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US 11,980,206 B2Granted
Method for reducing low molecular weight species in caramel
AssigneeThe Coca-Cola Company
InventorsJosef Klucik, You Chen, Patricio Gutierrez
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method for forming caramels having reduced low molecular weight species such as 4-MeI. The low-4-MeI caramels produced by this method have improved stability and taste relative to those known in the art. The invention also extends to the caramels produced by the disclosed methods and the use of such caramels in food and beverages.
Claims12
A method of reducing the low molecular weight component of a caramel solution, comprising:
- (i) adding a caramel selected from a class III or class IV caramel and water to a feed tank to provide a caramelized solution, said caramel comprising low molecular weight species and high molecular weight species;
- (ii) adjusting the pH of the caramelized solution in the feed tank to greater than 7.5;
- (iii) subjecting the caramelized solution to diafiltration to provide a retained fraction and a permeated fraction, said retained fraction comprising high molecular weight species and water;
- (iv) subjecting the permeate fraction to reverse osmosis to provide a recycle water stream and a permeate concentrate stream;
- (v) adding the retained fraction and recycle water stream to the feed tank in (i);
- (vi) repeating steps (iii)-(vi) one or more times to provide a concentrated, purified class III or class IV caramel that has less than about 10 ppm 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI), wherein the pH is not adjusted when the retained fraction and recycle water stream are added to the feed tank;
- and,
- (vii) adjusting the pH of the concentrated, purified class III or class IV caramel from step (vi) to between about 2.4-3.25;
- and
- wherein the diafiltration comprises a molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) of about 600 to 800 Dalton.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.