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US 10,292,407 B2Granted
Use of expanded constituents and manufacture of products therefrom
AssigneeNestec S.A.
InventorJohn Russell-Maynard
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AssigneeNestec S.A.
InventorJohn Russell-Maynard
Estimating the term…
The present invention provides methods and products made thereby, wherein a pre-expanded constituent, including an edible constituent, is thermally treated to melt it, preferably in a dynamic process environment, to produce products ranging from high to quite low densities and from very strong to soft to apparently dry textures. The wide range of textures enables the provision of food products such as low calorie, digestible and safe, long duration pet food chews. Non-food products suitable for use in manufacture may also be produced. Cooking is preferably carried in an extruder, preferably at low moisture or in the total absence of added water. The methods of dynamic cooking reduce cost in a number of ways including but not limited to decreased process steps, increased throughput, decreased capital expenses and decreased raw product cost.
A product comprising a melted constituent obtained by (i) expanding a cereal to form an expanded cereal which defines a porous matrix of one or more cooked biopolymers, (ii) forming a mixture comprising 10% to 90% by weight of the expanded cereal, 4% to 16% by weight of a non-aqueous hydrogen bond-forming component, and 0% to 50% by weight of water, and (iii) thermally treating the mixture to melt the expanded cereal and provide a coherent bioplastic mass having a temperature between 80 and 110° C., and the porous matrix of one or more cooked biopolymers is present in the product in an amount of no more than 5% by weight of the product.
A process of manufacturing a product, the process comprising the steps of:
A method of operating a food manufacturing plant comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.