Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Gels or gelable composition
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-14
2001-07-17
Hendricks, Keith (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Gels or gelable composition
C426S041000, C530S365000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06261624
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is concerned with protein products, particularly whey protein products, that can be used as fat substitutes, thickening agents, water binders and the like, and methods of making the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Patients who have difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) resulting from nerve or structural damage to the upper digestive tract have difficulty safely consuming liquids. Accordingly, such patients typically use commercially available thickening agents to safely consume nutritionally adequate amounts of foods and liquids. See generally C. Pelletier,
Dysphagia
12, 74-78 (1997).
Pregelatinized starch, also known as cold-water-soluble starch, is available as a thickening agent (see, e.g., BeMiller and Whistler, Ch. 4 in
Food Chemistry
, pg 204, (O. Fennema Ed. 3d ed. 1996). Such materials are conveniently provided in dry powder form and can be readily reconstituted in a variety of foods and beverages to increase the viscosity thereof. However, such materials do not serve as a source of protein, and obviously serve as an additional source of carbohydrate. For dysphagia patients, where food consumption is difficult, it is desirable to find ways to allow the patients to increase protein consumption, and/or decrease carbohydrate consumption. Accordingly, there is a need for a dry protein product that can be used as a viscosity modifying agent.
Dry protein products that can be used as a thickening agent are not simple to produce. To be useful as a thickening agent the product must be conveniently mixed in a variety of foods, at a variety of pH, temperature, and other conditions. Such a product would be a “cold-set” protein gel, but the production of cold set protein gels has been difficult. C. Bryant and D. Elements (
Trends in Food Science and Technology
9, 143 (1998)), describe progress towards cold-setting whey protein ingredients, but do not describe a dry powder that can be used to produce a cold-set protein gel.
In the neutraceutical and food industries, there has been considerable interest in the development of fat substitutes. Protein-based fat substitutes such as SIMPLESSE® are attractive from a nutritional perspective, and protein-based fat substitutes derived from a dairy product such as whey protein are particularly attractive. Thickening agents would possess many of the features desired in a fat substitute. However, some products that have been developed as fat substitutes to date lack thermal stability and are difficult to use in baked products, or have not been provided in dry powder form. A variety of such products are reviewed in G. Ziegler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,677 (See also N. Singer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,156). Accordingly, there is a need for a dry powder protein product that can be used in a variety of food applications.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Disclosed herein is a dry protein product useful as a thickening agent (e.g., for making cold-set protein gels) and fat substitute. The powder can be readily reconstituted at room temperature, or refrigerated conditions, and can be used in frozen, refrigerated, room temperature, or cooked foods. When reconstituted the product preferably has a creamy, non-gritty texture, although texture and consistency of the product can be adjusted depending upon the desired application.
The dry powder of the invention may be produced by hydrolyzing a protein preparation (preferably a solution) (typically, a whey protein preparation) to produce a hydrolyzed whey protein preparation; then gelling the hydrolyzed whey protein preparation to form a whey protein gel; then drying the whey protein gel; and powdering the whey protein gel.
Also disclosed are formulated edible food products for human consumption that normally contain fat in a sufficient concentration to make an organoleptic contribution to the food product; wherein at l-east a portion of the fat in said food products is replaced with a rehydrated dry protein powder, with said dry protein powder being as described above. Methods of making the same are also disclosed.
Food products containing a rehydrated dry protein product of the invention as a thickening agent, and methods of making the same, are also disclosed.
Food products containing a rehydrated dry protein product of the invention as a water binder, and methods of making the same, are also disclosed.
The foregoing and other objects and aspects of the present invention are explained in detail in the drawings herein and the specification set forth below.
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Ju et al., “Gelation of hydrolysates of a whey protein . . . ”, International Dairy Journal (abstract only), 8(4): 303-309, Apr. 1998.*
Elofsson et al., “Characterization of a cold-setting whey protein . . . ”, International Dairy Journal, 7(8-9):601-608, 1997.*
Ju et al., “Effects of limited proteolysis on Gelation . . . ”, J. Dairy Sci., 78(10): 2119-2128, 1995.*
Otte et al., J. Dairy Sci., 79(5): 782-790, 1996.*
Fennema, O., Food Chemistry, Marcel-Dekker, Inc. Pub., 3rd. Ed., p. 204, 1996.*
Pelletier, C., “A Comparison of Consistency and Taste of Five Commercial Thickeners,”Dysphagia, 1997, 12:74-78.
Bryant et al., “Molecular basis of protein functionality with special consideration of cold-set gels derived from heat-denatured whey,”Trends in Food Science&Technology, 1998, 9, 143-151.
Daubert Christopher R.
Foegeding Edward A.
Hudson Heather M.
Hendricks Keith
Myers Bigel & Sibley & Sajovec
North Carolina State University
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