Patent Publication Number: US-2017354172-A1

Title: Sealed edible container filled with free flowable powder food ingredient

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     There is an emergence to develop healthy eating snacks which can deliver the required nutritional needs and provide quick and instant food. 
     Biscuits, wafers and crackers are examples of snacks which are a valuable and convenient form of food enjoyed in nearly every country in the world. They are basically composed of a cereal (usually wheat flour), sugars, and fats with small additions of other materials. There is also an increasing demand for fortified blended foods (FBFs) and high-energy biscuits. FBFs are blends of partially precooked and milled cereals, soya, beans, pulses fortified with micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Special formulations may contain vegetable oil or milk powder. 
     There is now extensive evidence emerging mainly from epidemiological studies that a daily intake of three servings of whole grain products, i.e. 48 g of whole grain, is positively associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, increased insulin sensitivity and decreased risk of type 2 diabetes onset, obesity (mainly visceral obesity) and digestive system cancers. These health benefits of the whole grains are reported to be due to the synergistic role of the dietary fibres and other components, such as vitamins, minerals and bioactive phytochemicals. 
     Moreover, in recent years, consumers have paid increasing attention to the labelling of food products, and they expect manufactured food products to be as natural and healthy as possible. Therefore, it is desirable to develop food and drink processing technologies and food and drink products that limit the use ofnon-natural food additives, even when such non-natural food additives have been fully cleared by health or food safety authorities. This increasing desire that manufactured food products be as natural and healthy as possible makes it desirable also to be able to reduce the amount of added sugars or other sweeteners, fat without compromising on the taste of the food product. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide food products that combines snack and drink product in a combo package such that consumer benefits both these pleasures. This product may be rich in whole grains and in dietary fibers, that provide an excellent consumption experience to the consumer, and that may be easily industrialised at a reasonable cost without compromising the organoleptic parameters. 
     It would be advantageous to provide food products which have a reduced amount of added sugar, non-sugar sweetener, or artificial sweetener, in particular added sugars, whilst at the same time not compromising organoleptic parameters, particularly the taste, of the product. 
     DE9305108 relates to portion packaging consisting of 2 parts: one for milk and one for sugar. The reference proposes to use baking ingredients such as used for ice cream cone containing high amount of fat and sugar as portion packaging. The reference is silent about composition of ice cream cones. In general, ice cream cone compositions typically have fat ranging around 8% and sugar levels of minimum 25%. 
     DE19544019 relates to portion packaging for making drinks. The packaged material is water soluble and intended to be dissolved in the cup to prepare a beverage. 
     The object of the present invention is to provide a healthy snack which is partly cereal based. One problem encountered in producing cereal-based composition is that cereals tend to absorb moisture and becomes softer and thus presents a challenge to be used as a hollow container to hold edible free flowing powder. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, in a first aspect the invention relates to a food product comprising a snack comprising at least one sealed edible hollow container filled with a free flowable edible solid; wherein the container comprises a cereal ranging from 30-95% w/w, fat not exceeding 1% and sugar not exceeding 25% w/w of the total dry weight basis of the container composition, wherein the container is configured to release the edible solid to be consumed in its present form or reconstituted with a liquid. 
     The advantage of the snack of the present invention is that the edible flowable powder is held in an intact manner inside the container during storage and when at use the container may be ruptured in a systematic manner to release the flowable powder and the container may also serve the purpose of being used as a stirrer to prepare the beverage, furthermore the container after stirring may also be consumable as an edible product. 
     Another aspect of the present invention relates to a process for preparing the food product according to the present invention, said process comprises thermo shaping process comprising extrusion, sintering, wafer and/or biscuit technology to produce the edible solid container; filling this container with a free flowable edible solid and sealing the container to provide a moisture free environment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a sketch of the present invention. The figure represents an example of a complete breakfast solution wherein the invention is an edible hollow biscuit filled with a beverage powder. The biscuit comprises a pre-cut portion to facilitate the rupture of the biscuit in an intact manner to release the beverage powder into a cup. The biscuit can also serve as a stirrer. The snack can be individually wrapped or stacked together in a box. Alternatively the snack product may also be attached to a disposable cup such that the consumer detaches the snack from the disposable cup, snaps the snack to release the edible solids into the cup to prepare a ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage and consumes the edible container as a biscuit. 
         FIG. 2  shows different embodiments of the present invention. A: shows a cocoa containing biscuit prepared according to recipe  1  as described in table 1 below, both open ends are closed by dipping in chocolate containing nuts; B: shows a vanilla containing biscuit prepared according to recipe  2  as described in table 1 below,.one end is closed by crimping while the other open end is closed by dipping in chocolate; C: shows a oats containing biscuit prepared according to recipe  3  as described in table 1 below, both open ends are closed by dipping in chocolate; D: shows a coffee containing biscuit prepared according to recipe  4  as described in table 1 below,. one end is closed by crimping while the other open end is closed by dipping in chocolate;. The edible solids filled in all the containers A-D is soluble coffee powder or coffee mixes containing coffee, powdered milk powder, sugar and additives (See table 3). 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention combines snack and drink product in a combo package such that consumer benefits both the pleasures from one product alone. 
     Thus in a first aspect, the present invention relates to a food product comprising a snack comprising at least one sealed edible hollow container filled with a free flowable edible solid; wherein the container is configured to release the edible solid to be consumed in its present form or reconstituted with a liquid. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the snack comprises means to rupture the surface of the container to release the edible solids. The term “means” refers to different ways of opening and emptying the container of the edible solids. One way is rupturing the container such as for instance breaking by applying physical pressure/force on the surface of the container such as a snapping action or biting the container. Another way is that the container includes a portion which can be dissolved/melted in order to release the edible solids. For instance a portion of the container may comprise a composition such that this composition dissolves/melts by stirring action in a hot liquid. The container may also comprise a pre-cut segment (see  FIG. 1 ) to facilitate the rupture of the container in an intact manner and at the appropriate position on the surface of the container. The container may also comprise a gas or gas generating composition that reacts upon reconstitution with water to generate or release gas (e.g. acid-base). 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the edible hollow container may function as a stirrer or a straw for the reconstituted edible solids. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, the snack of the present invention comprising the container and the edible solids have a water activity below 0.5. The water activity may be below 0.3. A conditioning process is applied to bring the water activity of the container to be equivalent to the water activity of the powder that will be filled in the container. For example the conditioning of container such as wafer is exposed to an environment such that a diffusion of moisture takes place. 
     The term “edible hollow container” may refer to a biscuit, cookie or a wafer. The container may be based on cereal, savory and/or sweet. Such containers may comprise ingredients used in FBFs or high-energy biscuits. The biscuit may comprise a whole grain component obtained from different sources including hydrolysed whole grain. WO2012/076051 describes whole grain composition and hydrolysed forms thus providing a basis for a healthy snack. Examples of whole grain sources are semolina, cones, grits, flour and micronized grain (micronized flour). The whole grains may be ground (milled), preferably by dry milling. Such milling preferably takes place before the whole grain component is contacted with the enzyme composition according to the invention. In an embodiment of the present invention the whole grain component may be heat treated to limit rancidity and microbial count. 
     In one embodiment of the present, the edible hollow container is a wafer and wherein the sugar in the composition of wafer is less than 10% w/w, for instance less than 7% w/w of the total dry weight basis of the wafer composition. 
     Whole grains are non-processed cereals of monocotyledonous plants of the Poaceae family (grass family) cultivated for their edible, starchy grains. Examples of whole grain cereals include barley, rice, black rice, brown rice, wild rice, corn (maize), millet, oat, sorghum, spelt, triticale, rye, wheat, teff, canary grass, Job&#39;s tears and fonio. Plant species that do not belong to the grass family but which also produce starchy seeds or fruits that may be used in the same way as cereal grains are called pseudo-cereals. Examples of pseudo-cereals include amaranth, buckwheat, tartar buckwheat and quinoa. When designating cereals, this will include both cereal and pseudo-cereals. In general the source of grain used in a recipe depends on the desired product type, since each grain will provide its own taste profile and processing characteristics 
     Whole grain components are components made from unrefined cereal grains. Whole grain components comprise the entire edible parts of a grain; i.e. the germ, the endosperm and the bran. Whole grain components may be provided in a variety of forms such as ground, flaked, cracked or other forms, as is commonly known in the milling industry. 
     The container may also contain additional flavoring agents such as coffee, chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, fruit which enhances the smell of the product. Often these flavors partly disappear during the baking process. Therefore in one embodiment precursors are added to generate flavors during the heating or baking process. For instance in-process flavor generation could be obtained through a Maillard reaction using amino acid and Thiamin based precursors. The cereal-based container may also contain healthy substances like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibers, bioactives, healthy oils, fruits, herbs, plants, milk solids, nuts. For instance if the edible solid is a soup powder, the edible container may be a salty savory biscuit to complement the soup beverage. 
     Such edible hollow container may be produced by a thermo shaping process including extrusion, sintering wafer and/or biscuit technology. 
     The term “sealed edible hollow container” may refer to sealing both or at least one end of the container. For instance Extrusion process may produce an edible hollow container with one open end wherein the container can be filled with edible solids and this open end may be sealed with a hydrophobic or hydrophilic material or a blend of both. For instance, the open end of edible hollow container may be closed with a blend of polysaccharides, fat and proteins. In another instance the container may be cylindrical/barrel shaped having open ends on both sides and both ends are sealed with a hydrophobic or hydrophilic material or a blend of both. These substances apart from providing a sealing for the container also functions to keep the edible solids inside the container in a dry form. In another embodiment the edible hollow container are produced using wafer technology wherein edible hollow containers consists of two halves wherein one half is filled with the edible solid and subsequently sealed with the other half of the wafer. 
     The term “hydrophobic material” refers to any fat or oil containing substances such as vegetable fat, milk fat, animal fat, bees wax or combinations thereof. One form of vegetable fat may be cocoa butter. 
     The term “hydrophilic material” refers to substances such as sugars, salts, hydrocolloids, hydrophilic polymers like starch, alginate, carrageenan, carboxymethylcellulose, gum arabic, chitosan, pectin, and xanthan gum. 
     The term “edible solids” refers to a free-flowable dehydrated food product in powder or sphere or granular form which stays dry in the hollow container and can be released by rupturing the surface of the container. Edible solids may refer to beverage ingredients such as coffee, coffee mixes, tea, chocolate powder, soups etc. Coffee such as soluble coffee in all known blends, coffee mixes with cream and/or sugar, roast and ground and/or micronized form Edible solids may also comprise aromatizing agent in order to prepare aromatized drinks such as fruit flavoured water, or coffee, cocoa or vanilla flavoured milk, for example. The present aromatizing agent may also be used in addition to a dehydrated food product to be reconstituted in water, such as soups and sauces, especially powdered soups and sauces or instant noodles, or in milk, such as nutritious, especially powdered cocoa beverages, for example. 
     The term “free-flowable” refers to the dry nature of the edible solids such that the edible solids are released from the edible container such that the edible hollow container is emptied. 
     In an embodiment ofthe present invention, the edible hollow container comprises a cereal extruded biscuit filled with soluble coffee as edible solids. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the snack product comprises at least three sealed edible hollow containers filled with a free flowable beverage powder, wherein first one comprises coffee, second one comprises cream and third comprises sugar. 
     It should be noted that embodiments and features described in the context of one of the aspects or embodiments of the present invention also apply to the other aspects of the invention. The invention will now be described in further details in the following non-limiting examples. 
     EXAMPLES 
     Example 1 
     The dry ingredients are mixed according to the formulations given in table 1 below. Four different recipes were prepared. The mix is fed to a cooking extruder where powders are mixed with water and then cooked through the extrusion process. Extrusion temperature profile is spread in the range of 20 to 145° C. (Product temperature may range between 120-180° C.). Screw speed of 260 RPM (180-400 RPM). The process conditions for each of the recipes are defined in table 2 below. 
     The hot product is pushed out of the extruder, creating a pressure at the die exit (Product pressure, table 2). Coming out of the die, the pressure drops to ambient (1 atmosphere) and with the instant water evaporation the product expand and dry out to create the final product, a tube in this case. The Product is cut to pieces and then dry in a drying oven to &lt;3% moisture. In some cases the product was crimped on one edge, to give only one opened edge. 
     The resulted tubes, opened on one or two edges. If two edges were opened then one was closed by dipping into chocolate, let cool to solidify. Powder filling was done manually by filling and weight control to assure correct amount of filling. The yet opened edge was now blocked by a fragile piece of biscuit and then sealed by dipping into chocolate. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Formulations— 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Trial group 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 17602 
                 Recipe 1 
                 Recipe 2 
                 Recipe 3 
                 Recipe 4 
               
               
                 Name 
                 Quantity 
                 Quantity 
                 Quantity 
                 Quantity 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Starch Corn 
                 32.000 
                 36.000 
                   
                 35.400 
               
               
                 Vanillin 
                   
                 0.040 
                 0.040 
                 0.400 
               
               
                 Bran Oat 
                   
                   
                 30.000 
                   
               
               
                 Flour Wheat 
                 22.500 
                 22.460 
                   
                 22.000 
               
               
                 Flour Oat 
                   
                   
                 68.360 
                   
               
               
                 Sugar White Fine 
                 21.000 
                 21.000 
                   
                 20.510 
               
               
                 Tocopherol Mix 
                   
                   
                 0.050 
                   
               
               
                 Salt NaCl 
                 0.200 
                 0.200 
                 0.600 
                 0.200 
               
               
                 Maltodextrin  
                 19.700 
                 19.700 
                   
                 19.400 
               
               
                 DE 12-16 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Calcium 
                 0.600 
                 0.600 
                 0.500 
                 0.590 
               
               
                 Carbonate 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Cocoa Powder 
                 4.000 
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Alk 10-12% Fat 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Di Potassium 
                 0.000 
                   
                 0.450 
                   
               
               
                 Phosphate 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Coffee 
                   
                   
                   
                 1.5 
               
               
                 Total 
                 100.000 
                 100.000 
                 100.000 
                 100.000 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Recipe 2 
                   
                 Recipe 4 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 Recipe 1 
                 with no 
                 Recipe 3 
                 with Coffee 
               
               
                 Area 
                 Parameters 
                 Units 
                 with Cocoa 
                 Cocoa 
                 Oats 
                 powder 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Extruder 
                   
                 — 
                 BC45, 4 
                 BC45, 4 
                 BC45, 4 
                 BC45, 4 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 barrels 
                 barrels 
                 barrels 
                 barrels 
               
               
                   
                 Dry mix 
                 Kg/h 
                 70 
                 70 
                 70 
                 70 
               
               
                   
                 rate 
               
               
                   
                 Water rate 
                 L/h 
                 2.5 
                 2.5 
                 2.5 
                 2.5 
               
               
                   
                 Screw speed 
                 rpm 
                 260 
                 260 
                 260 
                 260 
               
               
                   
                 Barrel T° z1 
                 ° C. 
                 20 
                 20 
                 20 
                 20 
               
               
                   
                 Barrel T° z2 
                 ° C. 
                 105 
                 105 
                 105 
                 105 
               
               
                   
                 Barrel T° z3 
                 ° C. 
                 125 
                 125 
                 125 
                 125 
               
               
                   
                 Barrel T° z4 
                 ° C. 
                 145 
                 145 
                 145 
                 145 
               
               
                   
                 Product 
                 bar 
                 85 
                 85 
                 85 
                 113 
               
               
                   
                 Pressure 
               
               
                   
                 Product 
                 ° C. 
                 165 
                 166 
                 165 
                 165 
               
               
                   
                 Temperature 
               
               
                 Dryer 
                 Temperature 
                 ° C. 
                 120 
                 120 
                 150 
                 120 
               
               
                   
                 Time in 
                 Min. 
                 15 
                 15 
                 01:30 
                 15 
               
               
                   
                 drying 
               
               
                 Final 
                 Moisture 
                 % 
                 1.57 
                 1.9 
                 2.1 
                 1.94 
               
               
                 product 
                 after 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Final composition (gr). 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Material 
                 Cocoa 
                 Vanilla 
                 Oats 
                 Coffee 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Tube, Recipe 1 
                 11.5 
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Tube, Recipe 2 
                   
                 11.0 
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Tube, Recipe 3 
                   
                   
                 8 
                   
               
               
                   
                 Tube, Recipe 4 
                   
                   
                   
                 11 
               
               
                   
                 Powder 3 in 1 
                 17.5 
                 14.0 
                 17 
                 17 
               
               
                   
                 (Coffee, Milk, Sugar) 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Chocolate for Closing 
                 4 
                 6 
                 4 
                 4 
               
               
                   
                 and decoration 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Flakes 
                 1 
                 — 
                 1 
                 1 
               
               
                   
                 Total 
                 34.0 
                 31 
                 30 
                 33 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Example 2 
     Snacks of the present invention may be prepared using wafer technology. Hollow wafers may be prepared using a batter mix as described in example 1 (referring to recipes 1 to 4) except the recipe comprises a blend of at least two cereals such as wheat and corn in the range of 40% and water in range of up 60%. One example of wafer composition is as follows. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Ingredients 
                 % of dry weight 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 Wheat flour 
                 66 
               
               
                   
                 Corn flour 
                 13 
               
               
                   
                 Oat flour 
                 9 
               
               
                   
                 sugar 
                 7 
               
               
                   
                 oil 
                 0.9 
               
               
                   
                 salt 
                 0.35 
               
               
                   
                 Sodium bicarbonate 
                 0.25 
               
               
                   
                 flavors 
                 3.5 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The mix is added on the wafer plates in an oven and baked at 185-200° C. for 2-3 minutes. Two hollow wafer plates are produced and the free flowable edible is added to one of the wafer plates and the sealing is performed with the other wafer plate using a food grade sticking solution (for example a sugar concentrate). The sealed plates are cut and packaged as individual wafer units containing the edible solids.