Process for preparing beads as food or tobacco additive

The process of claim 11 further comprising an emulsifier in the aqueous medium.

A method for treating food comprising adding beads containing at least one active treating ingredient which is released at a controlled rate, said beads prepared by:

• first forming discrete droplets of said active ingredient in the form of first droplets or particles and an acid polysaccharide in aqueous medium,
• converting said discrete droplets to water-insoluble gel beads by thereafter introducing said discrete droplets into a solution containing multivalent cations thereby building a suspension of gel beads, said beads having a homogeneous composition and texture from inside to outside in which the active ingredient in the form of first droplets or particles is uniformly distributed, and
• adding said beads to the food in an effective amount.

A method for treating a tobacco product comprising adding beads containing at least one active ingredient which is released at a controlled rate, said beads prepared by:

• first forming discrete droplets of said active ingredient in the form of first droplets or particles and an acid polysaccharide in aqueous medium, and
• converting said discrete droplets to water-insoluble gel beads by thereafter introducing said discrete droplets into a solution containing multivalent cations thereby building a suspension of gel beads, said beads having a homogeneous composition and texture from inside to outside in which the active ingredient in the form of first droplets or particles is uniformly distributed and,
• adding said beads to the product in an effective amount.

A bead comprising a matrix of a reticulated multivalent cation containing acid polysaccharide and at least one active ingredient in the form of droplets or particles, said bead having a homogeneous composition and texture from inside to outside in which the active ingredient in the form of droplets or paticles is uniformly distributed, said droplets or particles of said active ingredient at least partly filling a void built by the acid polysaccharide.

A method for treating a product comprising adding beads containing at least one active ingredient which is released at a controlled rate, said beads prepared by:

• first forming discrete droplets of said active ingredient in the form of first droplets or particles and an acid polysaccharide in aqueous medium, and
• converting said discrete droplets to water-insoluble gel beads by thereafter introducing said discrete droplets into a solution containing multivalent cations thereby building a suspension of gel beads, said beads having a homogeneous composition and texture from inside to outside in which the active ingredient in the form of first droplets or particles is uniformly distributed and
• adding said beads to the product in an effective amount.