Patent ID: 8137720

Claim:
A method for preparing a pre-sweetened comestible, comprising the steps of: A. providing a base of food pieces, wherein the base includes low sugar dried food pieces; B. applying a low sugar coating composition as a coating or binder to the base in a weight ratio of base to coating composition ranging from about 100:5 to about 100:150 to provide a low sugar coated base, said coating composition cormprising: 80-99.9% by dry weight of a high conversion maltodextrin and/or low conversion corn syrup having a dextrose equivalent ranging from about 5 to less than 40 and an average degree of polymerization of at least 3; 0.01-2% by weight of at least one high potency sweetener; a sugar(s) content of less than 10% by weight; and about 1-15% by weight of a humectant, wherein the coating composition is applied in the form of a liquid slurry having a temperature ranging from about 95 to 150° C. and a moisture content ranging from about 5-10% by weight; and, C. drying the low sugar coated base to a moisture content ranging from about 1-6% by weight, wherein the low sugar coated base includes at least one particulate, said particulate ranging in size from about 0.5 to 4 mm.