NZ521401A - Stabilised composition adapted to flavour or colour dairy products - Google Patents

Abstract

A stabilised composition adapted to flavour and/or colour a beverage or food product is disclosed, wherein the composition comprises a sugar, one or more stabilisers in a substantially non-hydrated form, and one or more stabilisers in a substantially hydrated form. Also disclosed is a method for the production of the stabilised composition that may be used for flavouring and/or colouring milk products.

Description

52U01 Patents Form No. 5 Our Ref: MK503684 NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 Complete After Provisional No. 521401 Filed: 13 September 2002 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STABILISED COMPOSITION We, HAWKINS WATTS TECHNOLOGY LIMITED, a New Zealand company of 43a Fairfax Avenue, Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand hereby declare the invention, for which We pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: intellectual Property PT053785715 Office Of NZ 12 SEP 2003 RECEIVED 2 STABILISED COMPOSITION TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates broadly to the preparation and use of a composition for adding stabilisers to beverages and food products. The invention also provides an improved process for manufacturing flavoured and/or coloured stabilised beverages and food products.

BACKGROUND ART Traditionally, flavoured beverages, such as milk beverages, have been manufactured by mixing the main ingredients such as stabilisers, hydrocolloids, carrageenan, sugar, colour, flavours, plus any other ingredients (such as coffee powder) into milk or similar protein containing beverage to form a mix. The mix is then heated by well known methods including pasteurisation, ultra pasteurisation, or sterilisation and homogenisation to reduce the level of microorganisms, and also to stabilise the flavoured beverage.

Stabilisers, and specifically carrageenan and various forms thereof, are used to provide a slightly viscous or creamy mouthfeel to beverages and food products. Stabilisers are also used to improve particulate suspension in liquid food products. Suspended particulates can include insoluble or partially insoluble particles such as calcium salts, flavouring, cocoa and powders of various forms. A number of different stabilisers can be used in flavoured beverage preparations.

Stabilisers operate to produce these desired properties in a number of ways. Firstly stabilisers can increase the viscosity of aqueous solutions by reducing the rate of settling of insoluble or partially insoluble particles. Secondly some stabilisers can react with components in the food system, such as proteins, minerals or the like, to form a mild gel network. Upon becoming fully hydrated, these stabilisers acquire the viscosity mouthfeel and rheological properties which are desirable for flavoured beverages and food products.

As the required properties of some stabilisers develop after heating, and for good manufacturing practice, stabilisers have been commonly added prior to the pasteurising 35 step. Stabilisers including agar, Danish agar, kappa, kappa 2, and iota carrageenan, geilan gum, locust bean gum, gelatine, pectin and starch usually need to be heated to 300148974.1 3 temperatures greater than 80°C to become fully hydrated and acquire the desired properties. Once hydrated, these stabilisers may react with components (proteins, minerals etc) in the beverage or food system to form the mild gel network and increase viscosity of the eventual beverage or food product. Following heating, a beverage 5 containing these stabilisers is normally cooled to 15°C, or less depending on the stabiliser used, to assist the forming of a desirable viscosity and/or gelation, before filling into packages.

In many situations processors do not have available the additional equipment or the 10 production flexibility to produce stabilised beverages which may include flavoured or coloured milk, in which individual ingredients are added prior to pasteurising. This is primarily due to the difficulties associated with the extensive cleaning required of equipment after the production of the flavoured/coloured beverages and food products and the inevitable downtime created. Adding stabilisers and other ingredients or a 15 composition/syrup thereof in the final step of milk processing would be desirable to reduce wastage and cleaning downtime, but provide a beverage or food product with the required characteristics and stability.

A method for achieving this could be to aseptically add a pasteurised sugar syrup or 20 composition containing all the necessary ingredients in a form that can easily disperse into a chilled beverage such as milk, providing the desired sweetness, flavour, colour,, mouthfeel and suspension qualities.

However, adding flavoured/coloured milk ingredients or syrups to chilled pasteurised milk 25 has in the past lead to difficulties in dispersing the ingredients throughout the milk product; obtaining the right consistency to provide the necessary sweetness, flavour, colour and mouthfeel; and suspending the flavouring/colouring ingredients in the milk product.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION With the above background in mind, it is an object of the invention to provide an alternative to known processes which will at least provide the public with a useful choice or will at least go some way to ameliorating the difficulties with known options.

Other objects will become apparent from the description below. 300148974.1 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a first aspect the invention may be seen to provide a composition adapted to flavour or colour a beverage or food product, the composition including a sugar, one or more stabilisers in a substantially non-hydrated form, and one or more stabilisers in substantially hydrated form.

Preferably the sugar is selected from any one or more of sucrose, maltose, dextrose, fructose, lactose, glucose or high fructose corn syrup, but can also include sugar replacers or bulking agents.

Preferably the non-hydrated stabiliser is selected from any one or more of carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) and its salts, alginic acid and its salts, propylene glycol alginate, guar gum, xanthan, lambda carrageenans, microcrystalline cellulose, instant starch and any other stabiliser in an instantised form.

Preferably the hydrated stabilisers are selected from carrageenan, kappa or kappa 2 carrageenan, iota carrageenan, locust bean gum, pectin, agar, Danish agar, tragacanth, acacia, karaya , gellan gum and starch and the like.

Preferably the sugar is present in the composition in an amount of about 40% to a level approximating super saturation.

Preferably the non-hydrated stabiliser is present in an amount of about 0.1 to 8% of the composition.

Preferably the hydrated stabiliser is present in an amount of about 0.1% to 10.0% of the composition.

Preferably.the composition further includes a flavour and/or colouring.

Preferably the beverage or food product includes a beverage or a food product containing protein or soluble or semi soluble minerals, such as milk beverages or milk based food products.

Preferably the beverage or food product may include yoghurt desserts, flavoured milk 300148974.1 and/or any other food product containing protein or soluble or semi-soluble minerals.

In another aspect the invention provides a method for producing a composition for use in flavouring or colouring milk, the method includes the steps of: dry blending the stabiliser(s) with a portion of sugar; adding the dry blended mixture from (a) above to water and heating to a temperature sufficient to fully hydrate the stabiliser; dissolving further sugar in the mixture in (b) above while maintaining the temperature level; dry blending a small amount of the sugar with a stabiliser capable of dispersing in the composition in a non-hydrated form and adding this mixture to the solution formed in (c) above.

Preferably the portion of sugar in the blend of (b) is a 40% concentration or less.

Preferably additional ingredients such as flavours and colours can be added.

Preferably the composition is homogeneous.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a flavoured or coloured food product, wherein the method includes the steps of: - processing milk of mammalian or vegetable origin; and - adding a composition according to the first aspect of the invention to the processed milk.

Preferably the method manufactures flavoured or coloured food products such as milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt, ice cream and the like.

Preferably the composition is added to chilled pasteurised milk to provide a flavoured or coloured milk product with a desirable mouthfeel and rheological properties.

According to a further aspect of this invention, there is provided a composition substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the Examples and/or Figures (excluding comparative Examples and Figures). 300148974 1 (a) (b) (c) (d) 6 According to a further aspect of this invention there is provided a method of preparing flavoured or coloured milk and/or flavoured milk products substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the Examples and/or Figures (excluding comparative Examples and Figures).

Other aspects of the invention may become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying Figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to Figures in which: Figure 1 illustrates a process for producing standard UHT flavoured or coloured milk via prior art methods; Figure 2 illustrates a process for producing UHT flavoured or coloured milk according to the present invention; and Figure 3 illustrates a process for producing pasteurised flavoured or coloured milk according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention is generally directed to a composition that can be added to processed beverages or food products and particularly milk and/or milk products (such as pasteurised, UHT or homogenised milk) in order to result in a flavoured and/or coloured beverage/food product having increased sweetness, creamy mouthfeel, preferably acceptable flavours and colours, as well as an acceptable chilled shelf life. The invention also envisages an improved method of preparing flavoured or coloured milk and milk products.

A milk product which can be flavoured or coloured by the present invention may be of any mammalian origin or from a vegetable source such as rice milk or soy milk. However, for optimum results, preferably the milk product is derived from milk including components such as protein or mineral or similar) that may react with the hydrated stabiliser. 300148974.1 7 While the invention has particular application to the manufacture of mammalian milk and/or milk products, the invention may have broader applicability to the production of other beverages or food products. For example, the invention may be used with soy milk, 5 rice milk and products manufactured from these ingredients, such as yoghurts and desserts, and food products generally containing protein or soluble or semi-soluble mineral.

According to Stokes Law the suspension of particles in a liquid system depends on the 10 particle size; the density of both the liquid phase; the particles and the rheological nature of the liquid phase.

It has been found by the applicant that the hydration of certain stabilisers may be changed and/or modified by varying the concentration of sugar present with these stabilisers. More 15 specifically, by reducing the relative concentration of sugar present with certain stabilisers the relative hydration off these stabilisers increases. Increasing the hydration of the stabiliser facilitates reactions with proteins, minerals and the like contained in a solution to substantially increase the viscosity of a syrup which contains the stabilisers.

Without wishing to be bound by a specific hypothesis it is believed that sugar competes with stabiliser for any available water. When the sugar concentration is reduced sufficiently stabilisers interact with the available water and cause the viscosity of the syrup to increase. At relatively high levels of sugar, most water is bound by the sugar and is therefore unable to interact with any stabilisers.

Surprisingly this has allowed the applicant to develop compositions for flavouring or colouring beverages and food products which are easily manufactured and have a desirable and/or pre-determined viscosity or gelation.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a composition which preferably includes sugar, a non-hydrated stabiliser, and a hydrated stabiliser. When added to processed chilled milk the composition produces a stabilised flavoured or coloured milk. The composition is adapted to evenly and consistently disperse throughout the chilled milk to produce flavoured/coloured milk with a desired and/or pre-determined sweetness, 35 colour, mouthfeel, and flavour. The invention therefore is adapted to provide an easy and effective means of stabilising and flavouring/colouring chilled milk. 300148974_1 8 The term "processed milk" refers to milk which has been pasteurised, ultra-pasteurised, sterilised or the like as will be known in the art. Such definition is not intended to be limiting.

Non-hydrated stabilisers of use in the present invention will preferably hydrate at low levels of solids such as the levels generally found in chilled milk. It is desirable that hydration of non-hydrated stabilisers occurs efficiently below 30% sucrose equivalent at low temperatures (preferably less than about 4°C). Non-hydrated stabilisers with these 10 preferred properties include "cold soluble stabilisers". Cold soluble stabilisers can be readily hydrated in cold aqueous solutions.

Cold soluble stabilisers are selected for use on the basis of their susceptibility to hydrate in solutions of milk or water at low levels of solids (typically below 30% soluble solids) and 15 at cold temperatures of typically less than 25°C.

Examples of preferred cold soluble stabilisers include sodium carboxyl methyl cellulose (sodium CMC), alginic acid and its salts, propylene glycol alginate, guar gum, xanthan, lambda carrageenans, microcrystalline cellulose, proteins, instant starch and any other 20 stabiliser in an instantised form. Of these, sodium CMC has been found to be particularly effective.

In the preferred composition the level of cold soluble stabilisers is in the range of about 0.1 to 15% and more preferably 0.1% to 10.0%.

Generally the level of cold soluble stabilisers required to achieve the desired effect is relatively low. This is because the cold soluble stabilisers readily react with components (protein, mineral etc) in the milk to form the mild gel network and increase viscosity. It will be appreciated, however, that greater level of cold soluble stabilisers may be required for 30 certain applications.

The preferred composition also includes hydrated stabilisers. These hydrated stabilisers include carrageenan, particularly kappa or kappa 2 carrageenan, iota carrageenan, Danish agar, locust bean gum, pectin, agar, tragacanth, acacia, karaya and gellan gum 35 amongst others as will be well known to a person skilled in this art. 300148974J 9 Hydrated stabilisers are formed by exposing the stabiliser to temperatures usually greater than about 70°C to 80°C, as prescribed by the manufacturers of such stabilisers or as known by people skilled in the art. This is described in detail below.

In the preferred composition the level of hydrated stabilisers in the composition ranges from about 0.1 to 5% and preferably 0.5 to 1.0%.

Ideally the selected hydrated stabilisers and cold soluble stabilisers react with species found in milk, including milk proteins, minerals or the like species. Reactions between 10 stabilisers and milk proteins and minerals assist in the formation of viscosity or a soft gel network in the food product.

Selecting the right stabilisers for a composition to be used in a particular application is important as some stabilisers may react too aggressively with proteins in the milk, for 15 example, and could form insoluble gels. For example, trials conducted using a standard flavouring syrup which included pure hydrated kappa carrageenan produced unsatisfactory results. Upon addition of this syrup to cold dairy milk the syrup produced fine gel lumps, which were difficult to disperse, and provided a minimal increase in viscosity in the finished product. However, while using pure kappa carrageenan has some 20 disadvantages, it can be used quite effectively for other applications in which the composition may be used.

Kappa 2, iota carrageenan and pectin however, have been shown to have an ideal reactivity in milk and are therefore preferred stabilisers for use as the hydrated stabilisers 25 in a composition.

Any sugars known to the skilled person may be used in the preparation of the composition. Sugars of the preferred embodiment include sucrose, maltose, dextrose, fructose, lactose and/or glucose syrup or high fructose corn syrup or similar ingredients.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other species could be used to achieve a similar effect to sugar, including polydextrose, lactitol, sorbitol and other sugar replacers. The level of sugar in a composition will vary according to the solubility of the specific sugar selected for use in the composition. A preferred composition may include a level of 35 40% to a super saturation of sugar but a preferred composition will include about 63% to 70% of sugar, depending on the solubility of the specific sugars used. 300148974 1 The level of sugar required in the composition varies according to the particular sugar (fructose, sucrose, etc) selected. A preferred level of sugar for the following particular sugars could include: Sugar Concentration Fructose 0 - 35% Sucrose 65-100% The level of sugar required in a composition may also vary if combinations of different sugars are used in the composition.

The choice and selection of sugar and subsequent level of sugar required will depend on various factors. For example, the required taste of the product, the amount of sweetness required and the sweetness profile desired.

The preferred composition may include additional ingredients such as flavouring, 15 colouring, preservative and the like which will be known to those skilled in the art. For example, it may be desirable to include in the composition flavourings including banana, strawberry, caramel, lime, chocolate, coffee and vanilla as would be known to a skilled person.

Thus a preferred composition will include one or more sugars; a portion of one or more stabilisers in a hydrated form; a portion of one or more of the same or different cold soluble stabilisers in a dispersed, but non-hydrated form; and colouring and flavouring as desirable. Examples 1, 2 and 3 represent compositions of the preferred embodiment. The composition of Examples 1 and 2 may be simply added to processed chilled milk to 25 create flavoured or coloured milk with the desired properties and characteristics.

A preferred method of preparing the composition according to the present invention is as follows.

In a first step, the stabilisers selected to be hydrated are dry blended with sugar prior to addition to water. The dry blending facilitates dispersion of the ingredients in water.

Alternatively, some stabilisers may be added directly to water without sugar as they slowly 300148974 1 11 disperse without lumps forming under agitation. These stabilisers include 40 mesh Xanthan and other glomerated material.

The solution formed should include up to 40% soluble solids and/or sugar. This solution is 5 heated to about 70 to 80°C to fully hydrate the stabilisers in the solution. A further portion of sugar is added to the mix and allowed to dissolve while the temperature is held at about 80°C. Thus a solution of relatively high sugar concentration containing hydrated stabilisers is prepared.

In a second step, a portion of sugar is dry blended with a cold soluble stabiliser(s) to facilitate subsequent dispersion in the syrup. Alternatively some stabilisers may be added directly without sugar. The dry blended sugar and cold soluble stabiliser powder is then added to the solution of the first step (above) under agitation, with the temperature being held at a sufficiently high temperature to inactivate any spoilage microorganisms.

Alternatively some cold water stabilisers The addition of cold soluble stabilisers is preferably performed while the solution is between about 50% and 75% soluble solids. The cold soluble stabiliser disperses throughout the solution but does not fully hydrate. Additional flavouring and colouring may be added to form the composition.

Care should be taken on addition of the cold soluble stabilisers to avoid hydration whilst preparing the composition. As the sugar saturation point of the solution can increase with temperature, the solution can be at super saturation when the cold soluble stabilisers are added. The solution should be at a sufficient temperature and at sugar saturation to avoid excessively hydrating the cold soluble stabiliser on addition. The level of sugar in the solution substantially prevents or reduces the cold soluble stabilisers hydrating on addition to the solution. The high temperature effectively pasteurises the ingredients and reduces the risk of microbial contamination. For this reason addition of the cold soluble stabilisers should be preferably performed at temperatures higher than 70°C.

The first and second steps together produce a preferred composition of about 40% to 75% soluble solids strength. The composition can then be processed at high temperatures to produce a commercially sterile syrup or product and can be aseptically packed if required.

The resultant composition is preferably provided for use as a syrup. As a syrup the composition is easy to handle and store, and can be provided in an aseptically prepared or hot filled form so that it may be added directly to chilled milk prior to packaging. Aseptic 300148974.1 12 treatment is performed by methods well known in the art.

Alternatively, the composition could be provided in a powder form. Although this may provide for handling difficulties, it may offer advantages for storage and transport.

In a further embodiment, the invention may also be seen as providing a method of preparing flavoured beverages and/or food products, such as flavoured milk or semi-liquid food systems such as yoghurt.

There are a number of different methods for processing milk to provide commercially sterile milk and these will be well known to those skilled in the art. Such methods include direct and indirect ultra-high temperature (UHT) processing.

Figure 1 illustrates methods currently used to prepare flavoured or coloured milk. The dry 15 ingredients, including stabilisers, sugar, flavouring and colouring, are added to the milk prior to processing. This means that the dry ingredients are pumped along with the milk through the equipment during processing.

This method of producing flavoured or coloured milk is time consuming as it requires 20 extensive cleaning of the processing equipment used between the processing of non- flavoured/coloured milk and flavoured milk, or different batches of flavoured/coloured milks. This leads to an unacceptable equipment downtime between manufacturing different batches.

The present invention provides for an improved method of producing flavoured or coloured milk. A preferred method of preparing flavoured or coloured milk using the preferred composition is described below with reference to the direct UHT method of processing milk.

With reference to Figure 2, the milk selected is initially stored at 2 to 4°C. It is fed from a tank 1 to a preheating section of a plate heat exchanger 2 where milk is heated to 80°C. From the preheating plate heat exchanger the heated milk is pumped with increased pressure (about 0.5MPa, which prevents milk boiling), to a steam injector 3 where the temperature of the milk is raised to typically about 140°C. At this temperature and 35 pressure spoilage microorganisms are killed whilst avoiding significant denaturing of milk proteins and other heat sensitive components present. 300148974.1 13 The milk is held at 140°C for 3 to 4 seconds, before entering a vacuum chamber 4 where it is cooled to around 80°C. The vacuum chamber removes water equitant in a proportion to the amount of steam added during the steam injection step.

The milk then passes into an aseptic homogenizer 5, which is used to reduce milk fat globules to a uniform size. The homogenised milk is then cooled to about 15 to 25°C by passing the milk through the cooling section of the plate heat exchanger 6 before filling into an aseptic holding tank 7 to await packaging.

Processed milk in the holding tank 2 is then used to supply an aseptic packaging system 8. The aseptic packaging system 8 fills pre-sterilised packages with processed milk, which, on sealing, may be dispatched to wholesalers or retailers. Aseptic packaging systems 8 are generally adaptable to accommodate packaging of various forms or shapes 15 depending on where and to whom the processed milk product will be supplied.

The present invention flavours or colours milk by the addition of a composition according to the present invention to the milk when the milk is stored in the holding tank 7 or during the packaging step 8. Thus the disadvantages of equipment cleaning and downtime are 20 minimised.

In a preferred form, the composition according to the present invention (preferably provided as a syrup) is added in a desired proportion to the chilled UHT during the process of packaging milk by the aseptic packaging systems.

Based on a composition of the preferred embodiment (see Example 1) containing 65% sugar, the syrup may be dosed at 6% to give a flavoured and/or coloured milk with 4% sugar in the final product. Once the composition is added to the chilled milk the cold soluble stabilisers hydrate at the chilled milk temperature due to the relative reduction in 30 sugar concentration. The hydration of stabilisers increases the viscosity of the chilled milk, which leads to the desired mouthfeel and rheological properties in the resulting flavoured/coloured milk product.

Use of an aseptic packaging system, as described previously, ensures that the resulting 35 flavoured milk has very low levels of microorganisms or can be considered to be commercially sterile. 300148974J The composition may also be prepared in individually packaged aliquots to be added to a specific quantity of milk. Alternatively the aseptic packaging machine could be adapted to provide the syrup into each milk filled package prior to sealing.

Furthermore, it should be understood that there may be other ways in which the composition can be added. Additional steps may be included prior to addition of the composition.

Addition of the composite as a syrup at the aseptic packaging step is, of course, not intended to be restricted to UHT processing but may be used in any milk processing method.

Figure 3 illustrates the addition of the preferred composition provided as a syrup to pasteurised milk. The composition is added at the aseptic packaging system step 8 after the milk has been processed by pasteurisation.

It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that flavoured/coloured milk may be prepared by addition of the composition to milk processed via the indirect or direct UHT processing method. If the milk is produced via either UHT processing the flavouring composition may also be added during the aseptic filling of packages.

It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that there are a variety of methods available for processing milk, beverages or food products. Steps described above may be added or omitted depending on the specific requirements for processing milk and subsequently preparing flavoured milk or milk product.

As is clearly apparent, use of the composition according to the present invention after pasteurisation/homogenisation processing has occurred has the advantage of reducing the requirement for extensive cleaning of the pasteurisation equipment which is required if the flavouring/colouring is added during or before the pasteurisation/homogenisation.

Thus the equipment down time and product wastage can be significantly reduced and the processing plant, including the pressurising equipment, can be readily adapted to produce flavoured/coloured and unflavoured/uncoloured milk product.

In the past, addition of stabilisers, flavouring, or colouring to chilled milk resulted in lumps 300148974,1 developing in the milk and prevented such methods to manufacture flavoured milk. The use of the composition or syrups thereof and herein described has surprisingly allowed the manufacture of flavoured milk from a processed chilled milk starting material. This overcomes the need to add stabilisers, flavouring and colouring to milk prior to 5 pasteurisation, sterilisation or the like.

Furthermore, another advantage of the invention is in the manufacture of chocolate flavoured milk. Currently chocolate milk is prepared by adding between 0.1 and 2.0 % cocoa powder, stabilisers, sugar, colouring and flavourings to the milk prior to 10 pasteurisation and processed by standard UHT processing.

Use of the composition herein described improves the manufacturing of chocolate flavoured or coloured milk specifically. In the past, cocoa powder needed to be added to the milk prior to processing the milk. This is unique to beverages containing partially 15 insoluble or insoluble material such as cocoa powder and is needed in order to distribute the insoluble material throughout the milk. The flavouring composition described herein (which includes hydrated stabilisers, cold soluble stabilisers, sugar and colours and flavouring) has the advantage of being able to be added as described above. The composition may be added as a syrup by the aseptic packaging system for example.

The composition according to this invention improves the current manufacture of chocolate flavoured milk by reducing the level of solids which must be processed with the milk and provides easier and simpler cleaning of chocolate milk processing equipment.

As will be apparent that the invention provides a flavoured and/or coloured milk or flavoured and/or coloured milk product. Flavoured and/or coloured milk produced may be supplied as a flavoured drinking milk. In these cases, the flavoured milk processed with the composition and by the method described may be supplied to the consumer in small disposable handheld packages.

Flavoured or coloured milk products prepared using the composition could also include flavoured/coloured ice creams; butters; yoghurt; desserts, cheeses and any other dairy product or dairy product analogue where an increase in mouthfeel, colour and/or flavour is desirable.

Flavoured milk products prepared by the improved method described show an excellent 300148974J 16 shelf life. Trials have demonstrated that flavoured milk produced using the method and composition herein described, have a shelf life of 16 days at 4°C. This compares favourably with the shelf life of currently sold milk products which is 16 -20 days.

The invention will now be described with reference to the preferred embodiment, which is given by way of example only.

Example 1 The following composition has been found to be very effective to produce strawberry flavoured milk.

Sugar 300.0 kg Water 150.0 kg Kappa 2 Carrageenan 4.0 kg Sodium CMC 2.0 kg Flavour (strawberry) 10.0 kg Colour (ponceau 4R) 5% solution 5.0 ka 471.0 kg Method 1. The kappa 2 carrageenan is dry blended with 20 kg of sugar and slowly added to the 150 kg of water under agitation. The solution is heated to at least 80°C to fully hydrate the stabiliser and pasteurise the mixture. 2. 270 kg of sugar is then added to the mix and allowed to dissolve while maintaining the temperature at 80°C or above. 3. 10 kg of sugar is dry blended with 2 kg of the sodium CMC then added to the sugar syrup. The sodium CMC is therefore dispersed but due to the high sugar level at the time of addition, is not fully hydrated. The syrup is held at 80°C. 4. Any additional ingredients such as flavours, colours etc are added and the syrup homogenised then hot and/or aseptically filled.

Example 2 300148974.1 17 The following composition has been found to be very effective to produce banana flavoured milk.

Sugar (Sucrose) 200.0 kg Water 180.0 kg Fructose 50.0 kg Kappa 2 Carrageenan 4.0 kg Sodium CMC 4.0 kg Flavour (banana) 10.0 kg Colour (Sunset yellow) 2% solids 4.0 ka 452.0 kg Method 1. The kappa 2 Carrageenan is dry blended with 20 kg of sugar and slowly added to the 150 kg of water under agitation. The solution is heated to at least 80°C to fully hydrate the stabiliser. 2. 180 kg of sugar is then added to the mix and allowed to dissolve while maintaining 20 the temperature at 80°C or above. 3. 50 kg of fructose sugar is dry blended with 4 kg of the sodium CMC then added to the sugar solution at 80 °C. The sodium CMC is therefore dispersed but due to the high sugar level at the time of addition, is not fully hydrated. 4. Any additional ingredients such as flavours, colours etc are added and the composition homogenised then hot and/or aseptically filled.

Alternatively upon cooling to ambient temperature or below the composition can be 30 aseptically or hot filled into suitable packaging and stored. The composition can later be added aseptically to chilled milk. Note that mixing the milk and the composition provided as a syrup through a homogenisation value (or similar device to ensure adequate mixing) is recommended. The carrageenan fraction of the composition is mildly milk protein and mineral reactive and will form a carrageenan-milk network when added to the milk. The 35 sodium CMC, being only dispersed in the syrup, will quickly hydrate upon contact with the milk to form hydrated stabilisers which are able to react with protein minerals etc in the 300148974J 18 milk to form a mild gel network. This imparts to the milk the desired mouthfeel, flavour and colour characteristics.

In addition to sugars and stabilisers, the composition may contain cocoa mass, cocoa 5 powders, emulsifiers, fat, flavouring, colours, coffee powder, and any other ingredient that may provide benefits in the final product (eg guarana).

Upon addition to milk of a composition containing syrup, the syrup will easily disperse and the viscosity of the milk will increase due to the effect of hydration of the cold soluble 10 stabiliser and any reactivity of the hydrated stabiliser.

Example 3 As mentioned, the composition of the present invention can be used to produce a variety 15 of beverages and food products. A composition of the present invention has been used to prepare flavoured yoghurt. The composition includes: Sugar (Sucrose) 400 g Fruit 200 g Fructose 50 g Kappa 2 Carrageenan 4 g Water 200 g Fructose 50 g Sodium Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose (CMC) 3 g Citric Acid (50%) solution 2 ml Method 1. 50 g sugar and 4 g kappa 2 carrageenan is added slowly to 200 g of water and 30 heated to 80°C to hydrate the kappa 2 carrageenan. 2. An additional 350 g sugar and 200 g fruit are added to the solution. The fruit is selected on the basis of the flavour of yoghurt to be produced. For example 200 g strawberries may be added to produce strawberry yoghurt. The temperature is greater than 70°C. 300148974 1 19 3. 50 g fructose is added to increase the concentration of solids and/or sugar in the syrup. 3 g sodium CMC is added to the sugar solution. The sodium CMC is dispersed throughout the solution but remains substantially unhydrated due to the high sugar concentration in the solution. 4. 2 ml of 50% Citric Acid Solution is added to the syrup for flavour. It will be appreciated that a variety of the other food flavourings, colourings, preservatives and food acids may be added at this step to achieve a particular flavour.

. The solution is then cooled. The composition is now formed and may be added to a standard chilled yoghurt at 4 °C. On addition of the composition to the yoghurt, the kappa carrageenan reacts with the dairy components in the yoghurt and/or the sodium CMC hydratesfacilitating hydrated sodium CMC reaction with dairy components to provide the desired viscosity, and mouthfeel. Other components may be added to provide the desired sensory qualities such as flavour and sweetness. The advantage of the present invention is that the flavourings may be spread throughout the yoghurt at a low temperature without difficulties of lumps formed in the yoghurt and may improve the Theological properties of the yoghurt.

Advantages The invention offers several advantages: 1. The composition or syrup thereof can be prepared beforehand and kept in storage awaiting usage. 2. The composition or syrup thereof may be pasteurised or sterilised (and aseptically filled) and can then be aseptically added to pasteurised, ultra pasteurised or UHT products immediately prior to filling, thereby eliminating the need for additional mixing, heating and homogenising. Additional savings in production time and wastage are anticipated. 3. There is minimal equipment required to use the composition or syrup thereof, allowing small beverage and food processors to offer a wide range of flavoured milk products to their customers without the need for additional capital expenditure. 300148974_1 4. The composition or syrup thereof is pumpable and will readily mix with milk or beverage or semi liquid food systems.

. The composition or syrup thereof, having a high level of soluble solids, is mjcrobiologically stable and should not require excessive thermal processing. 6. The composition or syrup thereof may be used to flavour any milk of mammalian origin or from a vegetable source, such as rice milk or soy milk or similar food system or products containing protein or minerals.

While in the foregoing description there has been made reference to specific components or integers of the invention having known equivalents then such equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth.

Although this invention has been described by way of example only and with reference to possible embodiments thereof it is to be understood that modifications or improvements may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. 300148974J 21

Claims (20)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A composition adapted to flavour and/or colour a beverage or food product, the composition including a sugar, one or more stabilisers in a substantially non-hydrated form, and one or more stabilisers in substantially hydrated form.

2. The composition according to claim 1 wherein the sugar is selected from any one or more of sucrose, maltose, dextrose, fructose, lactose, glucose or high fructose corn syrup, but can also include sugar replacers or bulking agents.

3. The composition according to either of claims 1 or 2 wherein the non-hydrated stabiliser is selected from any one or more of carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) and its salts, alginic acid and its salts, propylene glycol alginate, guar gum, xanthan, lambda carrageenans, and microcrystalline cellulose.

4. The composition according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the hydrated stabilisers are selected from carrageenan, kappa or kappa 2 carrageenan, iota carrageenan, locust bean gum, pectin, agar, Danish agar, tragacanth, acacia, Karaya, gellan gum, gelatine and starch and the like.

5. The composition according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sugar is present in the composition in an amount of about 40% to a level approximating super saturation.

6. The composition according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the non-hydrated stabiliser is present in an amount of about 0.1 to 8% of the composition.

7. The composition according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the hydrated stabiliser is present in an amount of about 0.1 to 10.0% of the composition.

8. The composition according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the composition further includes a flavour and/or colouring.

9. The composition according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the beverage or food product includes a milk beverage or milk based food product. 300148974 1 22 5 11. 10 15 12. 20 13. 14. 25 15. 30 16. 35 17.

The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the beverage or food product includes yoghurts, desserts, flavoured milk and/or any other food product containing protein or soluble or semi-soluble minerals.

A method for producing a composition for use in flavouring and/or colouring milk, the method includes the steps of: a. dry blending the stabiliser(s) with a portion of sugar; b. adding the dry blended mixture from (a) above to water and heating to a temperature sufficient to fully hydrate the stabiliser; c. dissolving further sugar in the mixture in (b) above while maintaining the temperature level; d. dry blending a small amount of the sugar with a stabiliser capable of dispersing in the composition in a non-hydrated form and adding this mixture to the solution formed in (c) above.

The method according to claim 11 wherein the portion of sugar in the blend of (b) is less than 40% concentration.

The method according to either of claims 11 or 12 wherein additional ingredients such as flavours and colours can be added.

The method according to any one of claim 11 to 13 wherein the composition is homogeneous.

A method of manufacturing a flavoured and/or coloured milk product, wherein the method includes the steps of: processing milk of mammalian or vegetable origin; and adding a composition according to claim 1 to the processed milk.

The method according to claim 15 wherein the method manufactures flavoured or coloured food products such as milk, desserts, cheese, yoghurt, butter, ice cream and the like.

The method according to either of claims 15 or 16 wherein the composition is CSPEC3791500 23 added to chilled pasteurised milk to provide a flavoured or coloured milk product with a desirable mouthfeel and rheological properties.

18. A composition substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the Examples and/or Figures, but excluding comparative Examples and Figures.

19. A method of preparing flavoured or coloured milk substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the Examples and/or Figures but excluding comparative Examples and Figures.

20. A method of manufacturing flavoured milk products substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the Examples or Figures, but excluding comparative Examples and Figures. HAWKINS WATTS TECHNOLOGY LIMITED By Their Attorneys BALDWIN SHELSTON WATERS CSPEC3791500 emd of claims 300148974_1 Intellectual P™Pertv Office of NZ U SEP J®3