pH's (less than 6.0). Nonionic chemical emulsifiers (polysorbate and sorbitan monostearate) are less affected by this change. Sodium caseinate is the protein of choice in frozen whipped toppings; it generally serves as the principal emulsifier (oil/water interface) and air cell membrane (air/water interface). Sodium caseinate readily precipitates at its isoelectric point (pH 4.6 to 4.8) and becomes less effective at reduced pH's (less than 6.0). Also, anionic gums and/or hydrocolloids such as xanthan, carboxy methylcellulose, pectin and others, complex readily with proteins to form precipitates at pH values below the protein's isoelectric points and therefore, can prevent the protein from being surface active.
In contrast, whey proteins (e.g., beta-lactoglobulin and alpha-lactalbumin) are more soluble and remain surface active at these reduced pH values. Because of the protein's diminished surface activity at a reduced pH, low levels of polysorbate and sorbitan monostearate allow higher concentrations of proteins to adsorb at fat and air interfaces to form effective emulsion and foam films. Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide formulations having a low pH (i.e., less than about 4.0 and preferably in the range of about 2.5 to about 3.5) that can provide freeze-thaw stable foams which can be stored frozen or stored at refrigeration temperatures and which can be used as a whipped topping. The stable foams of the present invention can be flavored with natural and artificial flavorants.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An acidic foam having a pH less than about 4.0, and preferably in the range of about 2.5 to about 3.5, and having freeze thaw stability is provided. The foam is produced using a formulation which is a mixture of an emulsion component and an acidic component. The emulsion component contains water, a hard fat, a sweetener, whey protein, a non-ionic stabilizer, and preferably a non-ionic emulsifier. The acidic component contains an edible acid and preferably is an aqueous solution. Preferably, the acidic component also contains a milk protein source and a non-ionic emulsifier. Suitable milk protein sources include, for example, yogurt, milk solids, and the like. The acidic component may also contain other desirable components such as, for example, fruit puree, fruit flavor, fruit colorants, other flavors, other colorants, and the like. The amount of the acidic component combined into the mixture is sufficient to adjust the pH of the finished product to a value less than about 4, and preferably to a value between about 2.5 and about 3.5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An acidic whipped topping having a pH of less than about 4.0 is provided. The whipped topping is freeze-thaw stable and can be stored at refrigeration temperatures (i.e., about 35 to 45° F.) for at least three weeks. The topping is prepared by homogenizing an emulsion component and adding an acidic component to adjust the pH of the mixture to the desired level. Generally, the overall composition of the whipped topping is about 75 to about 90 percent of the emulsion component and about 10 to 25 percent of the acidic component. Preferably, the whipped topping has a pH in the range of about 2.5 to 3.5. The whipped toppings of this invention are generally and preferably sold to consumers in a frozen form; such products can, however, be sold as refrigerated p
Chen Wen-Sherng
Gonsalves Alexander A.
Hannan Donald C.
Marquez Rafael J.
Mosiewicz Krzysztof
Bhat Nina
Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery
Kraft Foods Inc.
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