Chewing gum candy

A chewing gum candy confection product prepared by mixing a melted chewing gum base with a cooked hard candy sorbitol syrup at a temperature which renders the gum base and the cooked candy syrup miscible under mild blending conditions to form a substantially single phase continuous plastic chewing gum candy mass. The mass is mildly blended under controlled cooling so that substantially no air is introduced into the mixture. Additives such as flavoring, coloring and bio-effecting agents are optionally incorporated under continued mild blending conditions. Finally, the product is cooled to a hard candy matrix containing chewing gum therein, such matrix suitable for scoring and cutting and for grinding into a particulate and/or a powder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to the art of chewing gum confections, and, 
in particular, to a gum-containing candy product. 
It has been known in the art of confections to provide chewing gum products 
with high sweetness levels which can include candy components. Such 
products are known for, among other things, their appeal as novelty 
confections. These confections can be sugar-containing or sugarless, 
depending on the desired product. 
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,460,695 discloses a candy chewing-gum having a 
hard, candy-like appearance and a longer shelf life than conventional 
chewing-gum products. However, the process for making requires mixing gum 
base with sugar in its hot liquid state, thereby resulting in a mixture 
which is too viscous to be cast; it must be extruded or pulled to produce 
the final gum product. Furthermore, the sugar chars upon heating in its 
liquid state. 
Japanese publication 5 3026-355 discloses a prepartion of a chewing gum 
which includes mixing 20-40% by weight of gum base and 60-80% by weight of 
material for hard candy in melted state at elevated temperature, following 
by foaming the mixture by kneading or agitating at 55.degree.-100.degree. 
C., and solidifying by cooling the mixture after expansion at reduced 
pressure and elevated temperature. The candy material includes 40-80% 
sugar by weight, 20-60% by weight of starch syrup (or sugar alcohol 
consisting of 7-18 glucose units) and 1.5-4% by weight of water, and the 
gum base includes a resin component, such as vinyl acetate and natural 
chicle, and glycerin ester of polyisobutylene-rosin and polybutene. The 
candy material and base should be miscible and have proper viscoelasticity 
at &gt;115.degree. C. The process requires foaming by bubbling air into the 
mixture under agitation. The foamed product is then expanded to a volume 
of 120-400%, having an apparent density of 0.31-1.13. The process results 
in a porous chewing gum which hardens upon aging, but does not in any way 
suggest a hard candy matrix product which can include chewing gum in the 
matrix for scoring or grinding into a particulate. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,199 to Cherukuri, et al. discloses a chewing gum with a 
soft, smooth, consistency, and an amorphous bite through which includes a 
premixed recrystallized combination of liquid and solid sweeteners. 
Preferably, the Cherukuri, et al. product includes high fructose syrup 
alone or together with liquid glucose, corn syrup, sorbitol syrup and/or 
invert sugar in combination with sucrose or sorbitol and water, and 
flavors, softeners, and other conventional chewing gum ingredients. The 
formulation has a short nougat-like or fondant-like structure and is 
particularly suitable as a non-stick bubble gum which does not stick to 
its wrapper. It is essential to the Cherukuri, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 
4,271,199 composition that the liquid and solid sweeteners comprise a 
preformed combination of particulate solid sweetener particles which are 
coated with a syrup sweetener, and that the mixture be heated, dried to a 
homogeneous mass, and then cooled to recrystallize the mass into an 
amorphous solid. The confection resulting from the composition of 
Cherukuri, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,199 is a chewing gum having a 
nougat-like texture. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,965 to Ream describes a method for making a chewing-gum 
composition which includes melting crystalline sorbitol or concentrating a 
sorbitol solution by heating, mixing chewing-gum base and a 
crystallization retardant with the sorbitol, homogenously blending and 
then forming the mixture, either by casting into a mold or by 
product-forming after cooling to a viscous state. Inasmuch as sorbitol 
composition will re-crystallize and become crumbly upon standing it is 
necessary to add crystallization retardant. 
None of the above-products, however, provide a quick set hard candy matrix 
which includes a chewing gum and which can be ground to a particulate for 
use with other confection products. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a chewing gum candy confection product prepared by 
mixing a melted chewing gum base with a cooked hard candy syrup at a 
temperature which renders the gum base and the syrup miscible under mild 
blending conditions to form a substantially single phase continuous 
plastic chewing gum candy mass. The mass is then mildly blended under 
controlled cooling so that substantially no air is introduced into the 
mixture, after which flavoring, flavor enhancers and coloring as well as 
other additives can optionally be included under continued mild blending 
conditions. Finally, the mass is cooled to a hard candy matrix having 
chewing gum pieces contained therein. The matrix is suitable for scoring 
and cutting, and can be ground into a particulate for use in the other 
confection products. The candy product has a specific density of from 
about 1.20 to about 1.50, and preferably is about 1.32. 
Preferably the base is included in an amount of from about 5 to about 55% 
by weight, and most preferably from about 15 to about 40% by weight, while 
the cooked hard candy syrup is included in an amount of from about 45% to 
95% by weight, and preferably from about 60% to about 83% by weight. 
The hard boiled candy syrups can be prepared from a mixture of sugar and 
other carbohydrates. Such materials may normally contain up to 100% corn 
syrup, up to 70% sugar and from 0.1% to 5.0% water. The syrup component 
generally is prepared from corn syrups high in dextrose or maltose but may 
include other materials. Further ingredients such as flavorings, 
sweeteners, acidulents, colorants and so forth may also be added. 
Boiled candy syrups can also be prepared from non-fermentable sugars such 
as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol and maltitol and syrups thereof such as 
hydrogenated starch hydrolyzates and sorbitol solutions. A typical 
hydrogenated starch hydrolyzate is Lycasin (a trademark of Roquette 
Corp.). The candy syrups may contain up to about 95% sorbitol, a mixture 
of sorbitol and mannitol, or other sugar alcohols at a ratio of about 9.5 
to 0.5 up to about 7.5 to 2.5 and hydrogenated corn syrup up to about 95% 
of the syrup component. 
In one embodiment the hard candy syrup includes 40% to about 75% corn syrup 
by weight, 25% to about 48% by weight sugar and up to about 8% by weight 
of water, and is cooked to a temperature of from about 127.degree. to 
155.degree. C. for about two to six minutes before adding the melted 
chewing gum base. The blending can be conducted at a temperature of from 
about 127.degree. to about 138.degree. C. for about two to six minutes. 
In another embodiment, the hard candy syrup includes substantially sorbitol 
syrup cooked to a temperature of from about 171.degree. to about 
185.degree. C. before adding the melted chewing gum base. 
The gum base can include an elastomer selected from the group consisting of 
natural and synthetic elastomers. For example, those elastomers which are 
suitable in gum bases, include, without limitation, substances of 
vegetable origin such as chicle, jelutong, gutta percha, guayle and crown 
gum. Synthetic elastomers such as butadiene-styrene copolymers, 
isobutylene-isoprene copolymers, polyethylene, polyisobutylene and 
mixtures thereof, are particularly useful. 
The gum base composition may contain elastomer solvents to aid in softening 
the polymer component. Such elastomer solvents can include methyl, 
glycerol or pentaerythritol esters of rosins or modified rosins, such as 
hydrogenated, dimerized or polymerized rosins or mixtures thereof. 
Examples of elastomer solvents suitable for use herein include 
pentaerythritol ester of partially hydrogenated wood rosin, 
pentaerythritol ester of wood rosin, glycerol ester of partially dimerized 
rosin, glycerol ester of polymerized rosin, glycerol ester of tall oil 
rosin, glycerol ester of wood rosin, and partially hydrogenated wood 
rosin, and partially hydrogenated methyl ester of rosin and mixtures 
thereof. The solvent may be employed in an amount ranging from about 10% 
to about 75% and preferably about 45% to about 70% by weight of the gum 
base. In order to include the gum base into the cooked hard candy syrup, 
it is preferably heated to a temperature of from 82.degree. to about 
94.degree. C. 
A variety of traditional ingredients used as plasticizers or softeners such 
as lanolin, stearic acid, sodium sterate, potassium stearate, glyceryl 
triacetate, triacetin, glycerine and the like, can also be incorporated 
into the gum base to obtain a variety of desirable textures and 
consistency properties. These additional materials are generally employed 
in amounts of up to about 30% by weight and preferably in amounts of from 
about 3% to about 7% by weight of the final gum base composition. 
The chewing gum candy composition of this invention may additionally 
include the conventional additives of coloring agents such as titanium 
dioxide; emulsifiers such as lecithin and glyceryl monostearate; and 
fillers such as dicalcium phosphate, aluminum hydroxide alumina, aluminum 
silicates, talc, calcium carbonate, and combinations thereof. The total 
amount of fillers present is generaly between 4% and 30% by weight. 
Flavoring agents well known to the chewing gum and candy art may be added 
to the chewing gum candy compositions of the instant invention. These 
flavoring agents may be chosen from synthetic flavor oils and/or oils 
derived from plants, leaves, flowers, fruits and so forth, and 
combinations thereof. Representative flavor oils include: spearmint oil, 
cinnamon oil, oil of wintergreen (methysalicylate) and peppermint oils. 
Also useful are atrificial, natural or synthetic fruit flavors such as 
citrus oil including lemon, orange, grape, lime and grapefruit, and fruit 
essences including apple, strawberry, cherry, pineapple and so forth. 
The amount of flavoring agent and/or flavor enhancers employed is normally 
a matter of preference subject to such factors as flavor type, base type 
and strength desired. In general, amounts of about 0.05% to about 3.0% by 
weight of the final candy chewing gum composition are useable with amounts 
of about 0.3% to about 1.5% being preferred and about 0.7% to about 1.2% 
being most preferred. 
The chewing gum hard candy confection of the present invention can be used 
as a delivery system for an active ingredient such as a bio-effecting 
agent selected from the group consisting of mineral supplements, 
analgesics, antipyretics, antiarrhythmics, ion exchange resins, appetite 
suppressants, vitamins, anti-inflammatory substances, coronary dilators, 
cerebral dilators, peripheral vasodilators, anti-infectives, 
psychotropics, antimanics, stimulants, antihistamines, laxatives, 
decongestants, gastro-intestinal sedatives, antidiarrheal preparations, 
anti-anginal drugs, vasodilators, anti-hypertensive drugs, 
vasoconstrictors and migrane treatments, antibiotics, tranquilizers, 
antipsychotics, antitumor drugs, anti-coagulants and antithrombotic drugs, 
hypnotics, sedatives, anti-emetics, anti-nauseants, anticonvulsants, 
neuromuscular drugs, hyper and hypoglycaemic agents, thyroid and 
antithyroid preparations, diuretics, antispasmodics, uterine relaxants, 
nutritional additives, antiobesity drugs, anabolic drugs, erythropoietic 
drugs, antiasthmatics, expectorants, cough suppressants, mucolytics, 
anti-uricemic drugs and mixtures thereof. 
The product produced in the present invention is a hard candy product which 
is ideally suited for grinding into a particulate for use in other 
confection products, and has an initial hardness of from about 9.52 lbs. 
to about 12.84 lbs. when subjected to a penetrometer test by use of 
Instron test equipment. The hardness tests were performed using an Instron 
Corp. Model 1133 penetrometer machine, with a crosshead speed of 0.5 
inches/minute. A 3/16 inch bit plunger and small annulus was used to 
determine the hardness of the sample. When used in a form of a 
particulate, it has been found that a suitable particulate size is from 
about 40 to about 200 mesh depending upon final usage, which can be used 
as a coating or otherwise incorporated into other confection products 
merely by incorporation during a mixing process. The product can be 
further ground to a powder when desired. 
As a result of the present invention, a chewing gum candy confection 
product can be produced which has a quick setup time and which is 
essentially a hard candy matrix enclosing the chewing gum base as well as 
other desired additives. The products can be used, for example, to extend 
the duration of flavor or, alternatively, as a powdered candy gum to use 
with other confection products to enhance the texture, flavor and other 
organoleptic qualities of the product. Furthermore, the particulate or 
powder can also be used with active ingredients included before setup time 
or can be mixed with active ingredients to provide a sustained delivery 
system for such actives. 
Other uses of the present invention include forming the particulate into a 
tableted chewing gum confection product. Also it has been considered 
useful as a center-filling to provide a candy chewing gum product within a 
gum or within another hard candy product. 
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other 
and further objects, reference is made to the following description, and 
the scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims. 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a chewing gum hard candy confection, which softens 
in the mouth to a chewable mass upon mastication, and can be prepared by 
mixing a melted gum base with a cooked hard candy syrup with or without 
the presence of a vacuum. The range of the components of the present 
invention are shown in the following table. 
TABLE I 
______________________________________ 
GENERAL FORMULA FOR CHEWING 
GUM HARD CANDY CONFECTION 
Ingredient % By Weight 
______________________________________ 
Cooked Hard Candy Syrup 
45 to 95 
Chewing Gum Base 5 to 55 
______________________________________ 
The base material is heated to a temperature of from about 82.degree. C. to 
about 94.degree. C. before blending with the cooked hard candy syrup, 
which is cooked to a temperature of from about 127.degree. to about 
185.degree. C. for a time of about from two to six minutes depending on 
whether the product is sugar or sugarless. 
Preferably, the two components are included in the following preferred 
ranges in order to obtain the best chewing gum hard candy product. 
TABLE II 
______________________________________ 
PREFERRED FORMULA FOR CHEWING 
GUM HARD CANDY PRODUCT 
Ingredient % By Weight 
______________________________________ 
Cooked Hard Candy Syrup 
60 to 83 
Chewing Gum Base 15 to 40 
______________________________________ 
The gum base and hard candy syrup should be mixed under mild blending 
conditions under controlled cooling until the resulting mixture reaches 
the temperature of from about 60.degree. to 70.degree. C., at which point 
flavoring, coloring and other additives can be incorporated without fear 
of losing the additives from flash off. 
The resulting plastic mass can then be further cooled to 50.degree. to 
60.degree. C. at which point the product can be rolled and scored into 
pieces for packaging. Alternatively, the stiff plastic mass can be 
subjected to grinding, e.g., as in a blender, until it is ground to either 
a particulate or even a powder consistency for use in other confection 
products. This unique grindable chewing gum hard candy composition can be 
used as a delivery system by incorporating bio-effecting additives as 
previously set forth in the cooked mass and/or adding active ingredients 
to the particulate or powder form attained by grinding, which can be 
tabletted if desired. 
The product of the present invention can also be made as a sugarless hard 
candy product by using sorbitol syrup as the hard candy syrup.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF THE INVENTION 
EXAMPLE 1 
A chewing gum hard candy confection was produced by first preparing a hard 
candy syrup in accordance with the following formula. 
TABLE III 
______________________________________ 
HARD CANDY SYRUP 
Ingredient % By Weight 
______________________________________ 
Corn Syrup 42 D.E. 
56.40 
Sugar 37.00 
Water 6.60 
100.00 
______________________________________ 
The above ingredients were mixed together and cooked to a temperature of 
132.degree. to 149.degree. C. for a period of from about two to about six 
minutes. 
To the above hard candy syrup was added a chewing gum base which included 
as the primary components, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) elastomer, and 
polyvinyl acetate resin, as well as plasticizers for compatibilizing the 
resin and the elastomer components. 
The following formula was used: 
TABLE IV 
______________________________________ 
CHEWING GUM HARD CANDY CONFECTION 
Ingredient % By Weight 
______________________________________ 
Hard Candy Syrup 78.80 
Gum Base 20.00 
Spearmint/Peppermint Flavor 
1.20 
100.00 
______________________________________ 
The gum base was melted by heating to a temperature of from about 
82.degree. to about 94.degree. C. and then mixed under mild mixing 
conditions with the hard candy syrup. The ingredients were blended 
together under controlled cooling conditions until a temperature of about 
61.degree. C. was reached at which point orange flavor was added in an 
amount of about 1.2% based on the entire composition. 
The product prepared in accordance with the above ingredients was then 
rolled and scored, a portion of the mass being separated for subsequent 
grinding in a blender. Surprisingly, the blender was able to effect an 
even grinding to a particulate and then to a powder without agglomeration 
of particles sticking to the blades and/or the sides of the blender. This 
is quite unexpected in view of the adhesive nature of the ingredients. 
The product both in the hard candy form and in the particulate form was a 
very sweet product which was broken down in the oral cavity to a chewable 
mass. The combination of the sweetness level as well as the texture of the 
product produced a highly desirable organoleptic quality which has been 
deemed quite useful both as a confection product, and as a additive to 
other confection products. 
EXAMPLE 2 
A second product was prepared using the same formula as set forth above 
with regard to the hard candy syrup, but the proportion of gum base to 
candy syrup was changed somewhat. The chewing gum hard candy confection 
was prepared in accordance with the following formula. 
TABLE V 
______________________________________ 
CHEWING GUM HARD CANDY CONFECTION PRODUCT 
Ingredient % By Weight 
______________________________________ 
Hard Candy Syrup 68.80 
Gum Base 30.00 
Spearmint/Peppermint Flavor 
1.20 
100.00 
______________________________________ 
The above confection product was prepared basically as set forth in Example 
I except that the syrup was cooked to a temperature of only 132.degree. C. 
before the gum base was added. The resulting product was then rolled to a 
slab and cut into chunks as well as a portion being subjected to grinding 
as in the first Example. Once again the resulting product was a very sweet 
chewing gun-containing hard candy product which upon introduction into the 
oral cavity was eventually broken down to a chewable mass which retained a 
high level of sweetness. 
EXAMPLE 3 
A sugarless chewing gum hard candy confection product was prepared by using 
sorbitol syrup in the place of the hard candy syrup set forth above. 
Basically, the sorbitol solution contained 70% solids and was cooked to 
180.degree. C. before the syrup was blended with the melted base. The 
formula for the sugarless sorbitol containing chewing gum hard candy 
confection product is as follows. 
TABLE VI 
______________________________________ 
SUGARLESS CHEWING GUM HARD 
CANDY CONFECTION PRODUCT 
Ingredient % By Weight 
______________________________________ 
Sorbitol Solution 78.80 
Gum Base 20.00 
Spearmint/Peppermint Flavor 
1.20 
100.00 
______________________________________ 
After mild blending and cooling, the resultant mass was rolled, scored and 
part of it was also subjected to grinding in a blender. The product, as in 
the sugar-containing composition, was an excellent highly-pleasing hard 
candy product which had good sweetness level as well as sustained 
sweetness and good final organoleptic property as a chewable mass. 
As previously indicated, penetrometer tests were conducted on specimens 
resulting from the above Examples using an Instron Corp. 1133 penetrometer 
with a 3/16 inch bit plunger and accommodating annulus. The initial 
hardness of the candy was determined to be from about 9.52 lbs. to about 
12.84 lbs. with a crosshead speed of 0.5 inches/minute. 
As an added feature, it has been found that the Examples prepared in 
accordance with the above procedures can also be worked while still warm, 
i.e., at a temperature of about 50.degree. to 60.degree. C., to obtain any 
result desired by the skilled artisan. 
In addition to the use of sorbitol solution, it is believed that other 
sugarless compositions can be used which include, for example, 
hydrogenated starch hydrolyzates, mannitol, xylitol, maltitol, or any 
other sugar alcohol or, in fact, combination thereof with artificial 
sweeteners in order to produce the desired result. The artificial 
sweeteners can include, but are not limited to, solid natural or synthetic 
sweetener such as amino acid based sweeteners, dipeptide sweeteners, 
especially aspartame, glycyrrhizin, saccharin and its salts, acesulfame 
salts, cyclamates, steviosides, talin, dihydrochalcone compounds and 
mixtures thereof. 
Finally, it is also contemplated to be able to use the present confection 
with active bio-effecting agents as set forth above, both incorporated 
within the hard candy confection before grinding and mixed therewith in 
order to obtain an initial and as well as a sustained release of the 
active while in the oral cavity. 
Thus, while there have been described what are presently believed to be the 
preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will 
realize that changes and modifications may be made thereto without 
departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim 
all such changes and modifications as fall within the true scope of the 
invention.