Patent ID: 7273840

Claim:
A method for enhancing the viscosity of a composition when said composition is diluted with water relative to undiluted sample of the same composition (dilution thickening) while using 3% or less salt to provide said dilution thickening, wherein said process comprises (1) preparing a composition which comprises: (a) 5% to 75% by wt. of a surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants, amphoteric/zwitterionic surfactants, cationic surfactants and mixtures thereof; (b) at least 15%, by wt. of polydextrose or mixture of polydextrose molecules, wherein the degree of polymerization (e.g., number of linking glucose units) is 4 to 22 (this corresponds to MW of about 600 to about 3600); and (c) balance water and minors; wherein said composition exhibits phase separation upon preparation to form a biphasic liquid; and (2) diluting said biphasic liquid with water such that the viscosity of the diluted composition, when measured at shear ratio of 10s −1 at dilution of 2:1, is thicker than the viscosity of the undiluted composition.