Porous protein particles as carriers for actives

A porous protein particle prepared by a method comprising:

• providing a protein isolate;
• forming a protein isolate emulsion with an oil;
• drying the protein isolate emulsion to produce a powder;
• and
• extracting the oil from the powder to produce the porous protein particle;
• wherein the protein particle has an average diameter of from 500 nm to 20 μm;
• and has one or more characteristics selected from:
• a specific surface area of 3-16 m2/g, or 5-14 m2/g, or 7-12 m2/g;
• an internal surface area of 20-80 m2/g, or 30-70 m2/g, or 40-60 m2/g;
• and a pore volume of 0.1-0.6 ml/g, or 0.2-0.5 ml/g, or 0.3-0.4 ml/g;
• wherein the protein isolate is whey protein isolate, which can be either native or denatured;
• and
• wherein the protein particle further comprises a flavor or a fragrance.