EP1575383B1

EP1575383B1 - A moist snuff composition comprising at least one thickening agent and a method for its manufacture

Info

Publication number: EP1575383B1
Application number: EP03781248A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jörgen LUNDIN; Fredrik Hodin; Jan Arnarp
Original assignee: Swedish Match North Europe AB
Current assignee: Swedish Match North Europe AB
Priority date: 2002-12-19
Filing date: 2003-12-19
Publication date: 2009-05-06
Anticipated expiration: 2023-12-19
Also published as: WO2004056218A1; EP1575383A1; SI1575383T1; ATE430493T1; DK1575383T3; AU2003288867A1; DE60327556D1

Abstract

The present invention provides according to a first aspect a moist snuff composition comprising at least one thickening agent. According to a second aspect of the invention a method for manufacturing a composition according to the first aspect is provided.

Description

This invention concerns the technical field of tobacco products, in particular a moist snuff tobacco composition comprising a thickening agent, a method for obtaining a said composition and a composition obtainable from said method.

Background

Moist snuff and other tobacco products presently available on the market are difficult to form. Their formability is very limited which is a drawback for consumers wishing to form a certain amount of tobacco product, preferably moist snuff, into a dainty and inviting piece of tobacco product. Also the water keeping characteristics of the tobacco products of today have drawbacks.
There is a tobacco composition disclosed in US 4545392 wherein tobacco is mixed with an in water insoluble gum base for enhancing the characteristics of said composition. It is also mentioned that you may add a water soluble gum to said gum base in order to enhance the stability thereof. It is also mentioned that said composition may be used in smoke less tobacco products such as chewing tobacco (in particular) and moist snuff. The use of a gum base as disclosed in said patent document may however decrease the release level of nicotine.
Thus it is desirable to be able to provide a method for obtaining an easily formable tobacco product, such a product with enhanced water keeping characteristics and also such a product with a high release of nicotine.

Summary of the invention

The present invention solves one or more of the above problems by providing according to a first aspect a moist snuff composition comprising at least one water-soluble thickening agent whereby it has an ability to be formed into cohesive strings or thin plates that can be rolled up on a reel depending on the amount of thickening agent wherein the thickening agent is Xanthan gum or a mixture comprising Xanthan gum. According to a second aspect of the invention a method for manufacturing a composition according to the first aspect is provided. Said method for obtaining a moist snuff composition comprises adding at least one water soluble thickening agent wherein the thickening agent is Xanthan gum or a mixture comprising Xanthan gum to a moist snuff composition, preferably snus, which comprises a tobacco raw material.

Detailed description of the invention

It is intended throughout the present description that the expression "tobacco raw material "or "tobacco" (used interchangeably in the present description) embrace any tobacco type available or mixtures thereof. Examples of tobacco types are: Rustica, Virginia, Burley, Oriental and Kentucky. Preferably the tobacco is tobacco in powder form, moist snuff or finely divided tobacco. Most preferred the tobacco is moist snuff produced essentially in accordance with GothiaTek^® (trademark owned by Swedish Match) standard. The smoke less tobacco composition (or smoke less tobacco product) according to the first aspect of the invention is preferably a chewing tobacco, nasal snuff or a moist snuff product, most preferred a moist snuff product. The smoke less tobacco composition (or smoke less tobacco product) according to the first aspect of the invention is especially preferred a snus or a moist snuff product manufactured in accordance with GothiaTek^® standard.
The thickening agent is selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum (E415) (or derivatives thereof), or mixtures comprising xanthan gum such as Thixogum S™ or Thixogum X™ Thixogum S™ and Thixogum X™ thickening agents are (trademark owned by Colloides Naturels, Inc) e.g. provided by Kemiflor AB. Further said thickening agents is water soluble.
Other thickening agents may also additionally be added such as alginates (E 400 to 405), carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) (E466), other types of cellulose (E460 till E465), pectins (E440), carrageenan (E407), Furcellaran, Tragacanth gum (E413), Karaya gum (E416), and Gellan gum (E418) or combinations (mixtures) thereof.
The thickening agent is preferably added in the form of an aqueous solution or dispersion giving 0.00001-20 % (weight) of thickening agent in the end product. The thickening agent is then treated before added to the tobacco as follows: The thickening agent is added, preferably by dusting, into an aqueous solution under heating and vigorous stirring, preferably when a vortex appears in the solution. The thickening agent may also be "dusted" without using a carrier, i.e. a liquid as set out above, into the tobacco. The tobacco is then treated so that a large surface area is available for the thickening agent dust to blend in. The desired characteristics of the end product may also be amplified by adding compounds comprising potassium and/or calcium ions.
Snus, i.e. one example of a moist snuff, produced in accordance with GothiaTek^® standard is manufactured using essentially the following method set out below:

The moist snuff is made from selected tobaccos, salts, humectants and flavour additives. The moist snuff is made from mainly air cured tobaccos. Tobacco may be purchased from North and
South America, Asia and also from a few countries in Africa and Europe. Tobacco samples are taken already in the farmers' barns and sent to laboratories for analysis. When making snus the main ingredients except for tobacco are normally water, salt (table salt; NaCl) and sodium carbonate. Flavour additives and humectants may also be used. However in the present invention one or more thickening agents are added to the tobacco composition, preferably a moist snuff composition. Salt is added mainly for its effect on taste but also has a preservative action which contributes to improved shelf life of the products. Sodium carbonate is used to give the products their characteristic flavour profile but also brings the pH value to the slightly alkaline side. Sodium carbonate will convert to baking soda immediately after it is added. Flavour additives in general are natural or artificial flavour compounds that comply with food regulations. Flavours are usually dissolved in alcohol when added. Most of the alcohol evaporates during production. Only trace quantities remain. Humectants may also be added to protect the products from drying out. Two types may be used: glycerol and propylene glycol. Both of them also have a preservative effect since they lower the water activity of the product, thus preventing micro organisms from growing.

The moist snuff is manufactured in three major steps, a) grinding (cutting) and b) processing (see also figure 1).

a) Grinding, sieving

The tobacco is broken up, dried and fed into a grinder. The ground tobacco is sieved into three particle size fractions, coarse, medium and fine. Pre-set quantities of the three fractions are fed into a mixer silo where the tobacco flour is mixed. After blending, the tobacco flour is fed into a storage silo, from which flour is automatically taken to the processing operation. Each type of tobacco mixture is kept in a separate silo.

b) Processing

Manufacturing of moist snuff is preferably done in a batch operation. The whole process may be computer controlled and can be run day and night, all week around. To start the process, tobacco flour is automatically weighed and fed into the process blender. Water and salt is added to the batch under stirring. The batch is then heated and kept heated up for a specified time, which varies with brands. Temperature and stirring is preferably controlled by a process computer program. This part of the process is traditionally named "sweating" but is more close to a pasteurisation process. After pasteurisation the moist snuff batch is cooled down and the rest of the ingredients are added. The thickening agent may be added, in accordance with the present invention, at any time during the above processing steps. The thickening agent(s) is (are) preferably added at the end of the processing. The thickening agent(s) is (are) further preferably added in the form of a solution as set out above. The power of the mixing and the time period for the mixing may be crucial for obtaining an optimal product. Some of the above mentioned water may be used to form an aqueous solution of the thickening agent before adding said agent to the tobacco during the above process. This may enhance the water keeping characteristics of the end product, preferably a moist snuff. The water-binding characteristics of the thickening agent(s) may also help to prohibit microbiological growth.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition wherein it is an essentially homogenous moist snuff composition and the thickening agent is present in a range of from 0.00001 to 20 % in the finished product.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition comprising one or more thickening agent(s) from 0.00001 to 20 % (weight/weight) and water from 30 to 65 % (weight/weight), preferably 0.1 to 3 % (weight/weight) thickening agent and 35 to 60 % (weight/weight) water. The amount of water may preferably be above approximately 36 %.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition comprising one or more thickening agent(s) comprising one or more thickening agent(s) from 1 to 3 % (weight/weight), preferably from 1 to 2 % (weight/weight). Said embodiment with from about 1 % up to about 3 % (weight/weight) of thickening agent is preferably used when presenting the moist snuff composition in the form of a plate, which may be thin, or stripes which may form a reel or coil, which optionally may be equipped with spacing paper intermediate the layers in the reel or coil.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition comprising one or more thickening agent(s) from about 0.1 to 1 % (weight/weight), preferably 0.1 to 0.6 % (weight/weight). Said embodiment with up to about 1 % of thickening agent may suitably be used when presenting the moist snuff composition in the form of an easily dispensable dough, e.g. in the form of a cylinder or cuboid.
According to the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition wherein the thickening agent is xanthan gum or a mixture comprising xanthan gum.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition wherein said mixture comprising xanthan gum comprises i) xanthan gum and a galactomannan, ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum or iii) xanthan gum and guar gum, preferably said mixture comprises ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition wherein said mixture comprising xanthan gum comprises iv) Acacia gum and xanthan gum; or Thixogum S™ or Thixogum X™.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition wherein the moist snuff comprises snus.
According to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method wherein the thickening agent is a mixture comprising i) xanthan gum and a galactomannan, or ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum or iii) xanthan gum and guar gum or iv) Acacia gum and xanthan gum or Thixogum S™ or Thixogum X™, preferably ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum.
According to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method comprising the following steps:

a) grinding or cutting and optionally sieving, of tobacco raw material,
b) processing of tobacco obtained in step a);
c) and optionally packing,

According to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method wherein step b) comprises the following steps:

i) adding water and NaCl to the tobacco flour under stirring to form a mixture;
ii) heating and keeping the mixture heated up, thus achieving a pasteurisation or "sweating" of the mixture;
iii) cooling the moist snuff mixture; and
iv) adding at least one thickening agent and optionally other ingredients such as other salts, humectants and flavour additives.

According to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method wherein the thickening agent is added in the form of an aqueous solution or dispersion, or is added in a solid form, giving 0.00001-20 % (weight) of thickening agent in the end product, preferably from 0.00001 to 3 % (weight/weight).
According to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method wherein the thickening agent is added to give from 1 to 3 % (weight/weight) of thickening agent in the end product, preferably from 1 to 2 % (weight/weight).
According to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method wherein the thickening agent is added to give from 0.1 to 1 % (weight/weight) of thickening agent in the end product, preferably from 0.1 to 0.6 % (weight/weight).
According to the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method wherein the thickening agent is xanthan gum or a mixture comprising xanthan gum, preferably a mixture comprising xanthan gum and a galactomannan, or ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum or iii) xanthan gum and guar gum or iv) Acacia gum and xanthan gum or Thixogum S™ or Thixogum X™, most preferred ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum.
According to a preferred embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition obtainable by the method according to the second aspect of the invention.
According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention and the second aspect of the present invention there is provided a moist snuff composition according to the present invention, preferably according to the embodiment wherein thickening agent has been added from about 1 to about 3 % (weight/weight), presented in the form of a plate, reel or coil, optionally equipped with spacing paper intermediate the layers in the reel or coil.
A container may further be used for containing said moist snuff composition according to the -first aspect of-the invention. Said container may e.g. be a can provided with a lid.
The moist snuff according to the present invention thus has a more coherent effect, thus keeping small particles together, and it is also more easily formable into a suitable dosage i.e. it is easy to form a pinch of snuff which looks inviting. The moist snuff composition is also less sticking to the fingers and has a good elasticity and cohesiveness. Trickling of tobacco particles from the upper lip during use is also avoided by using the moist snuff composition according to the invention. Further the composition according to the present invention take benefit from homogenously dissolved thickening agents in the water phase in comparison with the composition disclosed in US 4545392 . The composition according to the present invention, thus has unique rheological characteristics. It is further possible to dispense the composition according to the present invention from a container. Further the addition of thickening agents lowers the risk for growth of micro organisms.
Problems that the composition according to the present invention solves in comparison with US 4545392 are e.g.:

* It is not necessary that a heating step is comprised in the manufacturing process,
* the additives in the composition according to the present invention does not limit the nicotine release. This has been shown in one of the following examples. Addition of chewing gum base would most likely limit the nicotine release;
* in the composition according to the present invention it is possible to add water soluble thickening agents directly to the moist snuff or alternatively it may be dissolved in water before addition to the moist snuff, and
* when manufacturing the composition according to the present invention it is possible to chose if a thickening effect is desirable in order to make the material formable or if gelling effect is desirable.

The method according to the second aspect of the invention may further be used in other moist snuff manufacturing processes such as in the manufacturing process disclosed in US 4,528,993 .
Preferred features of each aspect of the invention are as for each of the other aspects mutatis mutandis.
The invention is further described in the following examples in conjunction with the appended figures, which do not limit the scope of the invention in any way. Embodiments of the present invention are described in more detail with the aid of examples of embodiments and figures, the only purpose of which is to illustrate the invention and are in no way intended to limit its extent.

Short description of the figures

Fig 1 shows the manufacturing process of moist snuff in accordance with GothiaTek^® standard. The thickening agent(s) may be added at any time of the processing step.
Fig 2 shows the tensile strength test results.
Fig 3 shows the sticking-together test results
Fig 4 shows the "laboratory mouth"
Fig 5 shows nicotine release measurement equipment
Fig 6 shows nicotine release measurement results.

Examples

Example 1

Moist snuff was manufactured in accordance with the GothiaTek® standard as set out above and two different thickening agents were added in two different batches of moist snuff during the processing step as set out above. The thickening agents were Thixogum S™ and Thixogum X™ provided by Kemiflor AB. The thickening agents were added during the processing steps ("pasteurisation") as set out above. Two different tobacco "doughs" were obtained. Both moist snuff products demonstrated good performance with regards to plasticity and unity. Both the plasticity and the unity characteristics were enhanced in comparison with "normal" moist snuff manufactured in accordance with the GothiaTek® standard. Good results were obtained using Thixogum S™ but also Thixogum X™ provided good results.

Example 2

Strength test of the moist snuff composition according to the invention

Method

Moist snuff was manufactured in accordance with the GothiaTek® standard as set out above and two different thickening agents were added in two different batches of moist snuff during the processing step as set out above.
The moist snuff was rolled out into a 3 mm thick plate and was cleaved into 15 mm broad strips. The strips were fastened in a tensile testing machine with the brand Hounsfield H1 KS in order to perform the tensile test on a 30 mm long strip correctly.

Testing method

As testing method: BS EN ISO 1924-2 was used. The apparatus pulls the sample until it breaks up and the highest tensile strength is registered, together with the elongation at break, tensile index and the TEA (tensile energy absorption). Extension is registered during the increase of the force.

Material

Only a few moist snuff currently on the market may be rolled out into 3 mm thickness and still stick together when lifted up. As reference material such a moist snuff, the most formable and elastic moist snuff (snus), currently found on the Swedish market, was selected. The two test materials consisted of snus with a total of 0.6 % thickening agent and a total of 2 % thickening agent respectively (equal parts of Xanthan and LBG (Locust Bean Gum) in both cases). As set out above the test materials were based upon commercially available snus wherein thickening agents had been added in accordance with the present invention. The thickening agents were here dusted into the snus at room temperature whereupon the composition was mixed.

Results

As can be seen in Figure 2 the stretch ability of the moist snuff, here snus, with thickening agent according to the present invention was significantly higher than the reference material, which was the most doughiest moist snuff currently found on the market. In the figure the following is indicated:

A consisted of a snus strip manufactured from a very doughy Swedish snus. Elongation 3.5 %
B consisted of a snus strip manufactured in accordance with the present invention with 0.6 % thickening agent. Elongation 7.3 %
C consisted of a snus strip manufactured in accordance with the present invention with 2 % thickening agent. Elongation 19.7 %
This C sample also had a considerably higher tensile strength which indicates the C compositions ability to be presented in the form of a strip on a spool, i.e. a reel.

Example 3

Demonstration of the materials together sticking characteristics

Method

40 g of snus was pressed out from a spray nozzle with an internal diameter of 29 mm and a hole diameter of 18 mm.

Material

Snus manufactured in accordance with the present invention with 0.6 % thickening agent (0.3 % xanthan and 0.3 % LBG) was tested (III). As references the predominant brand on the market (I) and the most formable/doughiest (II) snus currently found on the market were used.

Results

As can be seen in Figure 3 snus with 0.6 % thickening agent gives the most together-sticking snuff column. Further it is more doughy and springy than both the reference materials.

Example 4

Release of nicotine

In order to ensure that the additives in the present description do not interfere with the release/transport of nicotine, the release of nicotine was measured.

Nicotine release experiment

This experiment was done to measure the nicotine release (amount and speed) from the new product and show that the release is comparable with that from ordinary moist snuff, when used the same way. To compare different oral tobacco products an equipment, which imitates human oral snuffing and measures nicotine release on-line, has been developed.

Description of the measuring equipment

The product is placed in a synthetic mouth consisting of a 15 cm long tubing of regenerated Cellulose dialysis membrane (SPECTRUM, Spectra/Por®6, 1 000 MWCO), which is folded in two and a short measuring cylinder containing 2 ml of phosphate buffer (pH≈6.7). The product is placed between the folded membrane tubing, which is placed in the measuring cylinder. The synthetic mouth is shown in Figure 4. The mouth is connected to a peristaltic pump, recycling 100 ml of phosphate buffer inside the membrane tube to a beaker with the speed of 30 ml/min (Figure 4).
Connected to the same beaker is another pump system consisting of a liquid chromatography pump and a diode array detector. A water bath keeps the temperature in the system at about 37 °C. During analysis only small molecules as nicotine penetrate the membrane and are transported to the detector. The measuring cycle is 30 minutes. Absorbance is measured simultaneously at 244.4, 259.4 and 274.4 nm with 0.32 seconds interval. The nicotine absorbent curve is calculated as: A_nicotine = A₂₅₉.₄ (A_274.4+A_244.4)/2. The measuring equipment is shown in Figure 5.

Nicotine measurements

Two different products were analyzed - a moist snuff without thickening agents and the same type of snuff containing 0.6 % thickening agent. The samples consisted of 1 gram snuff formed into an oblong shape with a punching tool.
Figure 6 shows the results of the analyses. The curves are expressed as released nicotine in mg during a certain time period as can been seen in said figure (0 to 30 minutes).
The result of this experiment shows that the nicotine release from the snuff containing thickening agents according to the present invention is comparable to the nicotine release from the same type of snuff without thickening agents.
Various embodiments of the present invention have been described above but a person skilled in the art realizes further minor alterations, which would fall into the scope of the present invention. The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. For example, any of the above-noted methods can be combined with other known methods. Other aspects, advantages and modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

Claims

A moist snuff composition comprising at least one water soluble thickening agent characterised by its ability to be formed into cohesive strings or thin plates that can be rolled up on a reel depending on the amount of thickening agent wherein the thickening agent is xanthan gum or a mixture comprising xanthan gum.
A moist snuff composition according to claim 1 wherein it is an essentially homogenous moist snuff composition and the thickening agent is present in a range of from 0.00001 to 20 % in the finished product.
A moist snuff composition according to claim 1 comprising one or more thickening agent(s) from 0.00001 to 20 % (weight/weight) and water from 30 to 65 % (weight/weight), preferably 0.00001 to 3 % (weight/weight) thickening agent and 35 to 60 % (weight/weight) water.
A moist snuff composition according to claim 3 comprising one or more thickening agent(s) from 1 to 3 % (weight/weight), preferably from 1 to 2 % (weight/weight).
A moist snuff composition according to claim 3 comprising one or more thickening agent(s) from about 0.1 to 1 % (weight/weight), preferably 0.1 to 0.6 % (weight/weight).
A moist snuff composition according to claim 1 wherein said mixture comprising xanthan gum comprises i) xanthan gum and a galactomannan, ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum or iii) xanthan gum and guar gum, preferably said mixture comprises ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum.
A moist snuff composition according to claim 1 wherein said mixture comprising xanthan gum comprises iv) Acacia gum and xanthan gum.
A moist snuff composition according to any one of the preceding claims
wherein the moist snuff comprises snus.
A method for obtaining a moist snuff composition according to claim 1 comprising adding at least one water soluble thickening agent to a moist snuff composition, preferably snus, which comprises a tobacco raw material wherein the thickening agent is xanthan gum or a mixture comprising xanthan gum.
A method for obtaining a moist snuff composition according to claim 9 comprising the following steps:
a) grinding or cutting and optionally sieving, of tobacco raw material,

b) processing of tobacco obtained in step a);

c) and optionally packing,
wherein at least one thickening agent is added during the processing step b) wherein the thickening agent is xanthan gum or a mixture comprising xanthan gum.
A method according to claim 10 wherein step b) comprises the following steps:
i) adding water and NaCl to the tobacco flour under stirring to form a mixture;

ii) heating and keeping the mixture heated up, thus achieving a pasteurisation or "sweating" of the mixture;

iii) cooling the moist snuff mixture; and

iv) adding at least one thickening agent and optionally other ingredients such as other salts, humectants and flavour additives.
A method according to any one of claims 9 to 11 wherein the thickening agent is added in the form of an aqueous solution or dispersion, or is added in a solid form, giving 0.00001-20 % (weight) of thickening agent in the end product, preferably from 0.00001 to 3 % (weight/weight).
A method according to claim 12 wherein the thickening agent is added to give from 1 to 3 % (weight/weight) of thickening agent in the end product, preferably from 1 to 2 % (weight/weight).
A method according to claim 12 wherein the thickening agent is added to give from 0.1 to 1 % (weight/weight) of thickening agent in the end product, preferably from 0.1 to 0.6 % (weight/weight).
A method according to any one of claim 9 to 14 wherein the thickening agent is a mixture comprising
i) xanthan gum and a galactomannan, or ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum or

iii) xanthan gum and guar gum or iv) Acacia gum and xanthan gum, most preferred ii) xanthan gum and locust bean gum.
A moist snuff composition according to any one of claims 1 to 4 or 6 to 8 presented in the form of a plate, reel or coil, optionally equipped with spacing paper intermediate the layers in the reel or coil.