ALL NATURAL ICE-CREAM

Abstract: All natural ice-cream comprising not-fat milk solids and/or whey components, water, carbohydrates and fat, said ice-cream further comprising at least a stabilizing composition comprising: a) a taste improving substance, b) a water phase thickening agent and/or c) an air phase stabilizing agent. Preferably, the stabilizing composition comprises at least a) and b) or a) and c).

Description: All-natural ice-cream The invention relates to an all natural ice-cream comprising non-fat milk solids and/or whey components, water, carbohydrates and fat. According this invention an all natural ice-cream is to be understood as an ice-cream which does not contain additives or components having an E-number and which does not contain egg yolk. The additives which are referred to by E- numbers can be found in European Parliament and Council Directive no. 94/36/EC, Official Journal of European Community no. L 237/13, 10 September 1994 (for colors), European Parliament and Council Directive no. 94/35/EC, Official Journal of European Community no. L 237/3, 10 September 1994 (for sweeteners), and European Parliament and Council Directive no. 95/2/EC, Official Journal of European Community no. L 61/1, 18 March 1995 (for other additives) . Food products may contain chemically modified natural products or synthetic products, i.e. products which legally have to be indicated by an E-number, for improving certain characteristics such as texture, storage stability, colour, appeal etc. The use of such components, however, is not always allowed in several countries. In addition, food products containing products having an E-number do nowadays less appeal to consumers than products free of such components which make them less attractive in a commercial sense. The European patent application 574.907 discloses an ice-cream which does not contain such chemically modified natural products or synthetic products. The ice-cream is prepared from a cream obtained from milk products, water, other fat containing products and stabilizing agents wherein said stabilizing agents are a mixture of egg yolk, protein enriched milk products and vegetable fibers. These stabilizing agents are in particular free from synthetic components . It appears, however, that the ice-cream according to the European patent application 574.907 does not satisfy all requirements with respect to mouth feel, texture, taste and storage stability. Parameters which influence these partly mutual dependent properties to a large extent are for example melt characteristics, overrun, extrusion characteristics and shape retention. The only property disclosed by the European patent application 574.907 is the overrun, i.e. the amount of air incorporated in the ice-cream as a percentage of the volume of the unfrozen ice-cream, which would be about 50 %. To maintain a satisfactory storage stability, i.e. to minimize structural and textural changes of the ice-cream during storage, the shape retention must be suffiently high. For this reason the overrun is often kept below 50 % . However, if an ice-cream has such a relatively low overrun the consumption of the ice-cream is often experienced as heavy which is detrimental to the appeal and tasta of the ice-cream. Furthermore, ice-cream according to EP-A-0.574.907 is only suitable to be marketed as scoop ice and not as e.g. ice sticks. The melt characteristics of an ice-cream are in particular relevant to the mouthfeel upon consumption and to the storage stability and shape retention, respectively. Icecream may not melt away to quickly as this adversely effects storage stability and shape retention. On the other hand, the ice-cream should melt at a sufficient rate when it is exposed to elevated temperatures as otherwise it would not be ice- cream but a mousse-like product. Additionally, the overrun of an ice-cream may not be too high as otherwise the microstructure of the ice-cream is to weak leading to a too rapid disintegration of the microstructure and, consequently, to a too high melting rate of the ice-cream. Preferred quantitative indications for these properties will be presented below. Food products such as ice-cream and yoghurt desserts which are free from chemically modified products or synthetic products are also known from WO 92/11769. This reference relates to frozen dairy dessert compositions containing milk protein derived from e.g. skimmed milk and non-fat dry milk powder, a sweetening agent such as sucrose, fructose and aspartame, partially hydrolysed starch such as enzymatically hydrolysed starch and water. These compositions only contain natural ingredients. Although this reference claims dessert products having an overrun of about 10 to 120 %, it is preferred that if provided as a bulk-packaged dessert that the overrun does not exceed a value of about 60 % in order to be able to provide dessert products having the qualities of a high quality aerated frozen ice-cream. If provided in the form of e.g. a bar the overrun is preferably not higher than 35 % and more preferably not higher than 15 %. The European patent application 187.438 discloses a fruit juice mix for whipped and/or frozen applications which essentially contains all natural ingredients. The fruit juice mix comprises at least one type of fruit juice, a stabilizer derived from a natural source, soy bean protein and an amount of remaining ingredients such as water. The object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages mentioned above. The primary object of the invention is to provide an all natural ice cream free of chemically modified natural products or synthetic products, i.e. products having an E-number, which has an excellent taste and texture. Another object of the invention is to provide an all natural ice cream having excellent melt characteristics, good shape retention and a high overrun. A further object of the invention is to provide an all natural ice cream having excellent melt characteristics and a dry extrusion. Even a further object of the invention is to provide an all natural ice-cream having all the properties mentioned above. The invention relates therefore to an all natural ice cream comprising not-fat milk solids and/or whey components, water, carbohydrates and fat, said ice-cream further comprising at least a stabilizing composition comprising (a) a taste improving substance, (b) a natural polysaccharide- based water phase thickening agent and/or (c) a natural polysaccharide-based air phase stabilizing agent. Preferably, in the all natural ice-cream according to the invention, the natural polysaccharide-based agents (b) and (c) are based on modified natural polysaccharides, wherein the modification is by acid-, alkaline-, enzymatic-, and/or fermentative treatment. According to the invention it is preferred that the all natural ice-cream comprises at least the combinations (a) and (b) or (a) and (c) . Combining (b) or (c) with (a) has generally a stronger advantageous effect on the characteristics indicated above for the all natural ice-cream as would be expected from the sole use of (b) and (c) vs. (a) . Hence, it appears that combining (a) and (b) or (a) and (c) has a synergistic effect on said characteristics. The taste improving substance (a) may be derived from chemically modified, fermented, non-chemically and/or an enzymatically treated natural fat source. Substance (a) improves the taste of the all natural ice-cream and in particular the creaminess and structure stability. According to the invention substance (a) is preferably an enzymatically treated natural fat source such as butter or cream or a derivative thereof, enzymatically treated citric oil, cacao butter, oils derived from nuts like almons and pistachio, etcetera. The water phase thickening agent (b) is preferably selected from extracts from fruit and/or vegetables and other extracts. Suitable extracts are those which contain one or more natural charged polysaccharides, natural linear polysaccharides and natural linear charged polysaccharides. Suitable examples of such polysaccharides include extracts from citrus, apple, sugar beet, sea weed, cereals and mixtures thereof. The air phase stabilizing agent (c) is preferably selected from cellulose-like components. Suitable celluloselike components are natural linear neutral polysaccharides. According to the invention component (c) is preferably selected from sources as chicory and artichokes and vegetable sources such as grinded wood pulp, cotton fiber and cereal fiber extracts or mixtures thereof. The all natural ice-cream may contain 0.05 to 5 % wt. of the stabilizing composition, but it is preferred that the ice-cream contains 0.2 to 2.0 % wt. of said composition and in particular 0.5 to 1.7 % wt. The stabilizing composition comprises preferably at least 0.05 to 1.0 % wt. of (a), 0.1 to 1.0 % wt . of (b) and 0.5 to 2.0 % wt. of (c) . The stabilizing composition comprises more preferably at least 0.1 to 0.5 % wt. of (a), 0.2 to 0.8 % wt. of (b) and 0.7 to 1.5 % wt. of (c) . The all natural ice-cream according to the invention is characterised as having an overrun of at least 60 % and a mix viscosity of at least 20 Pas. The all natural ice-cream according to the invention is further characterised by a melting rate profile such that after 100 min. no more than 40 vol.%, preferably no more than 30 vol.% and in particular no more than 25 vol.%, and after 200 min. no more than 80 vol.%, preferably no more than 70 vol.% and in particular no more than 60 vol.% of the all natural ice-cream has melted. The melting rate profile is measured according to the method described in Example 2. The invention also relates to a stabilizing composition as is disclosed above. The stabilizing composition according to the invention is in particular suitable to be used in an all natural ice-cream. However, this composition may also advantageously be used in other food products such as non- natural ice-creams, yoghurt ice-creams and frozen dairy food products, wherein the stabilizing composition may be used in amounts up to about 3 % wt. The invention will now be illustrated by the following examples . Example 1 This example provides a general recipe for the all natural ice-cream according to the invention. A mixture containing the following ingredients was prepared: Butter oil 10.00 % wt. Skimmed milk powder 10.00 % wt. Sugar 12.00 % wt. Corn syrup solids 4.00 % wt. Dextrose 2.00 % wt. Components (a), (b) and/or (c) cf. Table 1 Water up to 100 % wt. First a mixture of all dry ingredients was prepared and added to cold water water under stirring. This liquid mixture was heated and the butter oil was added under stirring as soon as the temperature was about 50°C. Heating was continued to a temperature of about 70°C followed by homogenisation at 180°C and 50 bar. The mixture was then in line pasteurised for about 30 s at a temperature of about 82°C. After pasteurising the mixture was cooled in line to about 5°C and stored at this temperature for at least 2 h. In a next step flavours, colouring agents and/or a fruit puree were optionally added whereafter the mixture was frozen and aerated in a contineous ice-cream freezer and extruded at about -5°C with an overrun of about 80 %. The mixture could also be frozen and aerated in a batch ice-cream freezer. The last steps of the procedure comprised hardening the ice-cream in a blast freezer and storing the ice-cream at -20°C. The properties of the all natural ice-creams so obtained are listed in Table 1. The components (b) and (c) used for preparing the all natural ice-creams were commercially availabe. Component (a) was prepared from an enzymatically treated butter/oil (Mighty Kream, ex Quest International, Zwijndrecht, Netherlands) . The attributions regarding the extrusion, melting rate, shape retention and taste are to be considered as being relative to each other. The actual melting rate profiles are depicted in the figure. From the data in Tabel 1 it appears that by adding component (c) a better extrusion and taste and a higher overrun is obtained when compared to the reference. By adding component (b) no significant improvement of the overrun is observed whereas it has a relatively adverse effect on the taste. However, when the combination of (a) and (c) or (a) and (b) are used, an all natural ice-cream having a high overrun, i.e. about 100 %, and an excellent taste is obtained. When the combination of (a) and (b) and that of (a) and (c) are compared to each other, it appears that the latter provides a better shape retention whereas no substantial difference between the other properties are observed. Furthermore, the latter provides a lower viscosity and, as a consequence, better melting rate characteristics. Example 2 In the figure the melting rate profiles of the all natural ice-creams according to example 1 are depicted. The melting rate profiles were measured according to the method described by Arbuckle in "Ice-cream", The Avi Publishing Co., 4th edition, page 364 (1986) . The measurement involved the % volume loss of the ice-cream under investigation and was performed at a temperature of about 20 C C. Before the ice- cream was subjected to the measurement, it had been pretempered at a temperature of -18 to -20°C. In particular the ice-cream containing the combination of (a) and (c) shows excellent melting characterstics. In the figure the indicated numbers represent the ice- creams according to Table 1 : 1. None (reference) 2. 1 % wt. (c) 3. 0.35 % wt. (bl) 4. 0.5 % wt. (b2) 5. 0.5 % wt. (b3) 6. 0.25 % wt. (a) and 0.5 % wt. (c) 7. 0.2 % wt. (a) and 0.4 % wt. (b3) 8. Commercially available natural ice-cream (Haagen Dasz) C = Solkafloc 300 FCC (FS & ND) St. Louis, Mississippi, USA B- . = Beatroot pectin B 2 = Herbagel LEC 920, (Herbstreith & Fox) Neuenburg, Germany B 3 = Herbapekt SF 22 (Herbstreith & Fox) Neuenburg, Germany

Claims: Claims 1. All natural ice-cream comprising not-fat milk solids and/or whey components, water, carbohydrates and fat, said ice-cream further comprising at least a stabilizing composition comprising: (a) a taste improving substance (b) a natural polysaccharide-based water phase thickening agent and/or (c) a natural polysaccharide-based air phase stabilizing agent 2. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1, wherein the stabilizing composition comprises at least (a) and (b) or (a) and (c) . 3. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1 or 2, wherein (a) is selected from chemically modified, fermented and enzymatically treated natural fat sources. 4. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1-3, wherein the natural polysaccharide-based agents (b) and (c) are based on modified natural polysaccharides, wherein the modification is by acid-, alkaline-, enzymatic-, and/or fermentative treatment . 5. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1-4, wherein (b) is selected from extracts from fruit and/or vegetables. 6. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1-5, wherein (b) is selected from natural charged polysaccharides. 7. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1-6, wherein (b) is selected from natural linear polyssacharides. 8. All natural ice-cream according to claim 6 or 7, wherein (b) is selected from natural linear charged polysaccharides . 9. All natural ice-cream according to claims 6 to 8, wherein (b) is selected from extracts of citrus, apple, sugar beet, sea weed, cereals and mixtures thereof. 10. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1-9, wherein (c) is selected from natural linear neutral polysaccharides . 11. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1-10, wherein (c) is selected from sources as chicory and artichokes and vegetable sources as grinded wood pulp, cotton fiber and cereal fiber extracts. 12. All natural ice-cream according to claim 1-11, wherein the ice-cream comprises 0.2 to 2.0 % wt. of the stabilizing composition. 13. All natural ice-cream according to claim 12, wherein the functional composition comprises 0.05 to 1.0 % wt. of (a), 0.1 to 1.0 % wt. of (b) and 0.5 to 2.0 % wt . of (c) . 14. All natural ice-cream according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the functional composition comprises 0.1 to 0.5 % wt. of (a), 0.2 to 0.8 % wt. of (b) and 0.7 to 1.5 % wt. of (c) . 15. All natural ice-cream according to any one of the preceding claims having an overrun of at least 60 % and a mix viscosity of at least 20 mPas. 16. All natural ice-cream according claim 15 having a melting rate profile such that after 100 min. no more than 40 vol.% and after 200 min. no more than 80 vol.% of the all natural ice-cream has melted. 17. Stabilizing composition for all natural ice-cream comprising (a) , (b) and/or (c) as defined in one or more of claims 1 to 16. 18. Use of a stabilizing composition as defined in claim 17 in all natural ice-cream. 19. Use of a stabilizing composition as defined in claim 17 in non-natural ice-creams, yoghurt ice-creams and frozen dairy food products.

Inventors: LIPSCH MICHAEL HUBERTUS MARIA, SCHIE BARTHOLOMEUS JOSEF VAN, LIPSCH, MICHAEL, HUBERTUS, MARIA, VAN SCHIE, BARTHOLOMEUS, JOSEF
Applicants: LIPSCH MICHAEL H M, QUEST INT, SCHIE BARTHOLOMEUS J VAN, LIPSCH, MICHAEL, HUBERTUS, MARIA, QUEST INTERNATIONAL B.V., VAN SCHIE, BARTHOLOMEUS, JOSEF
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A23G9
IPC codes: A23G9