Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G1/00—Cocoa; Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/30—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/56—Liquid products; Solid products in the form of powders, flakes or granules for making liquid products, e.g. for making chocolate milk, drinks and the products for their preparation, pastes for spreading or milk crumb
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G1/00—Cocoa; Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/30—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/32—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor characterised by the composition containing organic or inorganic compounds
  • A23G1/46—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor characterised by the composition containing organic or inorganic compounds containing dairy products
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G1/00—Cocoa; Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/30—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/32—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor characterised by the composition containing organic or inorganic compounds
  • A23G1/48—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor characterised by the composition containing organic or inorganic compounds containing plants or parts thereof, e.g. fruits, seeds or extracts
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G1/00—Cocoa; Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/30—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor
  • A23G1/50—Cocoa products, e.g. chocolate; Substitutes therefor characterised by shape, structure or physical form, e.g. products with an inedible support
  • A23G1/52—Aerated, foamed, cellular or porous products, e.g. gas expanded

Definitions

• Freeze dried, soluble three-dimensional shape comprising cocoa
• the present invention relates generally to the field of cocoa-based compositions which after reconstitution, for example in milk or water, result in cocoa-based beverages.
• the present invention relates to pre-dosed cocoa-based compositions.
• One embodiment of the present invention relates to a freeze-dried, food-grade three- dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and milk powder.
• the three-dimensional shape may be aerated and is soluble in liquids, for example in milk or water.
• One three- dimensional shape may represent one portion of the cocoa-based composition.
• Cocoa-based beverages are very popular. They are well-liked by children and adults, both, in hot or in cold form. Cocoa based beverages are typically available in a ready- to-drink format or in the form of a powdered or granulated beverage powder to be reconstituted in milk or water.
• beverage powders can well be used to flavor milk-based beverages in order to increase the milk consumption of individuals that do not enjoy pure milk. However, here it is important that overdosing is avoided. For example, to address this need, cocoa based beverage powders are available in the market today also as single portions, individually wrapped. This, however, increases the amount of packaging material that is needed per portion of beverage powder.
• One step towards achieving these objectives would be to omit the wrapping of individual portions of cocoa-based beverage powders.
• Beverage powders and granulates usually have a high enough surface/volume ratio to ensure swift dissolution.
• simply compressing the beverage powders into single portion size tablets would result in beverage powder tablets which dissolve far too slow in milk or water, so that their use to prepare cocoa based beverages would likely be found unacceptable by consumers.
• cocoa-based beverage powders that do not require individual wrapping and that will dissolve fast enough so that dissolving such a portion of beverage powder in milk or water is a pleasurable experience for the consumer.
• the present invention provides a freeze dried, food-grade three- dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and milk powder.
• the three-dimensional shape is soluble in food-grade liquids, for example in milk or water.
• the present invention further provides the three-dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and skimmed milk powder for use in treating or preventing an impaired growth and development in children, and/or in supporting a healthy growth and development in children.
• the present invention also provides the use of a three-dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and skimmed milk powder for the preparation of a composition for treating or preventing an impaired growth and development in children, and/or in supporting a healthy growth and development in children.
• the present invention provides a three-dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and skimmed milk powder for use in complementing the goodness of milk.
• the three-dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and skimmed milk may further comprise vitamins and minerals, for example vitamins and minerals selected from the group consisting of vitamin D, iron, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, vitamin Bl, vitamin A, and combinations thereof.
• freeze-dried, food- grade three-dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and skimmed milk powder achieves the objective of the present invention.
• freeze-drying optionally in combination with aeration allowed it to produce three-dimensional shapes comprising cocoa, sugar, and milk powder that achieve the objective of the present invention and that - in particular - are stable enough to avoid substantial abrasion if they are not individually wrapped and that dissolve fast enough, even in cold liquids, such as water or milk for example.
• Figure 1 shows the shapes as they have been extracted from the freeze dryer.
• Figure 2 shows the shapes as they are being dissolved in full fat milk.
• Figure 3 shows three examples of the fun, playful shapes in accordance with the present invention. Consequently, the present invention relates in part to a freeze-dried, food-grade three- dimensional shape comprising cocoa, sugar, and milk powder.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may be aerated.
• the term food-grade shall mean that a material is safe for human consumption.
• the term "food” shall mean any substance, whether processed, semi-processed or raw, which is intended for human consumption, and includes drink, chewing gum and any substance which has been used in the manufacture, preparation or treatment of "food” but does not include cosmetics or tobacco or substances used only as drugs.
• Freeze-drying is a technique that is well-known in the art. It can be used for the production of food powders, for example. Here, freeze-drying is recognized as a very good drying process for preserving the quality of foods. Freeze-drying of plant-based foods is, for example, reviewed in Foods 2020, 9(1), 87.
• a composition shall be considered as aerated, if it comprises a certain amount of a gas.
• a composition may be considered as aerated if it contains at least 5 vol-% of a gas.
• the gas may be C0 , or N 2 , for example, or may be air.
• the creation and characterization of aerated food products is, for example, reviewed in Trends in Food Science & Technology 10 (1999) 283-296.
• a shape is three-dimensional, if it extends in all three dimensions.
• a shape may be considered three-dimensional, if the shortest dimension has at least 1/100 of the length of the longest dimension, for example at least 1/50 of the length of the longest dimension, or for example at least 1/10 of the length of the longest dimension.
• the shapes may have a length in the shorter dimension in the range of about 2-4 cm, a length in the longer dimension in the range of about 4-6 cm, and a thickness in the range of about 3 - 7 mm. Any shape may be used.
• the shape may represent a human being or an animal, for example.
• the shape may also resemble comic characters, brand names or icons, letters or words, for example. Further the shape may resemble items, such as toys, instruments, sports equipment, or motorized vehicles, for example.
• the shape may also have a geometric form such as a cube, a cuboid, a pyramid, or a prism, for example. Such regular geometrical forms have the advantage that they allow tight packing and - consequently - contribute to saving packaging material.
• sugar any sugar may be used.
• Cane sugar can be used, for example.
• any milk powder may be used.
• full cream milk powder or skimmed milk powder can be used.
• powders of milk alternatives may be used. Powders of milk alternatives may be selected from the group consisting of soy milk powder, almond milk powder, coconut milk powder, rice milk powder, cashew milk powder, peanut milk powder, or combinations thereof.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention has the advantage that it is soluble in food-grade liquids.
• it is soluble in milk or in water.
• Any milk may be used.
• full cream milk or a milk with reduced fat content, such as skimmed milk can be used for example.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention is also soluble in milk alternatives such as soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, rice milk, cashew milk, peanut milk, or combinations thereof.
• the three-dimensional shape according to the present invention may be soluble in milk, in milk alternatives and/or in water.
• the term "soluble" shall mean that the three- dimensional shape is substantially homogeneously distributed in the liquid after stirring, even though cocoa is partly insoluble in water.
• the three- dimensional shape may be considered soluble, if the three-dimensional shape is substantially homogeneously distributed in the liquid at room temperature after 15 seconds of stirring.
• the three-dimensional shape may be considered soluble, if the three-dimensional shape is substantially homogeneously distributed in the liquid at room temperature after 10 seconds of stirring.
• the three-dimensional shape may be considered soluble, if the three-dimensional shape is substantially homogeneously distributed in the liquid at room temperature after 5 seconds of stirring.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may be obtainable by mixing cocoa, sugar and milk powder in a wet state, by aerating the mixture, freezing them in three dimensional shapes and by freeze drying the mixture.
• the three-dimensional shape may comprise about 60-70 weight-% sugar, about 20-30 weight-% cocoa and about 5-15 weight-% milk powder.
• the inventors have achieved particularly good results with a three-dimensional shape comprising about 64 weight-% sugar, about 26 weight-% cocoa and about 10 weight-% skimmed milk powder.
• the sugar may be at least partially replaced by dietary fiber. This may be beneficial for consumers that wish to reduce their sugar consumption.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention may further comprise about 5 - 55 weight-% of a cereal ingredient.
• the cereal ingredient may for example be selected selected from the group consisting of oat syrup, protomalt or barley malt extract, corn flour, oat flour, hydrolysed rice, hydrolysed oat, wheat, or combinations thereof. Adding a cereal ingredient has the beneficial effect that the resulting beverage becomes nutritionally even more satisfying. Adding cereal ingredients may have further very interesting effects on the taste of the final product, which the inventors find to be preferred by several consumers.
• the cereal ingredient is a cereal extract, more preferred the cereal extract is barley malt extract, even more preferred the barley malt extract is present in an amount of 30 - 40 wt. %. In a further preferred embodiment the cereal ingredient consists of barley malt extract.
• the cereal ingredient comprises soluble corn fibers, in particular in a amount of 30 -40 wt. %.
• the cereal ingredient comprises a combination of barley malt extract and soluble corn fibers.
• protomalt is barley malt extract.
• the cereal ingredient comprises malt barley extract.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may comprise about 30-40 weight-% sugar, about 15-25 weight-% cocoa, about 3-12 weight-% skimmed milk powder, and about 35-45 weight-% of a cereal ingredient.
• the inventors have achieved particularly good results with a three-dimensional shape comprising about 34 weight-% sugar, about 20 weight-% cocoa, about 6 weight-% skimmed milk powder, and about 40 weight-% protomalt or barley malt extract.
• the inventors have also achieved particularly good results with a three-dimensional shape comprising about 34 weight-% sugar, about 20 weight-% cocoa, about 6 weight- % skimmed milk powder, and about 40 weight-% oat syrup.
• a three-dimensional shape comprising about 34 weight-% sugar, about 20 weight-% cocoa, about 6 weight- % skimmed milk powder, and about 40 weight-% oat syrup.
• milk is an excellent source of nutrition to support a good development of children.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention provides a specific composition of vitamins and minerals that complement the goodness of milk and allows it to provide children with what they need to grow and develop.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may comprise vitamins and minerals; for example, vitamins and minerals selected from the group consisting of vitamin D, iron, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, vitamin Bl, vitamin A, or combinations thereof.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may comprise per serving 1.0 - 2.0 pg vitamin D, 2.1-4.2 mg iron, 9-18 mg vitamin C, 2.25- 4.5 mg zinc, 45-90 mg magnesium, 0.21-0.42 mg vitamin Bl, and optionally 120-240 pg vitamin A. Growth is a phenomenon associated with increases in body tissue mass and height.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention may be an ideal complement to milk which provides the necessary calcium, for example.
• Zinc is a critical nutrient for the development of the central nervous system, which is involved in neurotransmission associated with memory function.
• Magnesium, thiamin (vitamin Bl) and vitamin C support normal function of the nervous system.
• one three-dimensional shape of the present invention may represent one serving.
• two, three or four three- dimensional shapes of the present invention may represent one serving.
• a three-dimensional shape of the present invention may have a weight in the range of about 2-5 g, for example about 3-4 g.
• On serving may represent a grammage of 5-20 g, for example.
• the three- dimensional shape may have a serving size in the range of 5- 20 g, for example 7-14 g.
• one three-dimensional shape may have a weight in the range of about 5- 20 g, for example about 7-14 g.
• the inventors have found that aeration helps the dissolution speed of the three- dimensional shape of the present invention, in particular if the total solids (TS) of the wet mix is between 42 and 35 weight-%.
• the inventors have achieved particularly good results if the aeration of the three-dimensional shape of the present invention was at least about 10 vol-%, at least about 15 vol-%, or at least about 20-vol-%.
• the inventors have further found that when the TS of the wet mix was between 35 and 25 weight-% no aeration was necessary. In a preferred embodiment with a TS (Total Solids) of above 35 to 45 %, the aeration is 20 to 35 vol-%.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention may yield after dissolution in milk or water a cocoa based beverage.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may be dissolved in an amount of liquid that can conveniently be consumed by a consumer of a target group in a single consumption moment.
• a person skilled in the art will be able to determine appropriate amounts of liquid appropriately.
• the three- dimensional shape may be to be dissolved in about 100 ml - 300 ml of liquid, for example, water, milk alternative or milk.
• the three-dimensional shape may be to be dissolved in about 150 ml - 250 ml of liquid, for example, water, milk alternative or milk.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention has the advantage that over- or underdosing is avoided. Further, the three-dimensional shapes are easier to use than powder or granulate without the risk of spilling beverage powder or granulate on the floor or on the table. This is in particular important for children and for people with problems to hold their hands steady. Hence, the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may be to be administered to children.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may be used to produce cocoa-based beverages at any consumption occasion at any time of the day.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention may be to be consumed during breakfast, during the morning, as a snack, in the evening or after sports, for example.
• the three-dimensional shape of the present invention may be to be consumed during breakfast.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may be produced by a process comprising the following steps:
• the freezing in the molds takes place at a temperature below - 35°C, preferably at a temperature of - 35°C to -80°C.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention in particular - but not only - if the three-dimensional shape is supplemented with vitamins and/or minerals, may be for use in treating or preventing an impaired growth and development in children, and/or in supporting a healthy growth and development in children.
• the subject matter of the present invention also extends to the use of the three- dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention for the preparation of a composition for treating or preventing an impaired growth and development in children, and/or supporting a healthy growth and development in children.
• the three-dimensional shape in accordance with the present invention may be for use in complementing the goodness of milk.
• Those skilled in the art will understand that they can freely combine all features of the present invention disclosed herein.
• features described for the product of the present invention may be combined with the use of the present invention and vice versa.
• features described for different embodiments of the present invention may be combined.
• Pasteurisation For example, bench pasteurization:
• Modomixer Place the mixture in the Mondomixer, operate to reach an over-run of 20-30 vol-% (min and max)
• Freezing Place the aerated mixture in molds as fast as possible Put them in a -50°C freezer for at least 6 hours Freeze-drying Demold the pieces quickly, avoiding thawing
• Example 2 shows a comparison of recipes according to the invention with dissolution time in cold and warm milk. It has been shown that the product according to the invention which comprises barley malt extract has a short dissolution time in cold water.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Botany (AREA)
• Confectionery (AREA)
• Dairy Products (AREA)
• Non-Alcoholic Beverages (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=71515022

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Family Cites Families (7)

• 2021
  • 2021-07-06 EP EP21742102.3A patent/EP4175480A1/de active Pending
  • 2021-07-06 JP JP2022580336A patent/JP2023532480A/ja active Pending
  • 2021-07-06 CA CA3182307A patent/CA3182307A1/en active Pending
  • 2021-07-06 CN CN202180047752.1A patent/CN115802899A/zh active Pending
  • 2021-07-06 WO PCT/EP2021/068664 patent/WO2022008512A1/en not_active Ceased

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events