Patent ID: 6887503

Claim:
A three-dimensional food product, elongated in at least the z-dimension and consisting of at least two components A and B which have been coextruded to become interspersed with each other, in which a plurality of cells of component A are surrounded at least in the xz plane by at least one component B which forms cell walls surrounding the A component, wherein said B component is a solid (including a viscoelastic solid) at 20Â° C., the cells of component A are arranged in at least two mutually distinct rows extending generally in the z direction, each said row of cells being separated from each adjacent row by a generally continuous in the z direction boundary cell wall of said B component, and either a) component A is a fluid having no compressional yield point at 20Â° C. or is a solid having plastic, pseudoplastic or viscoelastic consistency at 20Â° C. and a compressional yield point (YPB 20 ), at 20Â° C. which is less than 0.5Ã— the compressional yield point of B at 20Â° C. (YP B20 ), or b) component A is an expanded material containing at least 50% by volume gas.