SUGAR-COATED CONFECTIONERY WITH IMPROVED CRUNCHINESS

Abstract

The invention relates to the use of a mixture of at least one sweetening agent and at least one chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch to improve the crunchiness of the hard crystalline coating of a sugar-coated product, said starch not having undergone chemical modifications, said coating and said mixture comprising less than 1% by weight of gum arabic relative to the total dry weight of the coating or of the mixture, preferably said coating or said mixture being free of gum arabic. The invention also relates to a sugar-coated confectionery product, a production method and a pre-mixed composition.

Claims

1. Use of a mixture of at least one sweetening agent and at least one chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch to improve the crunchiness of the hard crystalline coating of a sugar-coated product, with said starch not having undergone chemical modifications, said coating and said mixture comprising less than 1% by weight of gum arabic relative to the total dry weight of the coating or of the mixture, preferably said coating or said mixture being free of gum arabic, and wherein said mixture comprises: between 80 and 99.90% by weight of said sweetening agent relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, preferentially between 90 and 99.90% and between 0.1 and 20% by weight of said starch relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, preferentially between 0.1 and 10%.

2. The use according to claim 1, wherein said mixture comprises: between 95 and 99% by weight of said sweetening agent relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, between 1 and 5% by weight of said starch relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture.

3. The use according to claim 1, wherein the chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch is a pregelatinized native starch having undergone only pregelatinization treatment, preferably said pregelatinized native starch is selected from pregelatinized native pea starch, pregelatinized native corn starch or pregelatinized native waxy starch.

4. The use according to claim 1, wherein the sweetening agent is a polyol, preferably the polyol is selected from sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, isomalt, erythritol and lactitol or a mixture thereof, preferably maltitol or xylitol.

5. A sugar-coated confectionery product including a hard crystalline coating comprising a mixture of at least one sweetening agent and at least one chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch, with said starch not having undergone chemical modifications, said coating and said mixture comprising less than 1% by weight of gum arabic relative to the total dry weight of the coating or of the mixture, preferably said coating or said mixture being free of gum arabic, and wherein said mixture comprises: between 80 and 99.90% by weight of said sweetening agent relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, preferentially between 90 and 99.90% and between 0.1 and 20% by weight of said starch relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, preferentially between 0.1 and 10%.

6. The sugar-coated confectionery product according to claim 5, wherein said mixture comprises: between 95 and 99% by weight of said sweetening agent relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, between 1 and 5% by weight of said starch relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture.

7. The sugar-coated confectionery product according to claim 5, wherein it is a chewing gum.

8. The sugar-coated confectionery product according to claim 5, wherein the chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch is a native starch, preferably said pregelatinized native starch is selected from chemically unmodified pregelatinized pea starch, chemically unmodified pregelatinized native corn starch or chemically unmodified native waxy corn starch.

9. The sugar-coated confectionery product according to claim 5, wherein the sweetening agent is a polyol, preferably the polyol is selected from sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, isomalt, erythritol and lactitol or a mixture thereof, preferably maltitol or xylitol.

10. A method for producing a hard crystalline coating around a core by hard sugar-coating, the method comprising the following steps: preparing a sugar-coating syrup by mixing at least one sweetening agent and at least one chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch with a solvent, creating a crystalline coating on the surface of the core by at least one application of said sugar-coating syrup; with said starch not having undergone chemical modifications, said coating and said syrup thus prepared comprising less than 1% by weight of gum arabic relative to the total dry weight of the coating or to the total weight of the syrup, preferably said coating or said syrup thus prepared being free of gum arabic, and wherein said coating and said syrup comprise: between 80 and 99.90% by weight of said sweetening agent relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, preferentially between 90 and 99.90% and between 0.1 and 20% by weight of said starch relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, preferentially between 0.1 and 10%.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said mixture comprises: between 95 and 99% by weight of said sweetening agent relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture, between 1 and 5% by weight of said starch relative to the total mass of solids of the mixture.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch is a native starch, preferably said pregelatinized native starch is selected from chemically unmodified pregelatinized pea starch, chemically unmodified pregelatinized corn starch or chemically unmodified pregelatinized waxy corn starch.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the sweetening agent is a polyol, preferably the polyol is selected from sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, isomalt, erythritol and lactitol or a mixture thereof, preferably maltitol or xylitol.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the sugar-coating syrup comprises from 30% to 85% by weight of solids relative to the total weight of the syrup.

15. The method according to claim 10, wherein the polyol is in powder form and the sugar-coating syrup is prepared by mixing the polyol, the chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch with the solvent, with the mixture then being heated.

16. The method according to claim 10, wherein the sugar-coating syrup has a viscosity between 0.1 and 5 Pa.Math.s measured according to Test A at 20° C., preferentially between 0.5 and 3 Pa.Math.s.

17. A dry, pre-mixed sugar-coated composition comprising a mixture of at least one sweetening agent and at least one chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch, with said starch not having undergone chemical modifications, said composition comprising less than 1% by weight of gum arabic relative to the total weight, preferably said composition being free of gum arabic, wherein the composition comprises: between 80 and 99.90% by weight of said sweetening agent relative to the total mass of solids of the composition, preferentially between 90 and 99.90%, most preferentially between 95 and 99% and between 0, 1 and 20% by weight of said starch relative to the total mass of solids of the composition, preferentially between 0.1 and 10%, most preferentially between 1 and 5%.

18. The composition according to claim 17, wherein the chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch is a native starch, preferably said pregelatinized native starch is selected from chemically unmodified pregelatinized pea starch, chemically unmodified pregelatinized corn starch or chemically unmodified waxy corn starch.

19. The composition according to claim 17, wherein the sweetening agent is a polyol, preferably the polyol is selected from sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, isomalt, erythritol and lactitol or a mixture thereof, preferably maltitol or xylitol.

20. The composition according to claim 17, wherein the average size d50 of the powder ranges from 10 to 1,000 μm, for example, between 100 and 800 μm.

Description

EXAMPLES

Example 1—Manufacture of Sugar-Coated Chewing Gums

[0288] Preparation of Maltitol-Based Sugar-Coating Syrups (for Sugar-Coating in an 8 kg Turbine)

[0289] Preparation of the Binder Solutions

[0290] Solution of Gum Arabic:

[0291] To prepare the gum arabic-based sugar-coating solution, a 40% solution of solids of gum arabic is produced by dispersing with high-speed stirring the gum arabic in water at room temperature and leaving it to stand for 12 hours in order to defoam the solution. This protocol prevents the gum arabic from degrading and staining.

[0292] Solution of the Other Binders:

[0293] To prepare the sugar-coating solution based on a binder other than gum arabic, a 20% solution of solids of binder is produced by placing the binder in water (except for pectin where the solution is 4% of solids). The solution is heated to the temperature indicated in Table 1 so as to dissolve the binder in the solution.

[0294] Preparation of the Polyol Solutions from Powdered Polyols

[0295] Maltitol Solutions

[0296] A maltitol solution is prepared by solubilizing a defined amount of maltitol powder P200 in order to obtain, after mixing with the aforementioned binder solutions, 70% of solids in the sugar-coating solution. The maltitol solution is maintained at 70° C.

[0297] Xylitol Solutions

[0298] A xylitol solution is prepared by solubilizing a defined amount of xylitol powder in order to obtain, after mixing with the aforementioned binder solutions, 75% of solids in the sugar-coating solution. The xylitol solution is maintained at 70° C.

[0299] Preparation of the Sugar-Coating Syrups

[0300] To prepare the sugar-coating syrups, the solutions are mixed so as to obtain the desired amount of binder. The amounts of binder relative to the total solids of the sugar-coating solution are indicated in Table A. With respect to the test with Lycasin HBC, the non-crystallizable maltitol syrup is added instead of the binder.

[0301] Maltitol-based sugar-coating syrups exhibit 70% of solids and those based on xylitol exhibit 75% of solids in the sugar-coating solution.

[0302] The sugar-coating syrups are mixed and maintained at 70° C. before use.

[0303] Viscosity

[0304] The viscosity properties of the various sugar-coating solutions (CP for comparative purposes and I for the invention) measured according to test A are listed in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Binder amount T Binder (% DM(Dry Matter)/Sugar- ° C. binder Sugar-coating viscosity (Pa .Math. s) Binder type coating solution total DM) solution 80° C. 70° C. 60° C. 50° C. 40° C. 30° C. 20° C. Gum arabic CP  5% 20 0.052 0.073 0.115 0.195 0.356 0.705 1.522 CLEARGUM TA CP  5% 60 0.02 0.028 0.042 0.066 0.112 0.202 0.384 90 CLEARGUM CP  5% 60 0.021 10.03 0.045 0.071 0.12 0.218 0.416 CO03 LYCOAT RS 780 CP  5% 50 0.042 0.058 0.089 0.145 0.254 0.48 0.96 KLEPTOSE CP  5% 20 0.025 0.036 0.056 0.094 0.167 0.324 0.693 LINECAPS Lycasin HBC CP 10% 20 0.018 0.026 0.04 0.065 0.112 0.209 0.41 Genu Pectin Pan CP  1% 20 0.1 0.14 0.22 0.35 0.6 0.88 1.38 Ticapan 311 CP  4% 80 0.038 0.057 0.088 0.146 0.257 0.478 0.919 Pregeflo C100 I  4% 95 0.418 0.505 0.634 0.83 1.15 1.75 2.99

[0305] Manufacture of Sugar-Coated Chewing Gum

[0306] Conventionally, sugar-coated chewing gums are manufactured by placing 8 kg of chewing gum centers in a Frogerais type manual copper sugar-coating turbine with a capacity of approximately 30 kg of centers. The turbine speed is approximately 18 revolutions per minute.

[0307] In the first sequence of the sugar-coating method, P35 maltitol powder is placed in the sugar-coating turbine. Throughout the method, the sugar-coating solution is applied on the centers and the sugar-coating conditions are listed in Tables 2 to 10 below according to the type of binder.

[0308] Gum Arabic

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of fillers 5 3 3 4 2 3 2 2 7 1 1 Amount of syrup per filler (ml) 80 100 120 140 140 140 120 100 80 20 10 % DM syrup 70% 68% 64% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1.5 2 0.5 2 2 0.5 1.5/2 2 1.5 Amount of P35 per filler (g) 75 / / / / / / / / / / Amount of flavor per filler (g) / / / / 9.5 / / 9.5 / / / Flavor or filler rest time (min) 1 / / / 1.5 / / 1.5 / / / Drying time (min) 3.5/4.5 3.5/4 2.5/3.5 3 3 2.5 12.5 2 2 1 0 Air temperature (° C.) 20 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 % sugar-coating 11.1 / 17.1 20.8 / / 25.9 / 29.5 29.2 / / 29.2

CLEARGUM TA 90

[0309]

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of fillers 5 3 5 4 2 4 2 4 6 2 2 1 Amount of syrup per filler (ml) 80 100 120 140 140 140 100 90 80 50 20 10 % DM syrup 70% 68% 65% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 0.5 2 0.5 1.5 1.5 5 2 1.5 Amount of P35 per filler (g) 75 / / / / / / / / / / / Amount of flavor per filler (g) / / / / 9.5 / 9.5 / / / / / Flavor or filler rest time (min) 1 / / / 1.5 / 1.5 / / / / / Drying time (min) 4.5/6 6/5/4 3/2.5 3 3/2.5 3/2.5 3 1.5/2 2 1 1 0 Air temperature (° C.) 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 % sugar-coating 8.7 10.7 15.6 20.2 21.3 25.2 25.3 / 29.2 / / / 29.2

[0310] CLEARGUM 0003

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of fillers 5 3 5 4 2 5 2 2 3 4 2 1 1 Amount of syrup per filler (ml) 80 100 120 140 140 140 120 100 90 80 25 20 10 % DM syrup 70% 68% 64% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 0.5 2 2 0.5 3/2.5 2 2.5 2 2 Amount of P35 per filler (g) 75 / / / / / / / / / / / / Amount of flavor per filler (g) / / / / 9.5 / / 9.5 / / / / / Flavor or filler rest time (min) 1 / / / 1.5 / / 1.5 / / / / / Drying time (min) 5/6 6/7 3.5 3.5 4 3 3 2 3/4 3/4 1 1 0 Air temperature (° C.) 20 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 % sugar-coating 9.2 11.1 / 19.5 / 24.3 24.4 / / 29.5 / / / 29.5

[0311] LYCOAT RS 780

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of fillers 5 3 5 4 2 6 1 2 3 5 2 1 1 Amount of syrup per filler (ml) 80 100 120 140 140 140 120 100 90 80 25 20 10 % DM syrup 70% 67% 64% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1.5 1.5/2 0.5 2.25 2.75 0.5 2.5 2 2.5 2.5 1.5 Amount of P35 per filler (g) 75 / / / / / / / / / / / / Amount of flavor per filler (g) / / / / 9.5 / / 9.5 / / / / / Flavor or filler rest time (min) 1 / / / 1.5 / / 1.5 / / / / / Drying time (min) 5/6 6/6/4 3/2.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 4 3 2.5 3/2 1 1 0 Air temperature (° C.) 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 % sugar-coating 7.2 10.7 / 19.2 / 26.1 / 27.1 / 29.4 / / / 29.4

[0312] KLEPTOSE LINECAPS

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of 5 3 5 4 2 5 2 4 3 2 1 1 fillers Amount of 80 100 120 140 140 140 100 80 90 25 20 10 syrup per filler (ml) % DM syrup 70% 67% 65% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1.25 1.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 1.5 1.5 2.5 2 2 Amount of P35 75 / / / / / / / / / / / per filler (g) Amount of / / / / 9.5 / 9.5 / / / / / flavor per filler (g) Flavor or filler 1 / / / 1 / 1.5 / / / / / rest time (min) Drying time 4.5/6 6/5 3 3 3 2.5 3 1.5 1.5 1 1 0 (min) Air temperature 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 (° C.) % sugar-coating 9.5 12.0 15.9 19.4 20.6 25.6 26.9 / 29.8 / / / 30.4

[0313] Genu Pectin Pan

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of 5 3 5 4 2 4 2 5 7 2 1 1 fillers Amount of 80 100 120 140 140 150 100 90 80 25 20 10 syrup per filler (ml) % DM syrup 70% Rest time 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 0.5 2.5 0.5 2/2.5 1.5 3.5/3 2.5 1.5 (min) Amount of 75 / / / / / / / / / / / P35 per filler (g) Amount of flavor per / / / / 9.5 / 9.5 / / / / / filler (g) Flavor or 1 / / / 1.5 / 1.5 / / / / / filler rest time (min) Drying time 5 5 3 3.5 3.5 2.5/3 4/3.5 2/3 3.5 1 1 0 (min) Air 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 temperature (° C.) % sugar- 9.2 10.6 15.6 19.4 21.1 24.4 25.0 / 29.3 / / / 29.3 coating

[0314] Lycasin HBC

TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of 5 5 5 5 2 4 2 7 2 1 1 fillers Amount of 80 100 120 140 130 140 120 80 25 20 10 syrup per filler (ml) % DM syrup 70% 66% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1 1 0.5 1.5 0.5 1.5/1 3.5/3 2.5 2 Amount of P35 75 / / / / / / / / / / per filler (g) Amount of / / / / 9.5 / 9.5 / / / / flavor per filler (g) Flavor or filler 1 / / / 1.5 / 1.5 / / / / rest time (min) Drying time 5 6/2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5/2 2 2.5 1.5/2 1 1 0 (min) Air temperature 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 (° C.) % sugar- 8.6 12.7 14.9 21.5 22.2 25.5 27.5 29.8 / / / 30.5 coating

[0315] Ticapan 311

TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of 5 3 5 5 2 4 2 2 7 2 1 1 fillers Amount of 80 100 120 140 140 140 120 100 80 25 20 10 syrup per filler (ml) % DM syrup 70% 68% 65% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 0.5 2 1.5 0.5 1.75 3 2.5 1.5 Amount of P35 75 / / / / / / / / / / / per filler (g) Amount of flavor per filler / / / / 9.5 / / 9.5 / / / / (g) Flavor or filler 1 / / / 1 / / 1.5 / / / / rest time (min) Drying time 5/3 4 4/2.5 3 3 2.5 3.5 3/2.5 1.75 1 1 0 (min) Air temperature 20 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 (° C.) % sugar- 9.1 / 15.9 19.8 / 25.2 26.1 / 29.9 / / / 29.9 coating

[0316] Pregeflo C100

TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 10 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of 5 3 5 6 2 4 2 5 7 1 2 1 fillers Amount of 80 100 120 140 140 160 100 90 80 20 10 syrup per filler (ml) % DM syrup 70% 66% 63% Rest time (min) 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 0.5 2.5 0.5 2.5/2 1.5 3 2.5 2 Amount of P35 75 / / / / / / / / / / / per filler (g) Amount of / / / / 9.5 / 9.5 / / / / / flavor per filler (g) Flavor or filler 1 / / / 3 / 2 / / / / / rest time (min) Drying time 5/6.5 15/3 3/3.5 4/5 3 3 2.5 2.5/4 4/5 1 1 0 (min) Air temperature 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 20 20 20 20 20 (° C.) % sugar- 7.6 9.9 13.9 20.7 21.2 24.9 25.6 27.5 29.3 / / / 29.3 coating

[0317] The sugar-coated chewing gums are recovered and analyzed according to the experimental methods described above.

[0318] The chewing gum properties of hardness, crunchiness and whiteness are listed in Table 11 below.

TABLE-US-00011 TABLE 11 Crunchiness Hardness (number Whiteness Color (N) of peaks) index uniformity CLEARGUM TA 90 9.2 15 52.3 − LYCASIN HBC 8.8 10 71.9 + CLEARGUM CO03 8.1 21 66.9 −− KLEPTOSE 7.8 18 65.0 0 LINECAPS LAB4118 GENU PECTIN 7.1 16 69.3 + PAN TICAPAN 311 7.3 26 71.3 + LYCOAT RS 780 7.0 26 71.5 0 GUM ARABIC 10.6 28 48.7 + PREGEFLO C100 11.3 34 74.2 +

[0319] Chewing gums with a coating that includes chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch (PREGEFLO C100) exhibit the best results in terms of hardness, crunchiness, whiteness index and color uniformity.

[0320] Furthermore, quite surprisingly, it has been found that the whiteness index of the hard crystalline coating of chewing gums based on the chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch according to the invention is equivalent to that of the hard crystalline coating of chewing gums based on gum arabic and on titanium dioxide, which coating for its part has a whiteness index of 74.3. It is well known that titanium dioxide is intensively used in the coatings of sugar-coated products in order to make said coating white and, at the same time, to conceal visual defects originating from other constituents, such as gum arabic.

Example 2—Manufacture of Sugar-Coated Chewing Gums from Pre-Mixtures

[0321] Preparation of the Polyol and Pregelatinized Starch Pre-Mixtures

[0322] To prepare the pre-mixtures, or “pre-mixed compositions”, a mixer is used to dry and cold mix the P200 maltitol powder with the pregelatinized starch in the proportions indicated in the above Table.

[0323] Preparation of the Sugar-Coating Syrups

[0324] Except for the sugar-coating solution using gum arabic, which is manufactured as in example 1, the previously described pre-mixtures are used to prepare the sugar-coating solutions. Indeed, for gum arabic, which degrades, then preferably pre-mixing is not carried out so as to avoid degrading the gum arabic and the solution of gum arabic is added at the last moment at 70° C.

[0325] The sugar-coating solution comprising the unmodified pregelatinized starches is prepared by solubilizing the pre-mixtures in water at 85° C. and by maintaining the temperature.

[0326] The sugar-coating solutions have 70% of solids and are maintained at 70° C. before use.

[0327] The viscosity properties of the various sugar-coating solutions are listed in Table 12 below.

TABLE-US-00012 TABLE 12 Binder amount (% DM(Dry Matter)/Sugar- coating solution Sugar-coating solution viscosity (Pa .Math. s) Reference Binder type total DM) 80° C. 70° C. 60° C. 50° C. 40° C. 30° C. 20° C. Gum arabic comparative 5% 0.052 0.073 0.115 0.195 0.356 0.705 1.522 Pregeflo Invention 4% 0.23 0.27 0.34 0.45 0.62 0.92 1.46 C100 Pregeflo invention 3% 0.04 0.043 0.056 0.08 0.13 0.22 0.41 L100 G Pregeflo M invention 3% 0.083 0.107 0.144 0.2 0.3 0.47 0.8

[0328] Manufacture of the Sugar-Coated Chewing Gums

[0329] The chewing gums are prepared in a similar manner to that described in example 1, that is, the protocol established for the unmodified pregelatinized pea and corn starches remains similar to that used for waxy corn.

[0330] The sugar-coated chewing gums are recovered and analyzed according to the experimental methods described above.

[0331] The chewing gum properties of hardness, crunchiness and whiteness are listed in Table 13 below.

TABLE-US-00013 TABLE 13 Crunchiness Hardness (number Whiteness Color (N) of peaks) index uniformity Gum arabic 10.6 28 48.7 + Pregeflo C100 11.3 34 74.2 + Pregeflo L100 G 11.3 50 76.1 ++ Pregeflo M 11.2 47 74.5 ++

[0332] As in the case of chewing gums, which when manufactured do not involve a sugar-coating syrup prepared from a pre-mixed composition, the chewing gums based on unmodified pregelatinized starch (PREGEFLO C100, PREGEFLO L100 G, PREGEFLO M) exhibit the best results in terms of hardness, crunchiness, whiteness index and color uniformity.

Example 3—Manufacture of Sugar-Coated Chewing Gums from Pre-Mixtures on the Pilot Scale

[0333] Preparation of the sugar-coating syrups

[0334] Maltitol-based sugar-coating syrups are manufactured in a similar manner to that of example 2.

[0335] Xylitol-based sugar-coating solutions are manufactured in a similar manner to that of example 2, except for the following differences: [0336] with regard to the test with the pregelatinized unmodified corn starch, pre-mixing of xylitol and pregelatinized starch is carried out in a similar manner to example 2, with the powder xylitol replacing the maltitol powder [0337] the dry matters of the xylitol-based sugar-coating solutions exhibit a solids content of 75%, instead of 70% for those based on maltitol.

[0338] The sugar-coating solutions are mixed and maintained at 75° C. before use.

[0339] Manufacture of the Sugar-Coated Chewing Gums

[0340] 50 kg of chewing gum centers is placed in a DRIAM DRIACOATER 1200 type automatic turbine. The sugar-coating solutions are applied to the centers according to the conditions shown in Tables 14 and 15 below. For xylitol sugar-coating, xylitol is not added in powder form during the method.

[0341] Maltitol Sugar-Coating

TABLE-US-00014 TABLE 14 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of 5 5 5 4 2 3 1 2 3 9 3 2 fillers Amount of 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 1 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.2 0.1 syrup per filler (ml) % DM syrup 70 68 65 Rest time 0.5 1 1.5 1.5 0.5 2 2 0.5 3.5 5 4/5 4 (min) Amount of 0.4 / / / / / / / / / / / P35 per filler (g) Amount of / / / / 100 / / 100 / / / / flavor per filler (g) Flavor or filler 1 / / / 1/1.5 / / 1.5/2 / / / / rest time (min) Drying time 4/2.5 3.5 3.5 4/3.5 3.2 3.2 4 2.2/1.5 1.5 1/1.5 0.6 0.3/0 (min) Air 25 28 28 30 30 32 28 25 25 temperature (° C.) Speed (rpm) 11 11 11 9 9 9 9 10  9 % sugar- 7.2 11.3 16.8 20.2 22.7 25.7 33.0 / / / / 34.0 coating

[0342] Xylitol Sugar-Coating

TABLE-US-00015 TABLE 15 Sequence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Polishing Number of fillers 5 5 4 5 8 2 3 4 2 4 2 2 1 Amount of syrup per filler (ml) 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.1 % DM syrup 69 Rest time (min) 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.4 3.5 3.5 Amount of flavor per filler (g) / / / / / 100 / / 100 / / / / Flavor or filler rest time (min) / / / / / 0.5 / / 1 / / / / Drying time (min) 2/1.5 2 2/1.5 1.7 1.7 2 1.5 1.5 2 1.2 1.5 0.5 0 Air temperature (° C.) 22 22 22 22 22 24 24 22 22 Speed (rpm) 10 10 10 10 11 10 10 10 10 10 % sugar-coating 2.0 6.2 11.1 20.9 22.2 26.6 27.6 / 30.3 / / 30.7

[0343] Table 16 below lists the results obtained on the pilot scale:

TABLE-US-00016 TABLE 16 Sugar- Binder amount coating (% DM(Dry solution Matter)/Sugar- Crunchiness viscosity coating solution Hardness (number of Whiteness Color Polyol Binder Test type (20° C.) total DM) (N) peaks) index uniformity Maltitol Gum comparative 1.522  5% 10.1 51.4 + arabic Maltitol Pregeflo C100 Invention 1.46  4% 15.8 32 83.5 + Xylitol Pregeflo C100 invention 1.3 14% 10.6 43 50.8 +

[0344] Impact Resistance

[0345] The resistance of the hard crystalline coating of chewing gums obtained by sugar-coating from a syrup based on maltitol and another binder, (70% by weight of solids relative to the total weight of the syrup) was measured.

[0346] This resistance results in the percentage of broken corners listed in Table 17.

TABLE-US-00017 TABLE 17 Broken Corners (%) GUM ARABIC- 5% 12.5% PREGEFLOO C100 - 4% 12.5% TicaPan 311 - 5% 18.0% Genu Pectin Pan - 1% 32.0%

[0347] The resistance of the hard crystalline coating of chewing gums based on the chemically unmodified pregelatinized starch according to the invention is equivalent to that of the hard crystalline coating of chewing gums based on gum arabic. The coatings based on TicaPan 311 and Genu Pectin Pan are more brittle.

[0348] The invention is not limited to examples 1 to 3 described above, which are provided solely by way of example, but it encompasses all the variants that a person skilled in the art could contemplate within the scope of the sought after protection.

Example 4—Influence of the Amounts of Pregelatinized Starch on the Properties of the Sugar-Coated Products that are Obtained

[0349] The protocol used in this test is similar to that of example 1: it differs in terms of the amount of PREGEFLO C100 (0%, 1% or 2% instead of 4% by dry weight of the sugar-coating solution).

[0350] The chewing gums thus obtained are blind tasted by three people and are scored from 1 to 10 for the crunchiness, the duration of the crunchiness and the noise in the mouth when the chewing gum is chewed. The hardness measured by the texturometer and the whiteness index are also measured.

[0351] Table 18 below lists the averages that are obtained:

TABLE-US-00018 TABLE 18 Crunchi- White- Hard- Crunchi- ness Noise in ness ness Binder ness duration mouth index (N) No binder 4 1 1 81.2 11.2 1% Pregeflo C100 7 5 5 74.7 15.2 2% Pregeflo C100 6 4 4 77.2 15.8

[0352] It has been found that the chewing gums with a sugar-coated layer that is free of pregelatinized starch have a surface that is sticky and more fragile than those of chewing gums comprising pregelatinized starch. The low crunchiness of this chewing gum disappears immediately when chewing.

[0353] The chewing gums comprising 1% of pregelatinized starch in the sugar-coating solution exhibit crunchiness similar to those comprising 2%.

[0354] The whiteness of the chewing gums is improved when the sugar-coating solution comprises more pregelatinized starch.