A packaged food product includes a container and a food product. The container has a rim and at least one wall extending away from the rim. The at least one wall defines a storage area, and the food product is retained within the storage area such that the food product is in contact with the at least one wall. The at least one wall is readily deformable by a hand of a user to reduce a volume of the storage area. Reducing the volume of the storage area causes the food product to exit the storage area. The container includes an integral tool portion including a tine extending from a distal end of the tool portion for breaking up the food product after removal from the storage area. The food product can be a wet cat or dog food.

The present disclosure features dried vegetable noodles having an increased shelf life and methods of making dehydrated vegetable noodles. The noodles are dry, shelf stable cut vegetable noodles (cut from whole produce, not extruded) and are lower in carbohydrate calories and higher in nutritional value than traditional grain-based noodles. The process results in a food safe, extended shelf stable singularized noodle that is nutritious, convenient and versatile.

Snack bars incorporating more than 4 grams of prebiotic fiber derived from Chicory root fiber and methods of making such snack bars are described herein. The snack bars may incorporate chicory root fiber, coconut, dried fruits, with or without, nuts pieces, chocolate, seeds, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, herb, spices, and oils held together by a binder comprising chicory root fiber and may be enrobed with chicory root fiber as the outer coating. The methods may include mixing chicory root fiber into a binder made with honey and or syrup, mixing binder with a creamy crunchy chewy grain composition, add any additional ingredients, press into desired thickness, cut into bars, enrobe bars with treatments of chicory root fiber, and heat treatment processes to melt the chicory root fiber and form a uniform glossy surface that is appealing to the customer, and reducing water activity.

Snack bars incorporating more than 4 grams of prebiotic fiber derived from Chicory root fiber and methods of making such snack bars are described herein. The snack bars may incorporate chicory root fiber, coconut, dried fruits, with or without, nuts pieces, chocolate, seeds, probiotics, vitamins, minerals, herb, spices, and oils held together by a binder comprising chicory root fiber and may be enrobed with chicory root fiber as the outer coating. The methods may include mixing chicory root fiber into a binder made with honey and or syrup, mixing binder with a creamy crunchy chewy grain composition, add any additional ingredients, press into desired thickness, cut into bars, enrobe bars with treatments of chicory root fiber, and heat treatment processes to melt the chicory root fiber and form a uniform glossy surface that is appealing to the customer, and reducing water activity.

A process for producing a dried product, optionally in the form of a flake, the process comprising (a) combining an active ingredient with a carrier, and an optional stabilizer, to create a wet mixture, wherein the active ingredient and carrier are in a ratio of about 1:1 to about 1:250 in the wet mixture; (b) spreading the wet mixture on a belt of a thin film belt dryer with a belt temperature in the range of about 60° C.-92° C.; and (c) drying the mixture to produce a dried product with less than about 7% moisture, optionally about 2-5% moisture, and a water activity of about 0.15 and about 0.65; as well as a dried product that can be produced by the method, and related methods and compositions.

A process for producing a dried product, optionally in the form of a flake, the process comprising (a) combining an active ingredient with a carrier, and an optional stabilizer, to create a wet mixture, wherein the active ingredient and carrier are in a ratio of about 1:1 to about 1:250 in the wet mixture; (b) spreading the wet mixture on a belt of a thin film belt dryer with a belt temperature in the range of about 60° C.-92° C.; and (c) drying the mixture to produce a dried product with less than about 7% moisture, optionally about 2-5% moisture, and a water activity of about 0.15 and about 0.65; as well as a dried product that can be produced by the method, and related methods and compositions.

An apparatus for texturizing emulsified protein and/or carbohydrate containing food materials into a textured fibrous meat simulating product, said apparatus comprising a treatment assembly comprising: a first stationary disc having an inlet opening for receiving a food material slurry, a second stationary disc arranged underneath the first stationary disc with a predetermined distance between said first and second stationary discs defining a treatment space between the discs, wherein one or both of the first and second stationary discs are configured for being heated; and a rotary paddle wheel with spokes configured for rotating around a rotation axis, wherein the rotary paddle wheel is arranged between the first and second stationary discs for during rotation of the rotary paddle wheel transporting the slurry from the inlet opening to the periphery thereby heating and texturizing the slurry.

A topical high resolution image of edible ink and having a resolution of at least 100 dots per inch is applied to a top major surface of a length of food in the form of a thin fruit based paste or confection slurry by a digital imaging printer. The length of food is at a temperature of at least about 75° C. at the time of application. During application, the food is supported upon a moveable platform mounted by parallelogram links and which is moved parallel to the digital imaging printer according to a condition of the top major surface upon which the topical high resolution image is applied and detected by detecting provisions.

A topical high resolution image of edible ink and having a resolution of at least 100 dots per inch is applied to a top major surface of a length of food in the form of a thin fruit based paste or confection slurry by a digital imaging printer. The length of food is at a temperature of at least about 75° C. at the time of application. During application, the food is supported upon a moveable platform mounted by parallelogram links and which is moved parallel to the digital imaging printer according to a condition of the top major surface upon which the topical high resolution image is applied and detected by detecting provisions.

The present invention provides a method of retaining the dish flavor profile and nutrition values, of customized dish recipes. The dish recipe customization might result in adding or removing one or more ingredients, changing the amount of one or more ingredients of the originally defined recipe, and may also involve changing the recipe or a dish flavor profile. The method also derives and assigns a flavor profile to a specific customized recipe.