Patent ID: 8828423

Claim:
A method of selecting a delivery system suitable for incorporation into a chewing gum composition, said method comprising: determining a desired release rate for an encapsulated active component in the chewing gum composition from the start of chewing the chewing gum composition; determining a desired tensile strength for a delivery system associated with said desired release rate for said active component; selecting a delivery system for the active component based, at least in part, on said tensile strength of the delivery system and, in part, based on an amount of at least one tensile strength modifying agent in said delivery system; and mixing the delivery system with a gum base to yield a chewing gum composition; wherein the delivery system comprising a mixture of an active component, an encapsulation material, and at least one tensile strength modifying agent; wherein the active component is encapsulated within the encapsulation material; wherein the encapsulation material is selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl acetate, polyethylene, crosslinked polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polymethylmethacrylate, polylactic acid, polyhydroxyalkanoates, ethylcellulose, polyvinyl acetate phthalate, polyethylene glycol esters, methacrylicacid-co-methylmethacrylate and combinations thereof; and wherein the at least one tensile strength modifying agent comprises at least one hydrogenated vegetable oil; and wherein the amount of fats and oils in each delivery system is from 1% to 5% by weight of the delivery system.