TREE NUT POWDER FORMULATION

Abstract

A nut food product is provided that when mixed with baby food and given regularly to a baby will reduce the likelihood of the baby developing a food allergy to nuts. The nut food product is produced by taking various nuts and shelling them. The shelled nuts are then crushed in order to form a paste after which the nuts are defatted. Once defatted, the nuts are ground down in size and then blended together in order to form a powder.

Claims

1. A method of producing an infant or baby food product comprising: shelling a plurality of different tree nuts so that said plurality of different tree nuts are free from shell and skin; crushing the plurality of shelled nuts in order to produce a nut paste; defatting the nut paste by applying pressure to the nut paste without the introduction of water; roasting or heating the nut paste without any hydration at a temperature of less than 90 degrees C.; grinding or milling the defatted nut paste in order to produce a plurality of ground or milled nut particles of a size such that the ground or milled nut particles can pass through at least a 40 mesh screen; and blending together the ground nut particles in order to produce a nut blend or powder having substantially the same amount of nut protein from each of said different tree nuts.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more nuts are selected from the group consisting of almonds, walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts.

3. (canceled)

4. The method of claim 1, wherein roasting takes place for a time period of between 5 and 10 minutes.

5. (canceled)

6. The method of claim 1, wherein pressure is applied during the defatting step in an amount between about 1000 and 6000 psig for a time period of between about 5 and 20 minutes.

7. (canceled)

8. (canceled)

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the defatted nut paste is ground or milled so that the resulting powder is of a size such that it can pass through at least a 200 mesh screen.

10. The food product produced by the method of claim 1.

11. (canceled)

12. (canceled)

13. A method for reducing the risk of a food allergy to tree nuts, the method comprising preparing a food product in accordance with the steps of claim 1 and feeding said food product to a baby or infant of an age of at least four months old.

14. The method of claim 13, further including mixing the powdered food product into a food selected from the group consisting of breastmilk, formula and a pureed food prior to said feeding step.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said feeding step is carried out in serving sizes of approximately 5 grams of the powdered food product and at a frequency of 2-3 times per week.

16. (canceled)

17. The method of claim 14, wherein said preparing step includes defatting the nut paste by applying pressure in an amount between about 1000 and 6000 psig for a time period of between about 5 and 20 minutes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0026] The inventive process and product produced thereby begins by selecting various nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts, and having the nuts shelled so they are free from shell and skin. The shelled nuts are then crushed in order to form a paste. This is achieved by splitting or crushing the shell, either by hand or using machinery.

[0027] The next step in the inventive process is to defat the nuts. The nuts are defatted by uniformly applying pressure to the nuts in an amount between about a pressure of 1000 to 6000 psig (pounds per square inch gauge) in a conventional hydraulic press or a cage and for a time frame of between about 5 to 20 minutes. During the application of pressure, water should not be introduced. Preferably, at least 50% of the fat should be removed from the raw nut. Even more preferably, 80% of the fat should be removed.

[0028] The inventive process may then include roasting or heating the nuts during the process in order to enhance flavor. This step is not required in accordance with the inventive process. If the nuts are heated, this should be for a time period of between about 5 and 10 minutes. In order to preserve stability, heating should be carried out at a temperature of less than 90 degrees C. Significantly, if heating of the nuts is carried out, it is important not to hydrate prior to heating as this has been shown to denature the protein in certain nuts.

[0029] After defatting the nuts, the nuts are ground down in size. This is achieved by milling the nuts such that each nut can pass through at least a 40 mesh screen, preferably through at least a 200 mesh screen.

[0030] The ground nuts are then blended together in order to produce a nut blend or powder, with preferably a substantially even amount of the nuts by weight (almonds, walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts) being present in the resulting tree nut blend. No additives such as sugar, salt, desiccants or preservatives are added.

[0031] The nuts may also be blended together prior to milling.

[0032] Although the combination of almonds, walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts is preferred in the tree nut blend, other nuts such as cashew and pine nuts may be included or substituted as part of the inventive mixture.

[0033] In use, the tree nut blend is proportioned and fed to infants older than 4 months old. This is done by mixing the blend into breastmilk, formula, or developmentally-appropriate pureed foods. Suitable pureed foods include vegetables, fruits, yogurt or wheat cereal. The tree nut blend is preferably fed to infants in serving sizes of 5 grams at a frequency of 2-3 times per week so as to inhibit sensitization to tree nuts. As stated before, tree nuts include almond, walnut, hazelnut, cashew, pistachio, pine nuts, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts. The tree nut product of the invention is advantageous since a nut powder or blend is formed which is a combination of multiple highly allergenic nuts. This blend of nuts together can be used to inhibit IgE sensitization.

[0034] The tree nut product of the invention is also advantageous since a nut powder is formed with preferably even amounts by weight of the different nuts, and therefore the preparation has an even amount of nut protein. This is beneficial since tree nut allergies comprise 8 individual food allergies to the eight most common tree nuts, and it is desirable to inhibit sensitization to as many of the eight tree nuts as possible.

[0035] The invention is also advantageous since a nut powder preparation is formed which maintains the protein and nutrients of the raw nut ingredients. As a result, babies who consume the powder or blend will be exposed to the nut proteins, thereby inhibiting sensitization to a broad range of tree nuts. Babies who consume the powder will additionally consume fiber that is necessary to promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria.

[0036] The invention is advantageous in that the formed nut powder or blend has a significantly reduced fat and oil content which increases water solubility and water absorption characteristics. Enhanced water solubility allows the powder to blend into a wide range of baby-safe foods such as breastmilk and formula. More particularly, the inventive preparation has good water absorption and adhesion to water, with the ability to exhibit hydrogel-like (smooth) consistency when mixed with water.

[0037] Further, the inventive nut powder preparation is advantageous since adhesion of the individual granules to each other is minimized. This is because fat and oil are removed from the raw nut which, if present, help the particles to adhere to each other.

[0038] The inventive nut powder preparation is also advantageous as it can be safe to give to infants. This is because the reduced ability for nut particles to clump reduces the risk of a choking hazard.

[0039] The inventive nut powder preparation is also advantageous because every 5 g of powder will have 2 g of protein.

[0040] The scope of the invention will now be set forth in the following claims.