Gellan gum to improve physical stability of liquid nutritional products

A nutritionally complete liquid composition containing vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and suspended minerals sufficient to allow said composition to be the sole source of nutrition for a human, said liquid composition comprising:

• a) a total solids content, including said suspended minerals, in the range of from about 15% to about 25% by weight, and;
• b) a stabilizing system consisting essentially of gellan gum, present in said composition at a concentration in the range of about 10 to about 500 parts per million.

A nutritionally complete liquid formula containing vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and suspended minerals sufficient to allow said formula to be the sole source of nutrition for a human and having a total solids content in the range of from about 10% to about 35%, including said suspended minerals, with improved physical stability, said liquid formula containing a stabilizing system, said system comprising gellan gum at a concentration between 10 and 500 parts per million, said concentration being low enough for said liquid formulas to possess an actual yield stress value of about 0.1 to about 1.0 dyne per square centimeter, yet said concentration being high enough to hold said minerals, fibers and flavoring agents in suspension with minimum sedimentation.

A liquid, nutritionally complete food containing vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and suspended minerals sufficient to allow said food to be the sole source of nutrition for a human and having a total solids content in the range of from about 10% to about 35% by weight, including said suspended minerals, with reduced sedimentation, said liquid food comprising gellan gum and carrageenan in a weight ratio of gellan gum to carrageenan of at least 1:4, said gellan gum being of a concentration between about 10 and about 500 parts per million and said liquid food having a viscosity of less than 0.05 Pa.multidot.s.