The present invention relates to a human food comprising a basic food product and an ingredient, wherein the ingredient comprising one or more health-enhancing microorganism and a combination of at least one fermented seaweed material and at least one fermented plant material.

A method of treating pieces of plant material to make them microbiologically stable for inclusion in chewing gums and other confections is disclosed. More specifically, the plant material is exposed to gamma radiation in specific dosage ranges to stabilize the ingredient and preserve flavor and appearance of the material. The present invention relates to chewing gums and confections having inclusions of pieces of plant material such as pieces of mint leaves or dried fruit, wherein the plant material is stabilized against microbial growth by treatment with gamma radiation.

A soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable product includes a biopolymer-sugar based matrix and botanical powder dispersed throughout the biopolymer-sugar based matrix. The biopolymer-sugar based matrix includes at least one biopolymer, at least one sugar and optional additives. Soft, chewable and orally dissolvable and/or disintegrable product can also include flavor beads.

A mixture for the chewing gum which includes a powder-mixture and of a core composed of normal substances for the manufacture of chewing gum (sorbitol, Arabic gum, aromatic substances) and from the addition of the two active substances of caffeine and taurine in a concentration of caffeine from 0.77% to 3.75% and of taurine from 7.7% to 39.6% by weight. The taste of this mixture is deprived of a significant bitterness by the addition of Galium odoratum (woodruff) in a concentration of from 0.3% to 7% by weight, alternatively, it may be replaced by or supplemented with green tea from 0.2% to 4% by weight, where these additives reduce the bitterness of the mixture. It is also possible to add the above substances directly into the core, where, however, the concentration of the content of those substances is lower.

Provided are: a composition having an excellent anti-norovirus effect; use of a theaflavin compound for the preparation of the composition; and a method for preventing infection with a norovirus using a theaflavin compound. A theaflavin compound is used as an active ingredient for preventing infection with a norovirus. The theaflavin compound is preferably used together with an alcohol. The theaflavin compound is preferably one or more members selected from the group consisting of theaflavin, theaflavin-3-O-gallate, theaflavin-3′-O-gallate and theaflavin-3,3′-O-digallate that are derived from tea components.

A chewing gum for mucosal delivery of cannabinoids, the chewing gum being formulated as an extruded chewing gum including water-soluble chewing gum ingredients mixed into water-insoluble gum base, wherein the gum base includes one or more natural resins in an amount of 10-40% by weight of the gum base, one or more elastomers in an amount of 3-30% by weight of the gum base, and one or more elastomer plasticizers in an amount of 8-50% by weight of the gum base, and wherein the chewing gum includes one or more cannabinoids, and wherein the release rate of the one or more cannabinoids is at least 10% by weight of the one or more cannabinoids within the first 5 minutes upon oral administration.

A method for making a smokeless tobacco article can include combining thermoplastic polymer particles with tobacco particles to form a mixture of particles, compressing the mixture of particles within a pressing apparatus to form the mixture into a predetermined shape, separating the mixture from the pressing apparatus such that it retains the predetermined shape, and heating the mixture outside of the pressing apparatus to at least partially melt at least some of the thermoplastic polymer particles and form a matrix of polymer and tobacco particles.

Disclosed are sweetened consumables and methods of forming said sweetened consumables that comprise certain sweeteners and a compound of formula (1),

##STR00001##

wherein R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of OH and OCH.sub.3, and R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of H and OH, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 comprise at least one OH group, and when R.sup.1 is OH then R.sup.2 is H (trilobatin), and when R.sup.1 is OCH.sub.3 then R.sup.2 is OH (HDG), in a concentration near its sweetness detection threshold. The sweeteners include sucrose, fructose, glucose, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, xylose, arabinose, rhamnose, erythritol, xylitol, mannitol, sorbitol, inositol, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, neotame, sucralose, saccharine, or combinations thereof.

A soft chewable composition containing psyllium. The soft chewable composition can have from about 1% to about 55% psyllium and have a Hardness Parameter of greater than about 300 gf at a water activity of about 0.80 and less than about 10,000 gf at a water activity of about as measured by the Texture Profile Analysis Method.

Colored hard coated edible products characterized by minimal appearance defects in the coating are disclosed. Color and flavor are in substantially separated regions of the coating. Methods of making such products are also disclosed.