Loading patent…
AssigneeMars, Incorporated
InventorsMary E. Myers, Chigozie V. Nwosu, Eric J. Whitacre, John F. Hammerstone, Jr.
Estimating the term…
The invention provides food products, including confectioneries and chocolates, having conserved concentrations of polyphenols, and in particular cocoa polyphenols. The method of this invention avoids the significant and detrimental losses of polyphenols that occur during conventional manufacture by controlling the handling of ingredients in batching processing to provide a product having a significant amount of the cocoa polyphenol concentration present in the raw materials conserved in the finished product. Additionally, the production steps of milling/refining and conching may also be controlled and modified to provide the confectioneries of the present invention having conserved concentrations of cocoa polyphenols relative to the concentration of the polyphenols present in the starting ingredients. The cocoa polyphenol ingredient may be a cocoa ingredient, an extract of a cocoa ingredient (beans, liquor, or powder, etc.) or may be a synthesized derivative thereof, or may be a synthesized polyphenol compound or mixture of polyphenol compounds or derivative thereof.
A dry cocoa mix comprising non-alkalized, partially defatted cocoa solids having a high cocoa polyphenol content prepared from cocoa beans having a fermentation factor of less than 300, cocoa solids having a high chocolate flavor/aroma content, milk solids, and a sweetener, wherein the milk solids and/or the sweetener are treated with a pretreatment ingredient, prior to mixing with the non-alkalized, partially defatted cocoa solids, to conserve the cocoa polyphenols in the non-alkalized, partially defatted cocoa solids during preparation of the dry cocoa mix, the pretreatment ingredient being selected from the group consisting of an antioxidant, an emulsifier, a fat, a flavorant, and mixtures thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.