Patent Application
20080050475
As discussed above marine animals and marine plants are the main sources of EPA and DHA fatty acids. The use of fish oils as a source of EPA and DHA is well known. Recently, a number of manufactures have developed processes for growing marine micro algae with high efficiency. These micro algae are a great source of EPA and DHA at very high yields in a completely renewable process. Such micro algae derived EPA and DHA are available from a number of sources. One source of micro algae derived EPA and DHA is Martek Biosciences Corporation, Columbia, Md., USA. A second source of micro algae derived EPA and DHA is Nutrinova Nutrition Specialties and Food Ingredients, DE. Preferably, the omega-3 fatty acids are provided as a free flowing powder for the present invention. Typically, the fatty acids are encapsulated with a carbohydrate or protein matrix. The fatty acids are also provided as free flowing powders. One such powder is designated as Martek DHA™ powder KS35 by Martek Biosciences Corp. In the examples disclosed in the present application this Martek powder was used; however, other powdered sources of DHA and EPA are expected to be equally useful in practicing the present invention. The Martek powder used had very little EPA, however, this is a design choice and one of ordinary skill in the art can mix and match sources to produce any desired combination of DHA and EPA for a particular use. In some cases only DHA or EPA is desired in other uses a combination of the two may be desired. The omega-3 fatty acids are available as either the free fatty acids or in the triglyceride form. Generally, the triglyceride form is more stable and in the present specification and claims there will be no distinction made between whether the fatty acids are in the free form or as part of a triglyceride. All of the omega-3 fatty acids used, however, are in the powder form as described above.
The present invention is directed toward a method for formation of a cold formed bar. These bars are also known as energy bars, granola bars or trail mix bars and are popular with a wide variety of consumers. Typically they are formed by mixing the dry ingredients together and then binding them to each other in a mass using a binder syrup. The mass is then cold formed into a desired shape. Forming can be done by hand, using a series of compression rollers to form a slab, or using a cold forming extruder. Cold forming does not require that any of the forming surfaces actually be chilled, rather it refers to a forming method that does not require the addition of heat to the forming system. These systems operate at temperatures of 115° F. or less. One difficulty with past cold formed bars is their tendency to become hard and brittle over storage because of the high sugar levels found in the binder systems. The present invention is also directed toward addressing this issue. Some consumers also prefer these bars be enrobed in compound coating to add additional tastes and flavors to the bar. Typically, the compound coatings are yogurt-based, chocolate-based, or have a flavoring such as peanut butter.
A series of shortenings or oils had previously been tried in an attempt to determine if the shortening or oil influenced the storage stability of foods that incorporated omega-3 fatty acids. During this work the inventors discovered that certain carrier oils were superior to other oils tried. Specifically these preferred carrier oils had oxidative stability indexes of at least 30 hours as measured by AOCS method CD12B-92 as known in the art and solid fat contents at 21° C. of at least 40. Thus, in the present invention these carrier oils are the preferred oils to use in all formulations. Examples of these oils include certain palm oils, palm oil fractions, palm kernel oils, palm kernel oil fractions, and blends thereof. Low temperature processing conditions, generally no higher than 115° F. were also found to increase the storage stability of the food products. Therefore, although the binder syrups were heated during their formation they were cooled to less than 100° F. prior to use in the present invention and more preferably they were used at room temperature. Also, maintaining the water activity of the bar in the range of from 0.45 to 0.57 was found to greatly extend the stability of the bar incorporating the omega-3 fatty acids. Finally, enrobing the bar in a compound coating was also found to help extend shelf life of the product. Preferably the bar was enrobed in a chocolate compound coating. The enrobing could include enrobing only a portion of the bar or complete enrobing of the bar. The compound coating used comprised a peanut butter containing compound coating, a chocolate containing compound coating, or a yogurt containing compound coating. Other compound coatings are also expected to be beneficial in extending shelf life. Shelf life is measured by storing the packaged products under specific conditions of temperature and relative humidity and then testing them after defined periods of time. The samples were evaluated by trained organoleptic personnel and the results recorded. The sample tastes monitored were: overall flavor intensity, overall taste, peanut butter taste, soy taste, cardboard taste, painty taste, fishy taste, protein taste. The samples were also evaluated for textures: pliability, hardness-incisors, moistness of mass, chalky mouthcoat, and other. In addition, off aromas were noted. A product is defined as stable as long as it does not develop any negative tastes or aromas as identified by trained organoleptic personnel.
A general formula for a cold formed bar with out enrobing is given in Table 1. This formula is subject to wide variation and addition of other components as know to those of skill in the art.
In a series of examples peanut butter flavored bars or chocolate bars were The formulations are given below in Table 2. In examples 1 and 3 the process was as follows: the carrier oil was heated to a temperature of from 80 to 115° F. and the creamed fat components, except for the omega-3 fatty acids, were creamed together in a mixer. Then the omega-3 fatty acid powder was added and the mixture was creamed for an additional 3 minutes at low speed to form the creamed fat. Then the dry blend components were added to the creamed fat and mixed for approximately 5 minutes. Finally, the binder syrup was added to the mixture. The binder syrup had previously been cooled to less than 80° F. and was mixed for approximately 3 minutes with the other components. The bar mass was then extruded using a typical extruder such as a Bepex cold extruder, cut to size and packaged. For example 2 the process was similar expect for the binder syrup. In example 2 the binder syrup had been heated to 215° F. and then cooled to less than 100° F. prior to use in the process. All other steps were the same as for examples 1 and 3. The amounts in Table 2 are expressed as % by weight of base bar, this means the bar weight prior to any enrobing. All bars were enrobed with a selected compound coating, generally at 20 to 25% by weight compound coating based on the final bar weight. The compound coatings used were typical fat and sugar based compound coatings that were flavored with peanut butter, chocolate, or yogurt powder and are know to those of ordinary skill in the art. Examples 1 and 2 were enrobed in a peanut butter based compound coating. Example 3 was enrobed in a chocolate compound coating. The water activities of the final bars fell between 0.45 and 0.57 as desired.
Stability of the samples was determined by trained personnel using organoleptic measures of taste and aroma. Surprisingly, the samples were stable for at least 3 months at 85° F. 50% relative humidity. The samples were also stable at 70° F. 50% relative humidity for at least 7 months. The samples were also stable at storage of 85° F. 50% relative humidity for 12 weeks followed by 70° F. 50% relative humidity for a total time of at least 7 months. The stability was evaluated as described above, none of the samples exhibited fishy aromas, tastes or off flavors over the storage period. Samples that were prepared either with a water activity of greater then 0.57 or without enrobing in a compound coating were not stable and failed in a matter of weeks after storage. These samples developed off aromas and tastes including fishy tastes and aromas.
As noted above, the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA were stabilized in the creamed fat and the bar by use of a carrier oil having an oxidative stability index of at least 30 hours and a solid fat content at 21° C. of at least 40. Preferably the amount of carrier oil in the base bar ranges from 3 to 20% by weight, more preferably from 3 to 15% and most preferably from 3 to 10% by weight based on the base bar weight.
The dry blend used to form the snack bar is generally a source of carbohydrates and can include any sort of grains, cereals, ready to eat cereal pieces, rice bubbles, oat flakes, wheat flakes, nuts, nut meats, coconut, fruit pieces, dried fruit pieces and other typical granola type mixes. The components that can be used in the dry blend are well know to those of skill in the art and are selected based on the desired taste and texture of the snack bar. Many of these sources also include some protein and/or fat. It can also be desirable to include additional protein sources in the dry blend. These can include sources know to those of ordinary skill in the art including: soy protein, whey protein, whey protein isolates, albumin, and dairy sources. Preferably, the amount of protein ranges from 3 to 30% by weight based on the weight of the base bar, more preferably from 5 to 30%, and most preferably from 10 to 30% by weight.
As noted above, the powdered omega-3 fatty acids used were obtained from Martek and generally they had from 100 to 130 milligrams of DHA per gram of powder with negligible amount of EPA. If desired the EPA is generally supplied at similar levels to the DHA. It is desirable to provide approximately 30 to 160 milligrams of DHA per serving in the final food product. If other antioxidants were desired then the formulation could have added to it one or more of the known antioxidants such as: tocopherols; ascorbic acid; ascorbyl palmitate; rosemary extract; butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT); butylated hydroxyanisol (BHA); or tert-butyl-1,4-benzenediol (TBHQ); or 0.02% citric acid.
The foregoing invention has been described in accordance with the relevant legal standards, thus the description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed embodiment may become apparent to those skilled in the art and do come within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of legal protection afforded this invention can only be determined by studying the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/823,325, filed Aug. 23, 2006.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60823325 | Aug 2006 | US |
