INFANT FOOD ABLE TO BE CONSUMED BY HAND AND PREPARATION PROCESS

Abstract

A method for preparing an infant food consumable by hand comprises grinding at least one frozen plant base to form grains with a grain size of less than one millimeter, mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with a natural texturizing agent in a proportion between 2% and 30% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture, and oil and/or at least one aromatic compound in a proportion between 2% and 20% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture, dosing the mixture to prepare individual portions, cooking the individual portions thus prepared in moist heat, freezing the cooked individual portions, and packaging the frozen cooked individual portions.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A method for preparing an infant food consumable by hand, comprising: grinding at least one frozen plant base to form grains of the at least one frozen plant base having a grain size of less than one millimeter; mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with a natural texturizing agent in a proportion between 2% and 30% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture, and oil and/or at least one aromatic compound in a proportion between 2% and 20% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture; dosing the mixture to prepare individual portions; cooking the individual portions in moist heat; freezing the cooked individual portions; and packaging the frozen cooked individual portions.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: grinding a second frozen plant base to form grains of the second frozen plant base having a grain size greater than 1 mm; and adding the second plant base to the ground at least one frozen plant base.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the natural texturizing agent is selected from the group consisting of corn flour, potato flour, wheat flour, rice flour, manioc flour, corn starch, potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, and manioc starch.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with oil and/or at least one aromatic compound comprises mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with at least one aromatic compound selected from the group consisting of an herb, a dairy product, a vegetable broth, a meat broth, and a minced meat.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one aromatic compound comprises cheese.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one aromatic compound comprises fish.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein cooking the individual portions in moist heat comprises cooking the individual portions with saturated steam at a temperature between 85 C. and 100 C. for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the infant food is not fried and does not have a crust or a skin.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the natural texturizing agent is selected from the group consisting of corn flour, potato flour, wheat flour, rice flour, manioc flour, corn starch, potato starch, wheat starch, rice starch, and manioc starch.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with oil and/or at least one aromatic compound comprises mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with at least one aromatic compound selected from the group consisting of an herb, a dairy product, a vegetable broth, a meat broth, and a minced meat.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein cooking the individual portions in moist heat comprises cooking the individual portions with saturated steam at a temperature between 85 C. and 100 C. for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

22. The method of claim 11, wherein the infant food is not fried and does not have a crust or a skin.

23. A pliable infant food formed by a method, comprising: grinding at least one frozen plant base to form grains of the at least one frozen plant base having a grain size of less than one millimeter; mixing the ground at least one frozen plant base with a natural texturizing agent in a proportion between 2% and 30% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture, and oil and/or at least one aromatic compound in a proportion between 2% and 20% by weight based on the final mass of the mixture; dosing the mixture to prepare individual portions; cooking the individual portions in moist heat; freezing the cooked individual portions; and packaging the frozen cooked individual portions.

24. An infant food product comprising a fine plant base comprising grains having a grain size of less than 1 mm and another plant base comprising grains having a grain size of more than 1 mm.

25. The infant food of claim 24, wherein the another plant base comprises grains having a grain size between 1 mm and 10 mm.

26. The infant food of claim 24, further comprising a natural texturizing agent in a proportion between 2% and 30% by weight based on the final mass of the infant food product, and oil and/or at least one aromatic compound in a proportion between 2% and 20% by weight based on the final mass of the infant food product.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] FIG. 1 describes the steps in the method for preparing an infant food according to a first embodiment.

[0046] FIG. 2 describes the steps in the method for preparing an infant food according to a second embodiment.

[0047] FIG. 3 describes the steps in the method for preparing an infant food according to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

EXAMPLE 1

A Method for Preparing Infant Food

[0048] The method first comprises the preparation of two plant bases.

[0049] Preparation of the fine plant base: The raw materials used are frozen vegetables. The raw materials used to make up the fine base are weighed using a balance. Frozen vegetable raw materials are finely ground using a grinder. The grain size is less than 1 mm. Texturizing agents and fat are added to this fine base according to the composition described in Table 1.

[0050] In parallel with the preparation of this fine base, a second base is prepared. To do this, the frozen vegetable raw materials are weighed using a scale, mixed and then coarsely ground frozen using a grinder to produce pieces between 2 mm and 5 mm in size.

[0051] The fine base and the second base are then mixed. The mixture is then processed according to one of the three methods described below:

EXAMPLE 1a

Dosing and Cooking of Portions in Sealed Trays (FIG. 1)

[0052] The mixture previously obtained of fine base and second base is then dosed in trays. Trays include forms into which the mixture is poured. These forms are ingot-shaped molds, i.e., truncated pyramid-shaped molds with a lower rectangular base having a section of 50 mm to 70 mm long25 mm wide and an upper rectangular base having a section of 50 mm to 70 mm long 20 mm wide20 mm high. The trays containing the mixture are sealed under vacuum and then marked. The sealed trays are placed in a saturated steam oven at 90 C. for 30 minutes. Steam cooking allows a homogeneous cooking with a better thermal transfer coefficient and the sealing protects the mixture from excessive hydration by saturating with water vapor. After cooking, the trays are frozen and then packaged. The packaged products are palletized and stored at 18 C.

EXAMPLE 1b

Dosing and Cooking in Open Molds (FIG. 2)

[0053] The mixture previously obtained of the fine base and the second base is molded in open ingot-shaped molds, i.e., in the shape of a truncated pyramid with a rectangular base having a section 60 mm long25 mm wide and 20 mm high. The molds are in the form of 600 mm400 mm sheets and have 13 rows of 8 cells, each cell measuring 25 mm wide60 mm long20 mm deep, the cells being 10 mm apart. Then the open molds are placed in a saturated steam oven at 90 C. for 30 minutes. The molds are then dried and placed in the freezer. The portions are then removed from the molds and packaged. The packaged products are palletized and stored at 18 C.

EXAMPLE 1c:

Pushing the Mixture into Casings Under a Vacuum and Cooking in the Casing (FIG. 3)

[0054] The fine base and second base mixture previously obtained is pushed under vacuum into casings and then cooked under steam saturation conditions at 90 C. for 30 minutes. The casing has the advantage of being waterproof and resistant. In addition, the casing exerts a pressure on the mixture during cooking, which increases the density of the finished infant food. The casing containing the mixture is cooled after cooking. The product is then peeled and placed in IQF (Individual Quick Frozen) freezing. IQF freezing allows individual portions to be frozen without sticking together. The frozen product is then packaged. The packaged products are palletized and stored at 18 C.

[0055] Before being consumed by the baby, the food will be heated in the microwave oven for 3 to 4 minutes at low power. If the products are manufactured according to the method described in Example 1a, i.e., in a sealed tray, the tray can also be alternatively defrosted in a water bath. The ingots must reach a maximum temperature of 50 C., preferably between 35 C. and 50 C., even more preferably between 35 C. and 45 C. The food should not be overheated or the baby might burn his/her hand when grabbing it and burn his/her mouth, lips and tongue when eating it.

EXAMPLE 2

Infant Food with Green Vegetables and Cheese Base

[0056] In this example, the vegetable bases used are a green base and a second plant base, the mixture of orange pieces. The green base used includes green beans, peas and potatoes. This green base is the fine base. The second base is a mixture of pieces including carrots and spinaches. The carrots and spinaches in this second base are ground into small pieces of 2 mm to 5 mm.

[0057] The vegetables used to prepare the two bases are frozen vegetables using the IQF freezing method. Indeed, frozen vegetables are thus individualized, even in the frozen state, which facilitates the handling and grinding thereof. Vegetables frozen using other techniques have a tendency to agglomerate, which would require at least partial thawing of the vegetable block to grind it, which is a waste of time and energy. IQF frozen vegetables also limit the temperature increase during the step of grinding, which preserves the IQF frozen vegetable.

[0058] The composition of the infant food is detailed in Table 1. This is perfectly adapted to the baby's specific nutritional needs, in particular, by not adding any salt other than the one provided by cheese, preservatives or sugar.

[0059] The percentages in Table 1 are those of the ingredients in the mixture by weight before cooking.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Composition of an infant food. Raw materials % IQF organic green bean 29.00% IQF organic carrot 20.00% IQF organic ripened goat cheese 12.50% IQF Organic peas 12.40% IQF Organic potato 10.00% Organic potato starch 8.50% IQF Organic crushed spinaches 7.30% IQF Organic chives 3 mm 0.30%

[0060] Fat here is provided only by cheese. The food in this example does not include the addition of oil.

[0061] The aromatic compounds consist of cheese and chives.

[0062] The texturizing agent is potato starch. However, in this example, the green base potato also contributes to the intake of texturizing agent through the presence of starch. However, the intake of texturizing agent from the potatoes is minimal compared to potato starch.

[0063] The infant food is obtained according to the method described in Example 1. The portions are obtained by molding according to Example 1b.

[0064] The final infant food is in the form of an ingot, for example, a truncated pyramid with a lower rectangular base having a section 60 mm long25 mm wide, an upper rectangular base having a section 60 mm long20 mm wide, and 20 mm high. Five to six ingots, the amount to be consumed by the child at lunch or dinner time, are taken out of the freezer, removed from the packaging, and placed in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes at low power so that the ingots reach a maximum temperature of 50 C., preferably between 35 C. and 50 C., even more preferably between 35 C. and 45 C. The food should not be overheated or the baby might burn his/her hand when grabbing it and burn his/her mouth, lips and tongue when eating it.

[0065] After adequate heating, the baby can eat each of the ingots by hand. The food keeps its shape in his/her hand but crushes when he/she puts it in his/her mouth, because of the movement of the lips, of the first teeth, and a pressure of the tongue on the palate. The result in the mouth is the forming of a cream with the presence of small melting pieces, easily swallowed by the baby and not sticky to the palate.

[0066] Food enables the baby to develop agility, grip, appreciation of various textures and new tastes.

EXAMPLE 3

Infant Food Based on Orange Vegetables

[0067] In this example, the vegetable bases used are an orange base and a second plant base, and the mixture of pieces. The orange base used includes carrots and 50% of the red peppers used in the recipe of the finished product. This orange base is the fine base. The mixture of pieces includes aubergines, 50% of the remaining red peppers, onions and potatoes. The vegetables of this second base are ground into small pieces of 2 mm to 5 mm.

[0068] The vegetables used to prepare the two bases are frozen vegetables using the IQF freezing method. Indeed, frozen vegetables are thus individualized, even in the frozen state, which facilitates the handling and grinding thereof. Vegetables frozen using other techniques have a tendency to agglomerate, which would require at least partial thawing of the vegetable block to grind it, which is a waste of time and energy. IQF frozen vegetables also limit the temperature increase during the step of grinding, which preserves the IQF frozen vegetable.

[0069] The composition of the infant food is detailed in Table 2. This is perfectly adapted to the baby's specific nutritional needs, in particular, by not adding any salt other than the one provided by cheese, preservatives or sugar.

[0070] The percentages in Table 2 are by weight of the mixture prior to cooking.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Composition of an infant food. Raw materials % IQF Organic carrot 44% IQF Organic aubergine 19.70% Organic potato starch 8.50% IQF Organic red pepper 15% IQF Organic onion 5% IQF Organic potato 5% Organic olive oil 2.50% IQF Organic chopped basil 0.30%

[0071] Fats here are provided only by olive oil. The aromatic compounds are made up of basil and olive oil. The texturizing agent is potato starch.

[0072] The infant food is obtained according to the method described in Example 1. The portions are obtained by molding according to Example 1b.

[0073] The final infant food is in the form of an ingot, for example, a truncated pyramid with a lower rectangular base having a section 60 mm long25 mm wide, an upper rectangular base having a section 60 mm long20 mm wide, and 20 mm high. Five to six ingots, the amount to be consumed by the child at lunch or dinner time, are taken out of the freezer, removed from the packaging, and placed in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes at low power so that the ingots reach a maximum temperature of 50 C., preferably between 35 C. and 50 C., even more preferably between 35 C. and 45 C. The food should not be overheated or the baby might burn his/her hand when grabbing it and burn his/her mouth, lips and tongue when eating it.

[0074] After adequate heating, the baby can eat each of the ingots by hand. The food keeps its shape in his/her hand but crushes when he/she puts it in his/her mouth, because of the movement of the lips, of the first teeth, and a pressure of the tongue on the palate. The result in the mouth is the forming of a cream with the presence of small melting pieces, easily swallowed by the baby and not sticky to the palate.

[0075] Food enables the baby to develop agility, grip, appreciation of various textures and new tastes.