A method of producing unfrozen expanded ice cream mix possessing superior storage and shelflife properties

Abstract: The disclosure relates to a method of producing and pre-distribution preparing unfrozen, expanded ice cream mix with superior storage and shelf-life properties. Starting ingredients necessary for producing the ice cream mix are mixed together, whereafter the mix is heat-treated or otherwise treated so as to exterminate micro-organisms, in particular pathogenic bacteria, present in the mix. The thus treated mix is expanded and subsequently packed in packages ready for distribution. Ice cream mix produced according to this method has extended shelf-life and can be stored in the unfrozen state for long periods of time with retained pristine freshness qualities, without any requirement of cold storage at extremely low storage temperatures.

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method of producing and pre-distribution preparing unfrozen, expanded ice cream mix possessing superior storage and shelf-life properties. BACKGROUND ART The demand for ice cream and similar products is extremely seasonal and may even vary considerably from day to day during the peak season. In order to meet demand and be able to supply the products to keep pace with varying demand, a sufficient surplus of the products is, therefore, often produced during the off-season so as to cover the general increase in demand (and also expected temporary demand peaks) during the coming peak season. This often implies that large product stockpiles must be built up and stored for periods of time whose length cannot be foreseen. Since products of the type mentioned here are extremely sensitive to storage and bacterial attack, it is important that the production and storage of such products be effected in such a manner and under such conditions that the risk of total quality loss or quality deterioration during the period of time from production and packaging of the products and up to their consumption is wholly eliminated or at any rate reduced to a minimum, such that it be possible for the products, after storage, to be consumed with substantially retained pristine freshness qualities and in a condition fully acceptable from the point of view of health. In order to retain the freshness qualities of the produced product - such as flavour, colour, consistency etc., it has hitherto often been necessary to store the packed product in cold storage adapted for this purpose and set at extremely low storage temperatures of as low as approx. -30°C. Since cold storage is extremely energy- and cost-consuming, it has always been desired in this art to find alternative production and storage methods which, in terms of both energy and costs, consume less than the previously employed cold storage and which, at the same time, make possible a correct storage of the product from the points of view of consumer health and quality retention. According to US-A-4 552 773 and US-A-4 374 861 ice cream mixes are treated by pasteuricing, homogenizying, cooling, whipping and freezing at temperatures of about -20 °C to -30 °C so that the whipped mix is hardened. However, long-time storing has the disadvantage of high energy consumption because of the freezing. On the other hand it is known by US-A-4 725 445 and by DE-A-2 657 489 to avoid storing at freezing temperatures but to store the ice cream mix under ambient temperatures in a liquid condition. Such liquid product are packed in aseptic packagings for months so that the liquid mix may be subjected to repeated freezing and thabing cycles without freezing and thawing cycles without prejudicing the stability of the emulsion and/or the quality of the frozen product when it is ready for eating. It is an object of the present invention to find another method of this type of long-time storage of non-frozen ice cream mixes with retained freshness qualities in consumer packages ready for distribution without the requirement that the storage take place at very low freezing temperatures. The invention is claimed in claim 1. This combination of characterizing features in the method according to the present invention will thus afford the major advantage compared with prior art technology that the unfrozen, expanded ice cream mix can be stored in the unfrozen state with retained freshness qualities for lengthy periods of time without the requirement that storage take place at extremely low freezing temperatures as has hitherto been necessary. A further advantage afforded by the method according to the present invention is that the packaging cycle is carried out continuously on an industrial scale, employing existing packaging machines and, thus, requires no extensive extra capital investment costs for new equipment. For example, the ice cream mix can be packed using modern, rational packaging machines of the type which, from one or more webs of a packaging material, both form, fill and seal the finished cartons or packages. From, for example, a single web, such a prior art packaging machine produces finished consumer packages in that the web is first formed into a tube by both of the longitudinal edges of the web being joined together in an overlap seam or joint. The tube is filled with relevant product and is divided into closed package units by repeated transverse sealings of the tube across the longitudinal axis of the tube and below the product level in the tube. The cushion shaped package units are separated from one another by incisions in the transverse sealing zones and are given the desired geometric, normally parallelepipedic, final form by a further forming and sealing operation during which the double-walled triangular corner flaps of the packages are folded in and sealed in place against the outside of a closely adjacent package wall. From, for example, two webs, another prior art packaging machine produces finished consumer packages in that the one web forming the side walls of the package is formed into a row of continuous U-shaped package sections. The other, forming the planar back and end walls (top and bottom) of the package is given a corresponding profile by longitudinal folds of the both edge portions of the second web. The webs are brought together and sealed to one another from either side of a product filler pipe disposed between the webs, for the formation of one row of combined packages, with the product cavity surrounding the product filler pipe. After filling, the product cavities are sealed by transverse sealings of both webs, for the formation of completely closed, filled packages which are thereafter separated from one another by incisions in the transverse sealing zones. According to the present invention, we used so-called aseptic packaging processes, to produce and pack unfrozen, expanded ice cream mix with considerably lengthened shelf-life. Fundamentally, the principle of the aseptic packaging technique is that both the product which is to be packed and the package in which the product is to be packed are heat-treated or otherwise treated in order to exterminate all micro-organisms present in the product and the package, respectively, and that the thus treated product is thereafter packed in the thus treated package under sterile packaging conditions in order to avoid reinfection of the product. This packaging technique has long been employed for packing liquid foods such as milk and juice, but has proved, according to the present invention, to be particularly advantageous in the packing of unfrozen, expanded ice cream mix and other ice cream-like products which are thereby given extraordinarily good shelf-life properties and can be stored with retained pristine freshness qualities for periods of time of considerable length (months) from the time of packing, and without any requirement that storage take place at extremely low or even moderately low storage temperatures. DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT The present invention will be described and explained in greater detail hereinbelow with the aid of an illustrative, non-restrictive embodiment which shows how, for example, an unfrozen, expanded ice cream mix with superior shelf-life properties can be produced and packed in consumer packages ready for distribution, employing the method according to the present invention. In a first process step, the starting ingredients necessary for producing the ice cream mix are mixed together. In the Example, use was made of the following starting ingredients: Fat 8.00% MSNF 10.70% Sugar 8.00% Chocolate 2.50% Cocoa 2.00% Dextrose 9.00% Mixture TS-D 434 (combined emulsifier and stabilizer) 2.55% The mixture or ice cream mix had a TS content of 42.75%. The thus obtained ice cream mix was homogenized and subjected to heat treatment (pasteurization) or sterilization treatment in order to exterminate micro-organisms, in particular pathogenic bacteria, which might be present in the ice cream mix. In a second process step which, as opposed to the above-described first step, was carried out continuously, the pasteurized or sterilized ice cream mix was expanded under simultaneous cooling to approx. 5°C with the aid of a conventional continuous ice cream freezer (or scrape heat exchanger), the expansion being pursued to an overrun of approx. 90%. The expanded, cooled ice cream mix was filled into consumer packages ready for distribution with the aid of a previously known packing or filling machine of the type described above and which, from a web of a packaging material, both forms, fills and seals the finished packages. The thus produced packages could thereafter be stored for several weeks at normal refrigeration temperatures for foods of the order of magnitude of 5°C, without the flavour qualities or other product qualities such as consistency, colour etc. of the packed product being affected. Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible in a simple and rational manner, and employing existing machinery, to produce and pack unfrozen, expanded ice cream mix and similar products with superior shelf-life properties which can be stored in the unfrozen state for several weeks without the chemical or physical qualities of the product deteriorating or being destroyed.

Claims: Method of producing consumer packages of an ice cream mix for superior storage and shelf-life capability in an un-frozen condition, comprising the steps of: a) mixing the starting ingredients among them a stabilizer for producing the ice cream mix, b) treating said ice cream mix in order to exterminate microorganisms from said ice cream mix by e.g. heat-treating, c) expanding and simultaneous cooling said ice cream mix, d) packing said expanded ice cream mix into consumer packages under aseptic conditions, and e) sealing said packages forming aseptic consumer packages, characterized in that said mixing step is carried out by adding a combined stabilizer and emulsifier composition, that said treating step of said ice cream mix is carried out before said expanding step and before said packaging step, that said expanding and packaging steps of said treated mix are carried out continuously, and that said packing step and said sealing step are carried out by using packaging machines which form said consumer packages from webs of the packaging material, and which fill and seal said consumer packages wherein said consumer packages are produced and sealed simultaneously and at the same rate as the packaging cycle of said expanded ice cream mix, and that a TS-D 434 mixture is added as said combined stabilizer and emulsifier composition to said starting ingredients for producing the ice cream mix of f.i. fat, MSNF, sugar, chocolate, cacao, destrose and water.

Inventors: SPONHOLTZ PER, SPONHOLTZ, PER
Applicants: TETRA LAVAL HOLDINGS & FINANCE, TETRA LAVAL HOLDINGS & FINANCE SA
Application year: 1992
Main classification: A23G9
IPC codes: A23G9