Patent ID: 8603555
Filing Date: 2013-12-10
Classification: A23L

Abstract:
1. A method to fortify a base food, wherein the base food is a food fit for human consumption, the method comprising: (a) using a computer to develop a standard equivalent unit of nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering components equal to those found in a weighted average serving of fruits and vegetables sold in the United States by: (i) identifying a type and amount of each fruit and each vegetable consumed by humans within the United States that, when combined, represents at least 85% of a total amount of fruits and vegetables consumed by humans therein; (ii) determining a contribution value for each fruit and each vegetable identified in (i), expressed as a percentage of the amount of each fruit and vegetable consumed relative to the total amount of all fruits and vegetables consumed; (iii) determining a portion size of each fruit and each vegetable identified in (i); (iv) determining a nutritional content of each fruit and each vegetable determined in (iii) pertaining to protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol and antioxidant-delivering components; (v) calculating the standard equivalent unit of the nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering components present in one serving of fruits and vegetables by (vi) multiplying the contribution value of each fruit and each vegetable determined in (ii) by the total nutritional content of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component of a portion size of each fruit and vegetable in (iv) to derive a weighted value for each nutritional component; and (vii) summing the weighted values for each nutritional component derived in (vi); (b) providing the base food; (c) using the computer to determine the nutritional content of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component of the base food; (d) using the computer to identify a desired total target nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant nutrients by determining a target multiple of standard equivalent units of the nutritional value of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component present in one serving of fruits and vegetables determined in (a); (e) using the computer to identify a fortifying amount of each protein, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component that the base food requires to provide the target multiple of the standard equivalent unit of nutritional value of protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering components developed in (d) by determining a nutritional gap upon subtracting the nutritional content of the base food of (c) from the desired total target nutritional content in (d); (f) creating a fortifying composition for nutritional supplementation of the base food wherein the fortifying composition comprises the fortifying amount of each protein, vitamin, mineral, fiber, phytosterol, and antioxidant-delivering component as identified in (e), wherein the fortifying composition comprises at least one of: an amount of the protein component of from about 0.0 g to about 16.9 g, an amount of the fiber component of from about 0.0 g to about 25 g, an amount of the phytosterol component of from about 0.00 g to about 104.41 g, an amount of the antioxidant-delivering component that delivers from about 0.0 ORAC units to about 18,560 ORAC units, or a combination thereof; wherein the at least one fortifying agent is in an amount which is represented by a positive integer; (g) for each nutritional component in the fortifying composition of step (f), which has a color, taste or odor, which modifies the color, taste or odor-of- odor of the base food, microencapsulating that nutrient to substantially preserve the organoleptic properties of the base food; and (h) adding the fortifying composition of step (g) to the base food to yield a final fortified food.