Patent ID: 8809521

Claim:
A dispersion comprising insoluble alginate/gelling ion particles in an aqueous solution that comprises soluble alginate, wherein: a) the insoluble alginate/gelling ion particles comprise isolated G block oligomers having greater than 85% G and an average number of monomers of between 15-20 monomers per oligomer, wherein the dispersion exhibits less than 10% of final gel storage modulus after one minute in the absence of addition of non-gelling cations, or b) the insoluble alginate/gelling ion particles comprise insoluble alginate produced by the method comprising the steps: i) suspending sodium alginate in a solvent other than water and combining said suspension with a gelling ion comprising at least one of calcium, strontium, barium, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, iron, manganese or cobalt to form a precipitate of alginate-gelling ion complexes, ii) collecting the precipitate, iii) washing out sodium or other ions that were present in the alginate, iv) drying the precipitate to remove the solvent, and v) making particles from the dried precipitate, wherein the dispersion in part b) exhibits less than 10% of final gel storage modulus after ten minutes in the absence of addition of non-gelling cations.