FROZEN CONFECTION

Abstract

Disclosed is a frozen confection comprising freezing point depressants in an amount of from 20 to 40% by weight of the frozen confection, wherein the number average molecular weight of the freezing point depressants is less than 230 g mol.sup.−1. The frozen confection also comprises lactic acid ester of mono and/or diglyceride.

Claims

1. A frozen confection comprising: freezing point depressants in an amount of from 20 to 40% by weight of the frozen confection, wherein the number average molecular weight <M>.sub.n of the freezing point depressants is less than 230 g mol.sup.−1; and lactic acid ester of mono and/or diglyceride.

2. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the amount of the lactic acid ester of mono and/or diglyceride is from 0.05% to 2% by weight of the frozen confection.

3. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frozen confection is aerated.

4. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 3 wherein the frozen aerated confection has an overrun of from 50 to 135%.

5. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the amount of freezing point depressants is from 25 to 35% by weight of the frozen confection.

6. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 5 wherein the amount of freezing point depressants is from 26 to 33% by weight of the frozen confection.

7. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the number average molecular weight <M>.sub.n of the freezing point depressants is from 200 to 230 g mol.sup.−1.

8. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 7 wherein the number average molecular weight <M>.sub.n of the freezing point depressants is from 205 to 220 g mol.sup.−1.

9. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the freezing point depressants comprise erythritol.

10. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 9 wherein the frozen confection comprises erythritol in an amount of from 0.25 to 7% by weight of the frozen confection.

11. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the freezing point depressants comprise at least 90% by weight of the freezing point depressants of mono, di and oligosaccharides.

12. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 11 wherein the freezing point depressants comprise at least 92% by weight of the freezing point depressants of mono, di and oligosaccharides.

13. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 12 wherein the total amount of mono, di and oligosaccharides and erythritol in the freezing point depressants is at least 98% by weight of the freezing point depressants, preferably 99 to 100%.

14. A frozen product comprising a container comprising a product compartment containing the frozen confection as claimed in claim 1, wherein the product compartment comprises a product outlet and a moveable wall through which a dispensing force can be transmitted to urge the frozen confection through the product outlet.

15. The frozen product as claimed in claim 14 wherein the movable wall is at least part of a bag or flexible pouch.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0070] The present invention will now be described with reference to the figures, wherein:

[0071] FIG. 1a shows a front view of an embodiment of a frozen product of the invention.

[0072] FIG. 1b shows a side view of the frozen product of FIG. 1a.

[0073] FIG. 1c shows a bottom view of the frozen product of FIG. 1a.

[0074] FIG. 2 shows the frozen product of FIG. 1 being used to dispense a portion of frozen confection into a cone.

[0075] FIG. 3 shows a front view of another embodiment of a frozen product of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0076] FIGS. 1a to 1c show a frozen product (1) according to an embodiment of the invention. The frozen product (1) comprises a flexible pouch (2) which envelopes the frozen confection.

[0077] The pouch comprises a wall (4) formed from a sheet of a multilayer polymer laminate film, wherein following formation of a gusset (7), opposing front and back faces (11a, 11b) have been heat-sealed together at side edges (9a, 9b) and a top edge (3) of the wall (4). The pouch extends from a base end (6) in a longitudinal direction to a top end (5). On the underside of the base end (6) is the gusset (7) which forms a base on which the pouch (2) is self-standing on a flat surface. As best seen in FIG. 1b, owing to the presence of the gusset (7), the pouch (2) is thickest at the base end (6) and has a thickness that tapers in the longitudinal direction.

[0078] At one corner of the top end (5) a product outlet (8) in the form of a spout is sealingly engaged with the wall (4), for example through heat sealing or adhesive. Although not shown, the product outlet (8) is preferably closable by a removable cap.

[0079] FIG. 2 shows the pouch (2) when being used to dispense a portion of frozen confection (40) into a receptacle (50) such as a wafer cone. The specific shape of the pouch is designed to encourage a user to grip and squeeze the base end (6) with a first hand (60a) whilst supporting the top end (5) of the pouch (2) with a second hand (60b) with the nozzle (8) directed towards the receptacle (50). This ensures that the dispensing force consistently urges the frozen confection within the pouch towards the spout (8) and not to other parts of the pouch (2).

[0080] FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the frozen product (20) of the invention. The pouch (22) is similar to the pouch (2) shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and has a spout (28) and a wall (24) extending in a longitudinal direction from a gusseted base end (26) to a top end (25) and sealed at top (23) and side (29a, 29b) edges. The pouch (22) shown in FIG. 3 differs from that of FIGS. 1 and 2 in that each of the side edges (29a, 29b) comprises an indented portion (30a, 30b) approximately mid-way between the top (25) and bottom (26) ends. The presence of the indented portions (30a, 30b) make gripping of the pouch (22) by the side edges (29a, 29b) for dispensing awkward for a user and so further encourages a user to handle the pouch (20) by the base (26) and top (25) ends during dispensing.

[0081] The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following Examples.

Example 1

[0082] Five ice creams were formulated with varying emulsifier systems as shown in Table 1 (amounts in % w/w).

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 1 2 3 4 5 Coconut oil 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 Skimmed milk, powder 6.90 6.90 6.90 6.90 6.90 Low Fructose Corn 12.09  12.09  12.09  12.09  12.09  Syrup (63 DE) Dextrose monohydrate 13.00  13.00  13.00  13.00  13.00  Erythritol 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 Polysaccharide 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 Stabilizers Monodiglyceride.sup.1 0.40 −/− −/− −/− −/− ACETEM (Acetic acid −/− 0.40 −/− −/− −/− ester of mono- diglyceride) .sup.2 CITREM (Citric acid −/− −/− 0.40 −/− −/− ester of mono- diglyceride).sup.3 LACTEM (Lactic acid −/− −/− −/− 0.25 0.40 ester of mono- diglyceride).sup.4 Flavour 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 Colour 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Water to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 .sup.1DIMODAN ® UJ supplied by Danisco. .sup.2 GRINSTEAD ® ACETEM 70-00 P MB supplied by Danisco. .sup.3GRINDSTED ® CITREM supplied by Danisco. .sup.4GRINSTEAD ® LACTEM P 22 MB supplied by Danisco.

[0083] All of the formulations employed the same amounts and types of freezing point depressants and had a total amount of freezing point depressants of 30% w/w with <M>.sub.n of 213 g mol.sup.−1.

[0084] The ice creams were prepared by pasteurizing and homogenizing mixes prepared according to the above formulations. The mixes were aged at 4° C. overnight before freezing and aerating in a scraped surface heat exchanger (standard ice cream freezer). The air input to the freezer was controlled to give a target overrun of 100% (actual overrun varied between 92 and 110%). Freezing was controlled to give a target extrusion temperature of −7° C. (actual extrusion temperature varied between −6 and −9° C.).

[0085] The mixes were extruded directly into pouches with the shape shown in FIG. 3. The pouch wall material was a laminate film comprising polyethylene terephthalate, oriented polyamide and polyethylene layers but without an aluminium layer. The product outlet was a spout with an internal diameter of 22 mm. The capacity of each pouch was 400 ml. An amount of 230 g of ice cream was filled into each pouch through the spout and then a closure cap screwed in place. The pouches were then hardened in a blast freezer and then transferred to a domestic freezer (−18° C.) for several days before testing.

[0086] Samples of the pouches were then removed from the freezer and subject to a dispensing force test and an overrun test. The dispensing force was measured by squeezing each pouch between the plates of an Instron® universal testing machine. The overrun was determined by dispensing a set mass of ice cream, hardening the dispensed ice cream by cooling in a dry ice environment and then measuring the volume of ice cream by the amount of water displaced when the hardened sample was submerged in an iced water bath.

[0087] The results are shown in Table 2.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Dispensing OR of Dispensed Formulation Emulsifier System Force (N) Ice Cream (%) 1 0.40% Monodiglyceride 250 93 2 0.40% ACETEM 310 97 3 0.40% CITREM 360 92 4 0.25% LACTEM 310 Not Measured 5 0.40% LACTEM 280 96

[0088] All five formulations were found to give ice creams that could easily be extruded by hand from the pouch (dispensing force less than 600 N) and showed no significant overrun loss.

[0089] Samples of each of the ice creams were subjected to temperature abuse in order to simulate the thermal regime encountered in a cold chain. This involved storing pouches in a temperature-controlled cabinet for 14 days wherein during each 24 hours the temperature of the cabinet varied as follows: −20° C. for 11.5 hours, and then +10° C. for 0.5 hours; and then −10° C. for 11.5 hours; and then +10° C. for 0.5 hours. The pouches were then transferred to a domestic freezer (−18° C.) for several days before testing.

[0090] The temperature-abused samples were then subjected to the same overrun test as previously described and the results are shown in Table 3.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 OR of Dispensed Formulation Emulsifier System Ice Cream (%) 1 0.40% Monodiglyceride 47 2 0.40% ACETEM 58 3 0.40% CITREM 44 4 0.25% LACTEM Not Measured 5 0.40% LACTEM 63

[0091] All samples showed loss of overrun on dispensing following the temperature abuse. The samples formulated with ACETEM or LACTEM showed the best resistance to structural deterioration on temperature abuse as evidenced by retention of higher amounts of air on dispensing.

[0092] Sensory analysis of ice cream dispensed from the temperature-abused pouches containing formulations 2 or 5 showed that the formulation with LACTEM (formulation 5) resulted in dispensed ice cream with a better texture both in terms of eating quality (more body and less icy) and shape retention (better definition of the dispensed “flutes”).