Frozen confection

Abstract

Disclosed is a frozen confection comprising freezing point depressants in an amount of from 25 to 35% by weight of the frozen confection, wherein the number average molecular weight <M>.sub.n of the freezing point depressants is from 200 to 250 g mol.sup.−1, and wherein the freezing point depressants comprise erythritol in an amount of from 0.25 to 5 7% by weight of the frozen confection.

Claims

1. A frozen confection comprising freezing point depressants in an amount of from 25 to 35% by weight of the frozen confection, wherein the number average molecular weight of the freezing point depressants is from 200 to 250 g mol.sup.−1, and wherein the freezing point depressants comprise erythritol in an amount of from 0.25 to 7% by weight of the frozen confection wherein the total amount of arabitol, glycerol, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, lactitol, and maltitol in the frozen confection is less than 1.5% by weight of the frozen confection.

2. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frozen confection is aerated and wherein the frozen aerated confection has an overrun of from 70 to 135%.

3. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 2 wherein the frozen confection is aerated and wherein the frozen aerated confection has an overrun of from 100 to 135%.

4. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the amount of freezing point depressants is from 26 to 32% by weight of the frozen confection.

5. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the number average molecular weight of the freezing point depressants is from 205 to 230 g mol.sup.−1.

6. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the amount of erythritol is from 0.5 to 6% by weight of the frozen confection.

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

8. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 7 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.

9. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the freezing point depressants comprise lactose in an amount of at least 5% by weight of the freezing point depressants.

10. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frozen confection comprises less than 0.5% ethanol by weight of the frozen confection.

11. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frozen confection comprises fat in an amount of from 1 to 15% by weight of the frozen confection.

12. The frozen confection as claimed in claim 1 wherein the frozen confection comprises protein in an amount of from 0.5 to 8% by weight of the frozen confection.

13. 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.

14. The frozen product as claimed in claim 13 wherein the movable wall is a bag.

15. The frozen product as claimed in claim 14 wherein the container is a bag-in-bottle.

16. The frozen product according to claim 1 wherein a ratio (R) of (x) yield stress at −22° C. to (y) the yield stress at −16° C. is 2 or below.

17. The frozen product according to claim 1 not having an ice level of 45% or above at −18° C.

18. The frozen product according to claim 17 having an ice level of from 35 to 42% at −18° C.

19. The frozen product according to claim 1 comprising from 0 to 0.2 wt % glycerol.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(1) The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following Examples.

Example 1

(2) Ice creams were formulated with varying ice contents (as calculated at −18° C.) and erythritol amounts as shown in Table 1 (amounts in % w/w).

(3) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 A B C 1 2 3 Coconut oil 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 8.00 Skimmed milk, powder 4.15 4.15 4.15 4.15 4.15 4.15 Whey protein, concentrate (30%) 2.73 2.73 2.73 2.73 2.73 2.73 Low Fructose Corn Syrup (63 DE) 6.00 5.00 10.00 7.80 14.50 9.80 Dextrose monohydrate 12.40 11.62 15.00 14.26 9.30 14.88 Sucrose 4.60 4.60 2.00 2.40 2.00 1.70 Erythritol 0.00 2.00 0.00 1.40 5.00 1.40 Locust Bean Gum 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 Kappa Carrageenan 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 Monodiglyceride 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 Flavour 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.28 Colour 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 Water to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100 to 100

(4) The properties of the formulations are shown in Table 2.

(5) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 A B C 1 2 3 Ice Content (% w/w) 47 45 42 42 35 40 Freezing Point 24.3 24.9 27.2 26.6 30.6 28.1 Depressants (% w/w) <M>.sub.n (g mol.sup.−1) 235 220 227 217 212 217 Erythritol (% w/w) 0 2.0 0 1.4 5.0 1.4 Energy (kcal/100 g) 184 178 195 187 189 193

(6) 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.).

(7) The mixes were extruded directly into aluminium rheology cups and bag-in-bottle containers. The cups and containers were then hardened to −25° C. for storage.

Example 2

(8) This example describes measurement of the rheology of the ice cream samples prepared in Example 1 as a function of temperature.

(9) Preceding the rheological measurements, the samples in the rheology cups were equilibrated overnight in a portable freezer set at the temperature of interest.

(10) All measurements were performed on an Anton Paar MCR 501 rheometer, which was connected to a double circulating bath for temperature control. The rheometer consisted of a temperature controlled sample holder and a hood to cover the sample. Cold air was blown onto the sample, via the hood, to prevent condensation and frost formation. A vane 10-4V-8.8/116 geometry was used, which is a 4-blade vane with a diameter of 8.8 mm, a height of 10 mm and a shaft length of 116 mm.

(11) Before insertion of the sample, the vane was lowered to the measurement position to equilibrate the vane, sample holder and hood to the test temperature—either −14, −16, −18, −20, or −22° C. The measurement position was set at 10 mm. After equilibration a rheology cup containing the sample was inserted into the sample holder and the hood was lowered until it touched the base. The wall of the rheology cup was serrated to prevent wall slip. The vane was then further lowered into the measurement position at a very slow speed of 100 μm per second to not damage the structure of the sample too much.

(12) Before the measurement commenced, the sample was equilibrated for 20 minutes to allow for internal structure recovery and final equilibration to the test temperature. An oscillatory amplitude sweep test was performed on all samples, controlled by Rheoplus software. A strain range of 0.001% to 100% was imposed with 10 points per decade on a log scale at a frequency of 10 Hz. The measurement point duration was fixed at 20 s. All measurements were performed in triplicate with a new sample being used for every measurement.

(13) The yield stress was obtained from the data, as this is an indicator for the flowability of the ice cream. The yield stress was determined by finding the highest value of the elastic stress before the cross-over point between the elastic stress and the viscous stress. Elastic Stress is calculated by multiplying the storage (elastic) modulus by the strain and viscous Stress is calculated by multiplying the loss (viscous) modulus by the strain. Table 3 shows the mean yield stress for each sample as a function of temperature (values in brackets are the standard error). Also given is the ratio (R) of yield stress at −22° C. to the yield stress at −16° C. for each sample.

(14) The ratio (R) gives an indication of the temperature-dependence of the flowability of the samples over the temperature range typical of domestic and commercial storage freezers (−16 to −22° C.). The higher the value, the more variable the flowability. It can be seen from the data in Table 3 that for the samples containing erythritol (Samples B, 1, 2 and 3) the yield stress varied by a factor of 2 or less over the temperature range −16 to −22° C. On the other hand, for the samples without erythritol (Samples A and C) the yield stress varied by well over a factor of 2 over the same temperature range. Sample C has the same ice content (at −18° C.) as Sample 1 but lacks erythritol and shows a greater temperature dependence of yield stress than Sample 1.

(15) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Yield Stress (Pa) Sample −14° C. −16° C. −18° C. −20° C. −22° C. R A 4543 (32) 5481 (198) 6115 (402) 8112 (227) 13615 (804)  2.5 B 3643 (59) 4637 (119) 5290 (21) 6068 (296) 8778 (319) 1.9 C 2941 (12) 4067 (220) 4820 (112) 5842 (291) 9183 (295) 2.3 1 2445 (49) 3342 (7) 4289 (78) 5146 (59) 6657 (175) 2.0 2 1733 (34) 2489 (41) 3336 (32) 4326 (64) 5094 (46)  2.0 3 2701 (253) 3764 (333) 4865 (266) 6446 (337) 7600 (346) 2.0

Example 3

(16) This example describes measurement of how easily some of the samples of Example 1 can be dispensed.

(17) Bag-in-bottle containers of four of the samples from Example 1 were tempered at −19° C. and then dispensed using an apparatus as described in WO 2013/124193 A. Each container contained around 2 kg of ice cream. The flow rate of ice cream was determined by measuring the mass dispensed in 5 seconds. The results are shown in Table 4.

(18) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Ice Content Erythritol Mass flow rate Sample (% w/w) Content (% w/w) (g per 5 s) A 47 0 0.0 B 45 2.0 0.0 C 42 0 71.4 1 42 1.4 240.0

(19) Neither sample A nor B could be dispensed at this temperature. Both of these samples have freezing point depressant levels that give ice contents of 45% and above (at −18° C.). At an ice content of 42%, both the sample with (Sample 1) and without (Sample C) erythritol could be dispensed but the Sample containing erythritol had the most acceptable flow rate.