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US 12,714,122 B2Granted
Reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate
AssigneeCargill, Incorporated
InventorsHela Bessaies-Bey, Stephane Debon, Fabien Declercq, Janine Deou, Nicolas Roussel, Paul Smith, Joel Wallecan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition and a method of manufacturing a reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition. The reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate compositions have a maximum packing fraction greater than that of an equivalent, traditionally manufactured chocolate, whilst having substantially the same viscosity as the equivalent, traditionally manufactured chocolate, in order to provide a healthier alternative.
Claims19
A reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition comprising:
- a continuous fat phase, said fat phase comprising a fat and optionally an emulsifier;
- and
- at least two particulate materials distributed throughout said fat phase, wherein the at least two particulate materials are selected from the group consisting of sugars, cocoa solids, milk solids, bulking agents, calcium carbonate, nutritional particles, flavorings and mixtures of two or more thereof;
- wherein the at least two particulate materials have different D50 particle sizes to each other in the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition, said difference being a factor of 6-8, wherein the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition comprises a maximum packing fraction greater than or equal to 0.6,
- wherein the maximum packing fraction of the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free composition is at least 1% greater than the maximum packing fraction of an initial chocolate composition, wherein the initial chocolate composition comprises a fat content of between 23 wt. % and about 50 wt. %, wherein the maximum packing fraction of the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free composition is at least 1% greater than the maximum packing fraction of the initial chocolate composition,
- wherein the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition comprises reduced emulsifier content relative to the emulsifier content in the initial chocolate composition, and wherein the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition comprises substantially identical viscosity to the initial chocolate composition, and wherein the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition has a Bingham plastic viscosity value of between 0.1 and 10 Pa·s and a Bingham yield stress of between 1 and 150 Pa, at 40° C.
3 more elements
A method of preparing a reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition, the method comprising:
- (a) providing an initial chocolate composition comprising a continuous fat phase, said fat phase comprising a fat and optionally an emulsifier, wherein the initial chocolate composition comprises a fat content of between 23 wt. % and about 50 wt. %;
- and
- at least two particulate materials dispersed throughout the fat phase and the emulsifier, wherein the at least two particulate materials are selected from the group consisting of sugars, cocoa solids, milk solids, bulking agents, calcium carbonate, nutritional particles, flavorings and mixtures of two or more thereof;
- (b) measuring the maximum packing fraction and viscosity of the initial chocolate composition;
- and
- (c) preparing a reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free version of the initial chocolate composition by:
- i. determining optimized particle packing parameters for the at least two particulate materials of the initial chocolate composition, wherein the optimized particle packing parameters are optimized such that the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition has a maximum packing fraction value that is greater than or equal to 0.6, wherein the maximum packing fraction value of the maximum packing fraction of the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free composition is at least 1% greater than the maximum packing fraction of the initial chocolate composition, wherein the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free composition has a viscosity that is substantially identical to the viscosity of the initial chocolate composition, wherein the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition has a Bingham plastic viscosity value of between 0.1 and 10 Pa·s and a Bingham yield stress of between 1 and 150 Pa, at 40° C. and wherein the optimized particle packing parameters include particle size distribution and particle shape;
- ii. selecting for the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition at least two particulate materials that are identical to the at least two particulate materials of the initial chocolate composition but for having optimized the particle packing parameters, wherein the at least two particulate materials in the reduced fat chocolate composition have different D50 particle sizes to each other, said difference being a factor of 6-8;
- and
- iii. combining the selected particulate materials with a fat phase and optionally an emulsifier that are identical to the fat phase and the emulsifier of the initial chocolate composition to provide the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free version of the initial chocolate composition, wherein the reduced emulsifier or emulsifier-free chocolate composition comprises reduced emulsifier relative to the initial chocolate composition.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.