Patent ID: 8231920

Claim:
A method for providing a chew by injection molding of edible resin comprising: introducing ingredients of a composition directly into an injection molding barrel of an injection molding machine, wherein said barrel houses a single screw comprising a single screw having a flight having a helix angle, said screw comprising a transition zone having a first length L 1 and a feed zone having a second length L 2 , wherein L 1 > 0 . 5 *L 2 and a helix angle between about 15 and 20 degrees extending from said feed zone through said transition zone; wherein said ingredients comprise: raw starch in an amount ranging from 30-99% by weight, wherein said raw starch: comprises unmodified starch recovered by extraction and which has not been physically or chemically altered; has not seen a prior thermal molding history including extrusion and any type of melt processing step; has a particle size ranging from 1 micron to 500 microns; and contains between 1 to 60 weight % moisture; mixing said ingredients in said barrel, thereby producing said composition in said injection molding barrel; and providing a mold having at least one cavity to form the chew in open communication with said composition in said injection molding barrel; conveying said composition with said screw from said injection molding barrel into said at least one cavity of said mold; and forming said composition into a formed raw starch animal chew in said mold, wherein said formed raw starch animal chew exhibits a plurality of voids of about 1-100 μ in diameter length and has an elongation at break of greater than 6% and a tensile modulus of less than 160 MPa.