New sandwich product, particularly a fast food sandwich product that contains appreciable amounts of salad ingredients, and to a salad insert suitable for use in such sandwich product to improve the diet of the consumer. The sandwich product can include a layer of a meat or protein portion with the layer of a wrapped salad portion that are placed on or enclosed between a bread portion. The wrapped salad portion uses an edible wrapper to enclose the salad ingredients. The edible wrapper can be an edible processed wrapper such as rice paper or soy paper, or an edible natural wrapper such as a lettuce leaf or cabbage leaf, or a combination thereof. An edible humectant can be used in the source of water used for moistening a dried sheet of a rice paper for improving the resistance to drying of a moistened rice paper. Salad dressing can be injected through the outer layer of the wrapped salad portion using a needle.

This invention refers to a procedure for reducing inorganic (heavy metals) and organic (aflatoxins, molds, etc.) contaminants in high-protein vegetable matter, mainly originating from rice. Applying said procedure to raw vegetable matter results in the obtainment of derivatives presenting levels of these contaminants significantly lower than the legal limits set by health authorities. Following the procedure set out in this invention, high-quality protein derivatives are obtained usable for vitamin and nutritional supplements, milk formula for babies, sports nutrition, clinical nutrition, animal feed ingredients, etc.

A food grilling rack provides a frame defined by a plurality of connected side walls forming a closed geometric shape. The frame includes a lower corrugated sheet that provides multiple troughs, each trough having a lowest portion. The lower sheet is attached to at least some of the side walls. An upper sheet of material is supported (e.g., removably) above the sheet of corrugated material. There are a plurality of openings in the upper sheet of material, each opening being vertically aligned with a lowest portion of a trough. In one embodiment, the frame includes a pair of flanged members attached to a lower corrugated sheet that provides multiple troughs, each trough having a lowest portion. A sheet with openings slides into the frame aligning the openings with the lowest part of the trough. A food stuffing apparatus provides a receptacle having an interior, an upper end portion with a larger opening and a lower end portion with a smaller opening, and a tapering portion in between the upper and lower end portions. A plunger is provided having a head, a lower end portion with a shaft having a lower pushing surface and a joint that joins the head to the shaft. The pushing surface has a larger diameter portion, the shaft tapering above the pushing surface to a smaller diameter portion above the pushing surface in the upper one half of the plunger.

A new and distinct Wolffia globosa plant that exhibits fast vegetative propagation, an ovoid shape, and is neutral in taste.

A new and distinct Wolffia globosa plant that exhibits fast vegetative propagation, an ovoid shape, and is neutral in taste.

The present invention is concerned with providing refined plant isolates that can be used as starting materials for the production of functional food ingredients, such as taste enhancers, through an isolation process that employs ion exclusion chromatography. More particularly, the present invention provides a refined plant isolate comprising at least 30% by weight of dry matter of water soluble plant components selected from fructose, glucose, proteinaceous matter of plant origin, acids and potassium, said isolate further being characterized in that at a concentration of 40 Brix the isolate: contains at least 0.3 wt % of glutamate; contains at least 500 ppm of K.sup.+; contains less than 300 ppm of Ca.sup.2+; contains less than 700 ppm of Mg.sup.2+; contains less than 1 wt. % of components capable of passing an ultra filtration membrane having a molecular weight cut off of 250 kDa; wherein the concentration ratio ([Ca.sup.2+]+[Mg.sup.2+])/[K.sup.+] does not exceed 5:100, each of said cation concentrations being expressed in ppm.

The present invention relates to a Solanum lycopersicum seed designated 72-762 RZ. The present invention also relates to a Solanum lycopersicum plant produced by growing the 72-762 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the tomato cultivar, represented by tomato variety 72-762 RZ.

The present invention relates to a Solanum lycopersicum seed designated 72-762 RZ. The present invention also relates to a Solanum lycopersicum plant produced by growing the 72-762 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the tomato cultivar, represented by tomato variety 72-762 RZ.

A method for preparing cut and frozen vegetables includes washing the vegetables to eliminate any residues of earth or other substances and materials which may have accumulated during the harvest. Next, the vegetables are mechanically treated to isolate the edible part thereof. Subsequently, the vegetables are cut into strips of thickness between 2 mm and 5 mm, and of width between 2 mm and 20 mm, through the use of a cutting device so as to define strips that can have a shape preferably chosen from that of spaghetti, tagliatelle, pappardelle and the like, more generally any long pasta format. Next, the method involves steam-cooking and air-drying the strips. Once the strips have dried, they are divided into portions corresponding to a preset quantity. Finally, such weighed portions are frozen to a temperature between 18 C. and 30 C.

A crushing machine for a vegetable food product frozen in blocks, or in IQF form, the machine having a box-like body defining a crushing chamber. The box-like body has an inlet port through which the frozen food product is put in the crushing chamber, and an outlet port through which a frozen crushed product is discharged from the crushing chamber. In the crushing chamber a crushing unit is mounted, having a plurality of crushing rollers, each of which is arranged to rotate about a rotation axis and has, peripherally, teeth arranged to cut the frozen product into blocks, or IQF form, for splitting it into the above described fragments of predetermined size. The rotation axes of the crushing rollers are parallel to each other. The outlet port is associated with a distribution valve arranged to adjust the amount of crushed product discharged from the machine through the outlet port.