Back to results
US 12,178,227 B2Granted
High protein food
AssigneeGeneral Mills, Inc.
InventorsAllison Brown, Catherine Davlin, Sara Rosene, Jon Duke Seibold, Natasha Weatherby
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Described herein is a food that is suitable for use as a filling or topping for a shelf stable snack. The food has a protein content of at least 25% by weight, and a nut butter content of at least 50% by weight. The food retains a desirable eating experience, similar to a stabilized nut butter spread despite being resistant to melting and deformation during shipping, handling, and storage.
Claims12
A food, comprising:
- a. nut butter in an amount of at least 50% by weight of the food;
- b. at least 25% protein by weight of the food, the protein including a powdered protein ingredient contributing at least 12% protein by weight of the food, the powdered protein ingredient having a protein content of at least 70% by weight of the powdered protein ingredient;
- c. a stabilizing fat in an amount of about 10% to about 20% by weight of the food, wherein the stabilizing fat comprises palm oil, palm kernel stearin, and palm oil stearin, and contributes lauric acid in an amount of about 3% to about 10% by weight of the food, wherein the stabilizing fat has a Mettler Dropping Point of from about 38° C. to about 45° C., and a 10° C. to 40° C. solid fat content (SFC10-40) profile, the SFC10-40 profile having a formula of y=mx+b, where
- y is solid fat content,
- x is temperature in Celsius,
- m is slope having a value between about −2 and about −5, and
- b is a y-intercept having a value between about 95 and about 140, and the stabilizing fat has a 26.7° C. to 40° C. solid fat content (SFC27-40) profile, the SFC27-40 profile having a formula of y=mx+b, where
- y is solid fat content,
- x is temperature in Celsius,
- m is slope having a value between about −1.5 and about −5, and
- b is a y-intercept having a value between about 70 and about 150, and the stabilizing fat has a 10° C. to 26.7° C. solid fat content (SFC10-27) profile, the SFC10-27 profile having a formula of y=mx+b, where
- y is solid fat content,
- x is temperature in Celsius,
- m is slope having a value between about −1.5 and about −3, and
- b is a y-intercept having a value between about 100 and about 130;
- d. a powdered food ingredient in an amount of about 8% to about 25% by weight of the food, the powdered food ingredient having a protein content of less than 70% by weight of the powdered food ingredient;
- e. a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) profile having a stabilizing fat endothermic peak between 30° C. and 35° C., wherein the DSC profile exhibits a curve that has less than 10% of its area between 35° C. and 70° C.;
- f. a rheology inflection midpoint at 21° C. (RIM21) and a rheology inflection midpoint at 37° C. (RIM37), where the RIM37 is at least 1×101 Pa greater than the RIM21;
- and
- g. a moisture content of less than 2.5% by weight of the food, wherein the moisture content does not solubilize the powdered protein ingredient and does not solubilize the powdered food ingredient.
17 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.