Food product with filling with high amount of live lactic cultures

Abstract

A food product and method for producing is provided. The food product comprising a biscuit part and a filling part, the filling part including a water-based filling and an anhydrous filling with live lactic cultures. The water-based filling and the anhydrous filling are distinct. The anhydrous filling has a lactic ferment cell count per gram of the anhydrous filling of at least 10.sup.5 cfu/g, preferably 10.sup.6 cfu/g, more preferably 10.sup.7 cfu/g, the food product presenting a decay rate of the lactic cultures of at most 0.25 log.sub.10 per month.

Claims

1. A method for producing a food product comprising a biscuit part and a filling part, the filling part including a water-based filling and an anhydrous filling with live lactic cultures, wherein the water-based filling and the anhydrous filling are distinct, and wherein the anhydrous filling has a lactic culture cell count per gram of the anhydrous filling of at least 10.sup.5 cfu/g, the food product presenting a decay rate of the lactic cultures of at most 0.25 log.sub.10 cfu/g of anhydrous filling per month, wherein the method comprises the following steps: (a) providing a first biscuit forming at least a portion of the biscuit part, presenting a water activity value lower than 0.15; (b) depositing a water-based filling onto the first biscuit presenting a water activity value lower than 0.45; (d) depositing an anhydrous filling with live culture onto the first biscuit or onto the first filling at a temperature of between 37 C. and 42 C.; wherein the water-based filling and the anhydrous filling are separately deposited on the biscuit part and at different temperatures, the deposition temperature of the water-based filling being higher with the temperature of the water-based filling being at least 45 C. before depositing, and wherein the method further comprises a cooling step (c) between steps (b) and (d) until the first filling cools down to 47 C. or lower before the anhydrous filling is deposited.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises forming the first biscuit out of a dough, baking the first biscuit and cooling the first biscuit down to 35 C. or lower before the water-based filling is deposited.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising depositing a second biscuit forming another portion of the biscuit part on top of the filling part.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second biscuit is deposited at a temperature of 32 C. or lower.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step for cooling the food product down to 23 C. or lower before packaging.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the food product has an overall water activity of less than 0.22.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the anhydrous filling comprises yoghurt.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the water-based filling comprises fruit.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the water-based filling is a jam or contains fresh and/or preserved fruit.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the water-based filling has a water activity value lower than 0.37.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the biscuit part has a water activity value lower than 0.07.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a slowly-digestible-starch-over-total-available-starch ratio of the food product by weight is at least 31:100.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the food product is a sandwich biscuit or a single biscuit with filling lying on one surface thereof.

14. A method for producing a food product comprising a biscuit part and a filling part, the filling part including a water-based filling and an anhydrous filling with live lactic cultures, wherein the water-based filling and the anhydrous filling are distinct, and wherein the anhydrous filling has a lactic culture cell count per gram of the anhydrous filling of at least 10.sup.5 cfu/g, the food product presenting a decay rate of the lactic cultures of at most 0.25 log.sub.10 cfu/g of anhydrous filling per month, wherein the method comprises the following steps: (a) providing a first biscuit forming at least a portion of the biscuit part, presenting a water activity value lower than 0.15; (b) depositing a water-based filling onto the first biscuit presenting a water activity value lower than 0.37; (d) depositing an anhydrous filling with live culture onto the first biscuit or onto the first filling at a temperature of between 37 C. and 42 C., the anhydrous filling having a water activity of less than 0.30; wherein the water-based filling and the anhydrous filling are separately deposited on the biscuit part and at different temperatures, the deposition temperature of the water-based filling being higher and at least 45 C. before depositing, wherein the method further comprises a cooling step (c) between steps (b) and (d) until the first filling cools down to 47 C. or lower before the anhydrous filling is deposited, and wherein the food product has an overall water activity of less than 0.22.

Description

FIGURES

(1) The present disclosure will be described in relation to the following non-limiting figures, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the different steps of one embodiment of the method for producing a food product as described here above.

(3) FIG. 2 schematically shows one embodiment of a food product 1 as described above in a sandwich biscuit form comprising a biscuit part and a filling part. The biscuit part comprises two biscuits 21, 22 between which lies the filling part. The filling part comprises two fillings: a water-based filling 31 and an anhydrous filling 32.

EXAMPLES

(4) The present disclosure will now be described in relation to the following non-limiting examples.

(5) Cell Count Measurement

(6) 5 g anhydrous filling containing lactic cultures is scooped out of the food product and dispersed into 45 g trypton salt diluent at 37 C. The dispersion is homogenised for 2 minutes with a Stomacher bag then kept under mild stirring during 30 minutes. After 30 minutes of mild stirring the dispersion is again homogenised for 2 minutes with a Stomacher bag.

(7) The counting of lactic culture cells is then carried out according to the official standard method for enumerating lactic bacteria (ISO 7889, Yoghurt: Enumeration of characteristic micro-organisms. A colony-count technique at 37 C.). The method is summed up hereafter.

(8) The homogenised dispersion is further successively diluted to obtained several decimal dilutions of the test sample. Each decimal dilution is inoculated into 2 culture media in Petri dishes: a) an acidified MRS medium, followed by anaerobic incubation at 371 C. for 72 hours for counting Lactobacillus delbrueckii, subsp. bulgaricus; and b) an M17 medium, followed by aerobic incubation at 371 C. for 48 hours for counting Streptococcus thermophilus.

(9) The Petri dishes for which the number of colonies is between 15 and 300 are selected for counting. The colonies are counted and the number of micro-organisms per gram of sample is calculated from the counted number of colonies and the dilution to which the selected Petri dishes correspond.

(10) Viscosity Measurement of the Jam Filling

(11) The rheological behaviour of the water-based and anhydrous fillings was measured using a high performance rheometer MCR300 (Anton Paar Physica) interfaced with a PC. Viscosity was measured using coaxial cylinders geometry (TEZ 150PC and CC27) at different temperatures and at a shear rate of 2 s.sup.1.

(12) Viscoelasticity Measurement

(13) Viscoelasticity measurements were achieved using the same rheometer MCR300 but equipped with a plate-plate geometry (TEK 150PC and a MP25 measuring plate). Small strain (0.01%) oscillatory measurements were performed at a constant frequency of 1 Hz, from which it was possible to determine the elastic modulus G (Pa). G reflects the solid contribution of a viscoelastic material and sharply increases when a three-dimensional network is formed, in given time-temperature conditions.

Example 1

(14) A healthy sandwich biscuit is obtained by assembling two biscuits with a yoghurt filling and a jam filling. For a sandwich biscuit of 25.3 g, the weights of the different components are 18.5 g for the biscuit part, 3.4 g for the yoghurt filling and 3.4 g for the jam filling.

(15) The different components are produced as follows:

(16) Biscuit

(17) The biscuit is produced as described in European Patent application n. 11290279.6, Healthy layered cookie, of the same Applicant with the ingredients of table 1.

(18) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 biscuit Ingredients Quantity (wt. %) Flour blend 47.9 Oat flakes 14.1 Sugar blend 15.7 Vegetable fat 10.2 Others (baking powders, 12.1 salt, etc.) TOTAL 100.0
Jam Filling

(19) The jam filling is produced by concentration from the different ingredients of table 2. At the end of the production, the obtained jam filling is thick, with a measured viscosity of 222 Pa.Math.s at 20 C.

(20) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 jam filling Ingredients Quantity (wt. %) Sugars 58.5 Moisturising agents 30 Fat 5 Fruit 37 Acidity regulator 1.5 Others (texturing agents, 1 flavours, etc.) Water removal 33 TOTAL 100.0
Yoghurt Filling

(21) The yoghurt filling is produced with the ingredients of table 3. Fat is first melted and incorporated in the mixer at a temperature of about 50-55 C. Then, all powders except yoghurt powder are dispersed under high shear in the melted fat. When added to the melted fat, the powders are at room temperature, so that their incorporation into the melted fat drops the temperature down to between 38 C. and 45 C.

(22) The resulting mixture is then further mixed during 5 to 10 minutes at high speed to obtain a homogeneous mixture with a relatively fluid consistency. Yoghurt powder is then added to this mixture under shear and the whole is mixed for 2 to 5 minutes resulting in a yoghurt filling with a viscosity of about 14 Pa.Math.s. The yoghurt filling is then transferred from the mixer into a double jacketed buffer tank kept at 411 C. with mild stirring.

(23) TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 yoghurt filling Ingredients Quantity (wt. %) Fat 27.5 Sugars 36.0 Starch 20.0 Yoghurt powder 11.0 Sweet whey powder 5.0 Others (texturing agents, 0.5 flavours, etc.) TOTAL 100.0
Assembling

(24) After baking, biscuits are cooled on a transfer band down to a temperature of 30 to 35 C. The thick jam filling is extruded with a conventional plateau pump into a double jacketed buffer tank where it is heated to a temperature of 50 to 60 C., preferably 53 to 57 C. The conventional plateau pump is kept between 25 C. and 30 C. A band of jam filling is deposited onto a first biscuit through a Sollich depositing system. The assembly of first biscuit and jam filling is cooled down to a temperature of 321 C. for the biscuit and 401 C. for the jam filling.

(25) A band of yoghurt filling at 372 C. is deposited on either side of the jam filling, and in contact therewith, forming with this latter the filling part. A second biscuit at 302 C. is deposited onto the top of the filling part, this second biscuit and the first biscuit forming the biscuit part.

(26) The obtained sandwich biscuit is conveyed into a cooling tunnel. At the exit of the cooling tunnel, the sandwich biscuit is at a temperature of 212 C. and is immediately packaged into a sachet of aluminium foil, the sachet is then sealed.

(27) The measured water activity values for the different components are: 0.060.02 for the biscuit; 0.350.02 for the anhydrous filling; and 0.360.02 for the jam filling when they are used during the assembling. The water activity value for the overall food product is 0.150.02.

(28) Storage

(29) The sandwich biscuit is stored in its sealed sachet at a temperature of 15 to 25 C., preferably 18 to 22 C. for 7 months. The water activity and moisture content inside the sachet is therefore governed by the water activity of each individual component of the sandwich biscuit and their relative weight.

(30) Viscosity Measurement

(31) The apparent viscosity at shear rate of 2 s.sup.1 varies significantly with temperature for the water-based filling (see Table 4). Viscosity remained manageable at high temperature but increased dramatically upon cooling. This illustrates the need to deposit the water-based filling hot, although such a high temperature may be detrimental to the live cultures contained in the anhydrous filling.

(32) TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Viscosity measurement for the water-based filling Temperature Viscosity 55 C. 37 Pa .Math. s 45 C. 54 Pa .Math. s 30 C. 117 Pa .Math. s 20 C. 222 Pa .Math. s

(33) For the anhydrous filling, the viscosity showed little variation with temperature between 38 C. and 55 C. (in this temperature interval fat contained in the anhydrous filling is fully meltedsee Table 5).

(34) TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Viscosity measurement for the anhydrous filling Temperature Viscosity 55 C. 10.7 Pa .Math. s 50 C. 11.4 Pa .Math. s 45 C. 12.1 Pa .Math. s 42 C. 13.4 Pa .Math. s 38 C. 14.6 Pa .Math. s

(35) At 30 C., however, viscosity increased sharply during measurement and a stable viscosity value could not be reached.

(36) This behaviour is typically observed when viscosity is measured during the formation of the fat network that slows down then stops the flow. The filling is no longer a pumpable liquid but instead becomes a hard solid.

(37) Viscoelasticity Measurement

(38) In order to evaluate the temperature of setting of this fat network, it is best to use small-strain oscillatory measurements, in which the very low strain applied (0.01%) does not prevent or hinder network formation.

(39) Anhydrous filling was deposited in the liquid state at 55 C., temperature at which fat is fully melted. Upon cooling the anhydrous filling at a pace of 1 C./min, the setting temperature detected by a sharp increase in G was found to be about 24 C.

(40) However, upon cooling at a pace of 0.1 C./min, setting temperature increased to 35 C. This results indicate that fat crystallisation may start at temperatures as high as 35 C. and possibly higher. This explains the need to keep the filling at temperatures of about 40 C. in the double jacketed buffer tank in order to keep a pumpable filling with a constant viscosity.

(41) It is known by the person skilled in the art that depositing a constant weight and shape of filling onto a biscuit requires steady processing conditions; especially a stable pressure in the depositing system, which itself requires a stable viscosity value. Keeping the anhydrous filling at 40 C. up to about 3 hours, however, presents a risk of losing a significant amount of live cultures during the processing stage.

(42) Evolution of the Cell Count During Storage

(43) Several samples of sandwich were stored in their sachet at 25 C. for up to 9 months. At regular time intervals, one sachet containing 2 sandwiches was opened, the anhydrous filling was removed from the sandwich and the cell count was measured. The results in log.sub.10 cfu/g of yoghurt filling are shown in table 6 below.

(44) TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Cell count evolution Storage time (months) Cell count 0 8.8 0.7 8.6 1.4 8.7 4.9 8.1 9.8 7.9

(45) The cell count decreases slightly with storage time at 25 C. In order to quantify the kinetics of live cultures decay during the storage, the decay rate can be calculated as follows (equation 1):

(46) $\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{Decay}\mathrm{rate}=\frac{{\log }_{10}\left(C_0\right)-{\log }_{10}\left(C_f\right)}{\mathrm{Storage}\mathrm{time}},& \left(\mathrm{Eq}.1\right)\end{array}$
where log.sub.10(C.sub.0) is the initial log.sub.10 cell count and log.sub.10(C.sub.f) the final log.sub.10 cell count. The decay rate is 0.10 log.sub.10 (cfu/g) per month.

(47) After almost 10 months of shelf-life at 25 C., the lye culture cell count of the yoghurt filling of all sandwich biscuits is still above the threshold specified by the Codex Alimentarius. This is related to the low value of decay rate, resulting in a high survival of the live cultures during storage.

Comparative Example (Part A)

(48) Three different sandwich biscuits were produced for this comparative test: a first sandwich biscuit comprising only a yoghurt filling; a second sandwich biscuit comprising two bands of yoghurt filling and one band of jam filling therebetween; a third sandwich biscuit comprising two bands of jam filling and one band of yoghurt filling therebetween.

(49) The precise weight of biscuit and fillings is indicated in Table 7 for a sandwich of 25.3 g.

(50) TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Composition of the samples of Comparative Example Part A. Weight of yoghurt Weight of jam Weight of biscuit filling filling Sandwich 1 18.3 g 7.0 g 0 g Sandwich 2 18.3 g 2.3 g 4.7 g Sandwich 3 18.3 g 4.7 g 2.3 g

(51) Biscuit, yoghurt filling and jam filling ingredients are those mentioned above. Assembling was done analogously to the assembling described above. Only the number of bands and places thereof are different for the first and third sandwich biscuits.

(52) The sandwich biscuits were stored at 25 C.

(53) Only the yoghurt filling was sampled for the cell count enumeration. The results in log.sub.10 cfu/g of yoghurt filling are shown in table 8 below.

(54) TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Cell count (in log.sub.10 cfu/g) of Comparative Example Part A. Storage time (months) Sandwich 1 Sandwich 2 Sandwich 3 0 8.7 8.6 8.7 1.4 8.4 8.1 8.0 4.1 7.9 8.2 8.1 7 7.3 7.1 7.7 7 (duplicate) 7.3 7.3 7.7

(55) The cell count decreases with time during storage at 25 C.

(56) However, the decay is comparable for sandwich 1 (sandwich biscuit containing only the yoghurt filling) (0.20 log.sub.10 cfu/g per month) and for those containing both yoghurt and jam fillings (0.14 log.sub.10 cfu/g per month for sandwich 2 and 0.21 log.sub.10 cfu/g per month for sandwich 3).

(57) After 7 months of shelf-life at 25 C., the live culture cell count of the yoghurt filling of all sandwich biscuits is above the threshold specified by the Codex Alimentarius.

(58) The overall water activity of the food product was 0.120.02 for sandwich 1, 0.160.02 for sandwich 2, 0.140.02 for sandwich 3.

(59) The standard defined by the Codex Alimentarius requires that the minimal quantity of live cultures is 10.sup.7 cfu per gram of lactic portion in a fresh dairy product.

(60) Therefore, both sandwich biscuits that contain yoghurt and jam fillings in contact to each other fulfil this requirement.

Comparative Example (Part B)

(61) Comparative Example Part B relates to a sandwich biscuit, which differs from Part A in that: ratio of yoghurt filling:jam filling is (2:1); water activity value of the biscuit is 0.18 due to a shorter baking time; water activity value of the jam filling is 0.44 due to a lower water removal; the water activity value for the final sandwich biscuit is 0.27.

(62) Assembling and storage conditions are the same as in Example 1.

(63) Only the yoghurt filling was sampled for the cell count enumeration. The results in log.sub.10 cfu/g of yoghurt filling are shown in table 9 below.

(64) TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Cell count (in log.sub.10 cfu/g) of Comparative Example 2 Storage time (months) Cell count 0 8.7 1.4 8.1 4.1 7.6 7 6.5 7 (duplicate) 6.5

(65) Decay rate of the lactic cultures reaches 0.31 log.sub.10 cfu/g per month, thus much higher than the decay rate of Part A.

Comparative Example (Part C)

(66) Comparative Example Part C relates to a sandwich biscuit, which differs from Part A in that: water activity value of the biscuit is 0.18 due to a shorter baking time; water activity value of the jam filling is 0.53 due to a lower water removal; the water activity value for the final sandwich biscuit is 0.30.

(67) Assembling and storage conditions are the same as in Example 1.

(68) Only the yoghurt filling was sampled for the cell count enumeration. The results in log.sub.10 cfu/g of yoghurt filling are shown in table 10 below.

(69) TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 10 Cell count (in log.sub.10 cfu/g) of Comparative Example Part C. Storage time (months) Cell count 0 8.8 0.7 8.6 1.4 8.1 4.9 6.5 9.8 4.4

(70) Decay rate of the lactic cultures reaches 0.45 log.sub.10 cfu/g per month, thus much higher than the decay rate of Example 1 or part A.

(71) The foregoing detailed description has been provided by way of explanation and illustration, and is not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Many variations in the presently preferred embodiments illustrated herein will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, and remain within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.