Patent Description:
It's known that there are many different types of so-called "spreadable creams" on the market, which are generally semi-solid food substances (or if necessary they can also be colloidal suspensions of different components/ingredients, suitably prepared and mixed together) and that can be both "sweet", such as chocolate creams variously flavored or "savory", i.e. creams flavored with dairy-derived products or even derived from various meat processing and edible parts of animals terrestrial or marine.

Focusing in particular on the so-called "cheese creams" (which depending on the current regulations on food can take different gender names, for example "creams based on/with Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, Taleggio, Pecorino" and so on), one can see how generally these types of food are in fact obtained by fusion of their main ingredient - that is to say the real cheese - which is then amalgamated with other components of the cream in order to have the appropriate semi-solid consistency and to consequently achieve the spreadability or the possibility of being portioned and handled with spoons and similar instruments.

In these foods (and in their respective production processes), the fusion of cheese is unfortunately a particularly invasive heat treatment, which interacts profoundly with the chemical/proteinic structure of the cheese itself, often causing irreversible alterations: it is not infrequent, in fact, the occurring, during this type of production phase, of changes that are sensitive to the original taste of "non-processed/melted" cheese, often combined with the loss of those volatile particles that also determine a worse olfactory perception (for the user/consumer of the finished product) and in general of the worst "sensory notes" in relation to unworked/melted cheese.

The loss of gustatory and/or olfactory characteristics is also accompanied, again due to the fusion of the cheese itself, also to a loss of nutritional values, which can also be a problem where the main nutrients of the cheese must be taken by particular consumers (it can be considered, for example, that people with particular difficulties in chewing or digestion, for which a food in a "creamy" state of aggregation is an important source of nutrition that allows them to take a significant amount of proteins and metabolic constituents - calcium and proteins, by way of example - without excessively straining the bodily apparatus subjected to these functional difficulties).

For example, it is known from some prior art references (<CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>) a wide range of productive methods aimed at obtaining creamy foods: such methods however, rely on a very intrusive chemical modification of the "real cheese" to be added/used for defining the finished cream, and/or imply a finished product wherein the cheese itself must be used in very large percentages in order to have satisfactory tasting properties: this leads to an anti-economic production and also allows for a definition of a product wherein an excessive amount of fat substances and/or salt and/or sugars is present, giving substantial unhealthiness to the products themselves.

<CIT> regards soft bodied cream cheese which is readily spreadable at refrigeration temperatures; said cream cheese is prepared by blending a cultured cream cheese dressing mix having substantially unhomogenized milkfat with a firm bodied cream cheese curd having homogenized milkfat and packaging the blend at an elevated temperature.

<CIT> discloses a two stage method for producing process cheese or process cheese-type products by the direct conversion of milk. This method does not require fermentation, enzymatic treatment, and/or intermediate steps of forming and separating curds and whey. In a first stage, a powdered milk protein concentrate is formed by ultrafiltering liquid milk and then the concentrated ultrafiltered milk is spray dried. In a second stage, a powdered milk protein concentrate is converted to process cheese or process cheese-type product.

<CIT> concerns a method for making cheese products having a living flora, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: a) providing a mixture comprising not less than <NUM>% of at least a process cheese and not more than <NUM>% of at least a natural cheese having a dry extract more than <NUM>%; b) heat treatment at a temperature less than <NUM> and mechanical treatment under low shearing, to obtain limited destructuring of the protein structure of the resulting cheese mass; c) shaping the cheese obtained at the preceding step; and d) packaging the resulting product.

<CIT> concerns a mixed cheese which is produced by mixing pasteurised cream cheese with a sterilised mould-type cheese such as Blue Cheese, Roquefort or Gorgonzola. The mould-type cheese is sterilized. By this method the spreading of the mould is prevented, and a cheese milder than the mould-type is obtained.

<CIT> concerns a sandwich spread which contains <NUM>-<NUM> wt. % fresh cheese and <NUM>-<NUM> wt. % feta cheese, the latter incorporated in grated form; a process for producing said spread comprising the following steps is disclosed: heating the fresh cheese with various additives, e.g. salt and citric acid; homogenizing; adding olive oil, the natural aroma and the flavoring and foaming; dosing the grated feta and herb mixture into the stream of hot fresh cheese; and mixing.

In view of the aforementioned drawbacks, the object of this invention is therefore to provide a process that avoids the drawbacks themselves, and that gives further functional advantages (at the level of the process itself) and of "structural/composition" of the finished products obtainable by this procedure.

In particular, referring to the cheese-based creams, an object of the present invention is to obtain a production process for this type of food which preserves the organoleptic and nutritional characteristics of the cheese in the finished product in a semi-solid aggregation state (or "creamy", otherwise stated).

Therefore, the consequential purpose of the invention is to obtain a finished product - based on cheese - which combines the greatest possible preservation of the organoleptic and nutritional characteristics of the unworked/melted cheese in addition to all the typical and advantageous characteristics of the creams, such as, by way of example, spreadability or packability in tubes and so on.

The present invention also aims at the conception of a production method of/cheese based creams that is perfectly compatible with the current production regulations, allowing high production rates to be reached together with bacteriological, toxicological and safety levels along with fully satisfactory quality.

According to the purposes related to the method and here above listed, the present invention also aims at the invention of different products that can be named as "cheese/cream based creams" that are superiorly characterized in organoleptic, nutritional and portionability/spreadability terms and assimilability both in physical and chemical terms (easy oral assumption, facilitated decomposition at the gastric level and more immediate assimilation at enteric level and so on).

An embodiment of the aforementioned process is therefore described and claimed hereinafter. Some types of product which can be obtained by applying the claimed process are described herein for illustrative purposes only.

The process, which is basic but not by way of limitation, is implemented to produce a so-called "cream based on/with cheese" by performing the steps as defined in the appended claims.

The purely mechanical processing of the mixable ingredient is able to determine a granulometry and/or a degree of fragmentation of the "granular mass" obtainable from the mixable ingredient, and this granulometry/degree of fermentation is such that it is possible to determine a homogeneous distribution of the ingredient that can be mixed in the cream base during the union of these same two components of the food.

In greater detail, the purely mechanical processing of the mixable ingredient is apt to maintain constant, in the granular/particulate mass, the organoleptic and/or nutritional characteristics with respect to the original organoleptic and/or nutritional characteristics of the mixable ingredient in a non-worked state. worked: for the sake of clarity, it must be understood that when referring to this non-worked state, it is a state for which the ingredient that can be mixed is completely and "permanently" defined by its autonomous processing (for example, in the case of cheese, a complete process for treating curdled and cured milk, or more generally everything that goes to make up a dairy-type process capable of producing a cheese) before being introduced and used in the process which is primarily the object of the invention herein treated.

The preparation phase of the mixable ingredient does not include, taking into account what has been said above, thermal fusion processes of the mixable ingredient and/or the cream base, nor does it include preliminary treatments that alter the chemical/protein characteristics: at most, as it will be seen below, the purely mechanical processing comprises a sub-step of trimming and/or a sub-step of grating the mixable ingredient.

For hard cheeses this processing step is necessary to guarantee a perfect mixing of the mixable ingredient with the cream base, but also to keep the sensorial perception characteristic in the consumption phase as unaltered as possible, maintaining a perception of grain in the case of using "grana"-type cheeses.

The process further comprises a step of pasteurizing the cream base and/or the mixable ingredient, which is implemented after joining the cream base with the mixable ingredient and which is performed at temperatures no higher than <NUM> and in times not exceeding <NUM> seconds. This maximum combination of parameters (temperature and time) is to be considered mandatory of the procedure, since from laboratory tests carried out in the experimental phase it was found that the exceeding of these values involves a principle of variation and decay, perceptible and progressive, of the characteristics intrinsic organoleptic and sensory characteristics of the mixable ingredient, understood as such.

The mixable ingredient is derived from "hard cheese" (a cheese that has, in its un-worked state, a percentage of water by weight and/or by volume less than <NUM>%).

Still in accordance with the invention, it is possible to choose one or more cheeses which have, in an un-worked state, a percentage of water by weight and/or in volume and/or a percentage of fat substances by weight and/or in volume and/or a maturation time such as to make it classifiable with at least one of the names of "parmigiano reggiano" and/or "grana padano" and/or "pecorino" and/or "provolone". These types of cheese have a percentage of fat substances by weight and/or in volume of between <NUM>% and <NUM>% and a percentage by weight and/or in volume of water not exceeding <NUM>%.

Coming to the step of combining the mixable ingredient with the cream base, this comprises a sub-step of quantitatively determining a mixing proportion, by weight and/or in volume, of the mixable ingredient with respect to the cream base: this mixing proportion is between <NUM>% and <NUM>%.

Regarding the step of preparing the cream base, it should be noted that this comprises a sub-step of determining a lactic fermentation by means of mesophilic bacteria active on a predetermined quantity of a suitable mixture of milk and cream: this sub-step is suitable to obtain a so-called "acid clot" (a slang term well known to the technicians of the dairy production branch): during the procedure, this acid clot will be appropriately separated from the excess whey that can be traced in the different processes of the process itself.

The separation of the acid clot can conveniently be carried out by centrifugation in special separators for fat substances: in this implementation alternative, the entire procedure is simpler for management, use and realization at plant level, especially in terms of the investments necessary to achieve the plant and therefore normally guarantees a cream base yield of <NUM>-<NUM>% of the initial mixture quantity (<NUM>-<NUM>% whey is extracted and then used as a by-product for zootechnical use which, being acid, has a low commercial value).

More in detail, the sub-step of preparing the acid clot according to a first implementation form further comprises the following sub-steps:.

The sequence of sub-steps just described defines in practice a "cream base" having a dry matter content between <NUM>% and <NUM>% and/or a fat substances content ranging between <NUM>% and <NUM>% by mass and/or in volume compared to the base mixture.

According to another embodiment of the method, a sub-step of ultrafiltrating the acid coagulation of the base mixture is provided: in this embodiment the ultrafiltration is performed after a sub-step of preliminary concentration of a predetermined quantity of milk, which in turn is also usable at least in the step of preparing the cream base.

Operationally, it should be noted that this second implementation alternative requires greater investments for the construction of the relative plant, in addition to a somewhat more complex and articulated technology with greater processing steps than the first implementation variant, and which envisages the use of skimmed milk and not whole milk as previously described (milk cream is added to this skimmed milk, which occurs in both implementation alternatives).

In addition, the second implementation alternative, based on ultrafiltration, involves specific and thorough wash cycles of ultrafiltration tubes but guarantees higher processing yields, with a greater recovery of whey-proteins in the material of milky origin that is used in the overall process.

Another relevant aspect of the second implementation variant is the fact that through the ultrafiltration of milk in addition to the so-called "retentate" (i.e. concentrated milk), a "permeate" (i.e. the aqueous phase extracted) which has a content of <NUM>-<NUM>% lactose is obtained: therefore the commercial value of the permeate is very different (and greater) than the acid whey obtained with the first implementation variant described above.

Going into the details of this second variant, it should be noted that it consists of these sub-steps:.

As far as possible further processing of the cream base is concerned, it is possible within the scope of the invention to heat the cream base itself to a temperature between <NUM> and <NUM>, for example before the step of mixing the cream base with the mixable ingredient (e.g. via a heat exchanger).

Returning finally to the step of mixing the cream base with the mixable ingredient, the following sub-steps can also be identified in the invention:.

After having obtained the aforementioned creamy food, it is also possible to implement a step of packaging the mixable ingredient distributed in the cream base: this packaging step is carried out at a temperature between <NUM> and <NUM> and is followed from a cooling step of the mixable ingredient distributed in the cream base.

The cooling described here is carried out for example by means of a heat sink and/or a cold room, and is followed by a storage step of the finished product (which therefore comprises the mixable ingredient distributed in the cream base) the latter storage step is typically made at a maximum temperature of <NUM>.

By virtue of the fact that the products obtained by the process object of the invention have innovative characteristics, these latter too must be considered as forming part of the disclosure itself, but are not claimed as such:
in particular, the present disclosure also regards a creamy food (typically, a cream based on/with cheese comprising a cream base and a mixable ingredient homogeneously distributed in the cream base itself), and even more particularly a creamy food in which the mixable ingredient comprises a cheese processed according to the process itself.

As regards the different types of cheese combined and uniformly distributed in the cream base, as well as with regard to the different - albeit optional and non-limiting relative amounts - of these different types of cheese, cheeses of the following examples can be considered in as far as these belong to the group of hard cheese having a percentage of water by weight and/or by volume less than <NUM>%:.

As further possibilities of choice regarding the mixable ingredient, it is also possible to indicate the possible presence of semi-mature cheeses produced starting from whole and/or semi-skimmed milk, raw or "thermised" or pasteurized, as well as aged cheeses produced in starting from whole milk and/or semi-skimmed, raw or "thermised" or pasteurized (in these cases, the percentage by mass and/or weight is between <NUM>% and <NUM>%).

The invention described above easily achieves the overcoming of the drawbacks of the prior art and also obtains other advantageous technical purposes, as specified hereinafter.

The most obvious of these purposes is the fact that the cheese combined with the "cream base" is kept in an organoleptic and nutritional state almost equivalent to that of the corresponding unworked/melted ingredient: this leads to a significant increase in the quality level (in terms of perception of taste and therefore of economic value of the product) and quantitative (in terms of greater nutritional power, better handling and storage as well as more efficient edibility and metabolic assimilation).

In this sense, it should be noted that the cheese/cheese-based creams obtained with this procedure differ considerably from the creams obtained by melting the ingredients also by virtue of the fact that while in known processes the temperatures imposed on the cheese (which must be melted) can reach values even higher than <NUM>, with consequent loss of organoleptic and nutritional values, in this procedure these temperatures are never reached, thus avoiding the so-called "sterilization" of the product and the consequent flattening of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the product itself.

Among the other advantages of the process of the invention it should be noted that there are no operative steps based on the addition of additives or preservatives of any kind, nor on the use of caseinates, milk proteins, whey or powdered milk of any type: the present process (and consequently, the products obtained through it) advantageously uses only raw materials such as whole and/or skimmed milk, milk cream, lactic ferments and salt to make up the cream base, to which the cheese is mixed in the best possible operating conditions in a specific phase of the processing cycle (i.e. in appropriate doses and according to precise technological parameters necessary to ensure perfect mixing).

Remarkably, the absence of melting phases of one or more ingredients involves the nonuse of the melting salts normally used in the preparations of the known technique (sodium and calcium citrates, phosphates, polyphosphates etc.), to the benefit of the healthiness of the finished product and the reduction of raw material procurement costs.

It should also be noted that thanks to the present invention, the cheese-based creams thus obtained can be stored at a temperature of <NUM>, at the same time obtaining a so-called durability (otherwise known as the "shelf-life" slang) approximately between <NUM> and <NUM> days from the date of production which is a quantitative result about three times greater than comparable products obtained with known-art procedures.

Claim 1:
A process for obtaining a creamy food, said creamy food being a cream based on/with cheese, said process comprising the following steps:
- providing a cream base;
- providing a mixable ingredient, said mixable ingredient being a hard cheese and being adapted to define a granular mass of the mixable ingredient, said hard cheese having a percentage of water by weight and/or by volume less than <NUM>%; and
- joining to said cream base said mixable ingredient followed by pasteurizing said cream base and the mixable ingredient at a temperature not higher than <NUM> and in a time period not exceeding <NUM> seconds,
characterized by the fact that said step of providing a cream base comprises the following sub-steps:
obtaining an acid clot through lactic fermentation by means of mesophilic bacteria active on a predetermined quantity of a suitable mixture of milk and cream;
separating said acid clot from an excess whey, thereby obtaining a cream base having a dry matter content of between <NUM>% and <NUM>% and/or a fat substances content of between <NUM>% and <NUM>% by mass and/or in volume;
said step of providing said mixable ingredient comprises a sub-step of purely mechanical processing of the mixable ingredient, said purely mechanical processing not comprising thermal melting processes of the mixable ingredient, said purely mechanical processing comprising a sub-step of trimming and/or a sub-step of grating the mixable ingredient;
said step of joining the mixable ingredient to the cream base comprises a sub-step of quantitatively determining a mixing proportion, by weight and/or volume, of the mixable ingredient with respect to the cream base between <NUM>% and <NUM>%.