EP1902973A1

EP1902973A1 - Packaged nutritional product

Info

Publication number: EP1902973A1
Application number: EP06121206A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stéphane Hentzel; Maria Juniwik; Peter Müller; Peter Zahner
Original assignee: Nestec SA
Current assignee: Nestec SA
Priority date: 2006-09-25
Filing date: 2006-09-25
Publication date: 2008-03-26

Abstract

The present invention relates to a packaged product, comprising a predetermined quantity of a food nutritional product (1) in solid or semi-solid pieces, and further comprising a container (2) with a cup (3) permanently closed by a flexible elastic dispensing membrane (4), said dispensing membrane comprising a dispensing slit opening (5).

Description

The present invention relates to a packaged nutritional product, primarily intended for use by toddlers or small children.
Many food products in solid or semi-solid form, such as for example cereals for toddlers or small children are sold, most of them in bulk quantities delivered in big packages. Such packages typically include carton boxes with a flexible film. The parents then pour a random quantity of products in a plate or bowl.
However as an effort by the applicant to deliver true nutritional benefits to the consumer, it has become more and more important to monitor quantities of food delivered to toddlers and small children. Especially, it was recently found that nutritional habits during the youth period determines the nutritional habits of older children and adults. More than that, the applicant seeks to prevent obesity by teaching appropriate nutritional habits to toddlers and children, and more particularly it has become essential to teach them how to monitor the quantities of food they ingest during a meal. For the same purpose of teaching toddlers and small children to get good nutritional habits, it is known that the small ones must learn very early how to choose and eat the food themselves. It is however known by parents that toddlers and small children tend to be very messy with food when they learn how to eat by themselves, which might in some instances be a limit for encouraging their children to eat by themselves.
In that view, there is a need for a nutritional food product packaged in predetermined portions in a container that allows easy access to the food while avoiding spilling of the container contents if said container is knocked over by the child. There is furthermore a need that the nutritional product be not only packed in controlled and predetermined quantities, but it si also a necessity that the container cannot be refilled after one use, to prevent over feeding, and therefore obesity.
The present invention aims at providing a solution to the above needs in the form of a packaged product, comprising a predetermined quantity of a food nutritional product in solid or semi-solid pieces, and further comprising a container with a cup permanently closed by a flexible elastic dispensing membrane, said dispensing membrane comprising a dispensing slit opening.
Clearly, it is the responsibility of parents to monitor the amount of portions of packaged products they will give to their small ones during each meal, based on recommendations furnished by the food manufacturer, for example in the form of a nutritional compass printed on the container labels. At the same time, parents will be able to let their children eat themselves a predetermined portion of said nutritional product, without risks of messiness, and without being tempted to refill the container. In that view, as can be understood from the above description of the invention, the permanently sealed dispensing membrane eliminates the possibility to refill the cup. At the same time, the dispensing slit gives access to a small amount of content at a time, and prevents spillage in case the container falls accidentally.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the said slit opening is in the shape of a wave, with at least 2, preferably at least 3 curves, said slit having a length that is less than the width of the dispensing membrane.
Furthermore, said dispensing slit is preferably a precut slit, obtained by laser-precut of a portion of the dispensing membrane thickness. However mechanical pre-cutting could also be envisaged.
In one alternative embodiment of the invention, the container further comprises a secondary peelable membrane with gas and moisture barrier properties, that is removably sealed on the cup edges, above said dispensing membrane.
Even more preferably, the secondary membrane is positioned directly adjacent the dispensing membrane in a peelable manner, so that both the dispensing and secondary membranes form one single multi-layer membrane. In that case, the content of the container is protected from moisture or gas oxydation during storage. For opening the container, it is easy to peel-off the barrier membrane from the dispensing membrane - in the same way one peels off a sticking label from its paper support -, so as to give access to the dispensing slit.
Advantageously, the material for making the dispensing membrane can be a complex material comprising the following layers in order from outside to inside: PET, ink, PE, aluminium, heat seal lacquer.
For reaching the nutritional benefits while avoiding over feeding, each container preferably comprises less than 100 g, preferably less than 30g of said nutritional product.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the description of the presently preferred embodiments which are set out below with reference to the drawings in which:

Figures 1 to 3 are schematic perspective views of alternative embodiments of a packaged product according to the invention ;
Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the hand of a consumer accessing the container contents.

In all three embodiments described in detail herebelow, the packaged product according to the present invention comprises a nutritional product 1 in the form of solid crispy cereals or the like, elaborated with appropriate nutritional formulation, which are under the form of crisps or flakes. The product is packed in a container 2 comprising a plastic cup 3 made by thermoforming process, the cup 3 being made out of a food grade polypropylene (PP).
The cup 3 is closed at its top end by a dispensing membrane 4 that comprises a slit 5 having a wavy shape, thus defining flaps 6 which are disposed such that two consecutive flaps along the slit face each other, along the longitudinal axis of said slit 5.
The material used for the dispensing membrane 4 is appropriately chosen to be resilient enough to allow access of a consumer's fingers into the container 2, as illustrated in figure 4, while the flaps 5 of the dispensing slit get back to their initial position, i.e. approximately in the plane of the dispensing membrane 4, when the consumer withdraws his hand from the said dispensing slit 4.
Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a packaged product according to the present invention.
In this first embodiment, the packaged product comprises a cup 3 that is closed by double-membrane. In this case a peelable barrier membrane 7 is positioned directly on the top of the dispensing antispill membrane 4. On the drawing, the dispensing slit 5 is illustrated in dotted lines so as to show that it is not apparent to the consumer when the barrier layer 7 is still present on top of the dispensing layer 4.
In this way, the tamper-evidence and the gas and moisture barrier functions are those of the peelable membrane 7, and the antispill and dispensing functions are those of the dispensing membrane 4 disposed underneath.
The materials used for each of the two membranes are the following: a printed aluminium with heat seal lacquer for the barrier membrane, and a monolayer polypropylene for the antispill membrane.
The two membranes 4, 7 are sealed in the same sealing station on the manufacturing line. They are attached to each other with a seal lacquer that makes it possible to easily peel off the aluminium membrane. The cup only needs one sealing area on the top.
In a second embodiment of the present invention illustrated in figure 2, the container comprises only one membrane to close the cup, which is a dispensing membrane 4, having gas and moisture barrier properties, and said membrane 4 having a selective cutting for the dispensing slit 5.
The dispensing membrane comprises a precut dispensing slit 5 that is made in the thickness of the membrane, but not all the way through: one layer of the membrane which is a barrier layer is not precut and has to be cut manually by the consumer by applying a pressure with his fingers at first opening of the container.
The structure of the dispensing membrane 4 in this embodiment is the following: polyethylenetherephtalate (PET) / an ink / polyethylene (PE) / an aluminium (gas and moisture barrier) layer / a heat seal lacquer that is in contact with the inside of the container.
More specifically, the membrane 4 is precut through the PET/PE layers by applying a laser beam. The laser does not cut through the aluminium the barrier is therefore assured by this layer. The consumer then has to break through the aluminium when opening the package for the first time.
In a third embodiment of the present invention shown in figure 3, the container cup 3 is closed at its top end by two different membranes which are disposed one remote from the other : a barrier membrane 7 is disposed on the far top end, and the dispensing membrane 4 which has no barrier properties is disposed underneath.
The barrier, external, membrane 7 is attached to the cup top edges 8 by way of a peelable seal, and the antispill dispensing membrane 4 is permanently sealed separately at a lower level of the cup's height, more particularly, it is sealed to the internal surface of the cup's walls. In figure 3, the barrier top layer 7 is shown partially lifted and peeled off from the top edges 8 of the cup 3.
Since the two membranes are sealed at two different levels, the barrier membrane 7 being easy to peel off, and the dispensing membrane 4 being strongly sealed to the cup walls, two sealing areas are required in the manufacturing line. Preferably in this case, the profile of the cup is such that a small horizontal edge (not illustrated) is created in the top portion of the cup walls, just beneath the top edges of the cup, so as to allow the positioning and sealing of the dispensing membrane. The barrier membrane is sealed directly on the top part of the cup's upper edges, as shown in figure 3.
The materials that are used for the membranes are as follows : a printed aluminium with heat seal lacquer for the barrier membrane, and a polypropylene for the dispensing membrane.
Alternatively, as a "premium" execution of this embodiment, the antispill dispensing membrane can be made out of a foamed polyethylene or polypropylene. Such a foamed material gives a better resilience to the flaps of the dispensing membrane slit.
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims, especially any appropriate variations in the construction and materials used for the barrier and/or dispensing membranes. For instance injection moulding of the cup could be used instead of thermoforming.

Claims

A packaged product, comprising a predetermined quantity of a food nutritional product (1) in solid or semi-solid pieces, and further comprising a container (2) with a cup (3) permanently closed by a flexible elastic dispensing membrane (4), said dispensing membrane comprising a dispensing slit opening (5).
A packaged product according to claim 1, wherein said slit opening (5) is in the shape of a wave, with at least 2, preferably at least 3 curves, said slit (5) having a length that is less than the maximum length or diameter of the dispensing membrane (4).
A packaged product according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said dispensing slit (5) is a precut slit, obtained by laser-precut of a portion of the dispensing membrane thickness.
A packaged product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said container (2) further comprises a secondary peelable membrane (7) with gas and moisture barrier properties, that is removably sealed on the cup top edges (8), above said dispensing membrane (4).
A packaged product according to claim 4, wherein said secondary membrane (7) is positioned directly adjacent the dispensing membrane (4) in a peelable manner, so that both the dispensing and secondary membranes form one single multi-layer membrane.
A packaged product according to any of the claims 3 to 5, wherein said material is a complex material comprising the following layers in order from outside to inside: PET, ink, PE, aluminium, heat seal lacquer.
A packaged product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the container (2) comprises less than 100 g, preferably less than 30g of said nutritional product (1).