WO1998000038A1 - Vitamin suspension - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved method of adding vitamins to a food product, particularly a reduced fat fried snack product, and a vitamin suspension containing a flowable edible, preferably a nondigestible fat, and encapsulated or powdered vitamins. The method consists of suspending the encapsulated or powdered vitamins in the flowable edible fat, and applying the suspension in a controlled amount to the surface of a food product. The preferred food product is a fabricated reduced fat or fat-free potato chip which is a fried snack made by frying a dough in a nondigestible fat to a moisture content of less than 5 %. The vitamin suspension is applied to the surface of the fried snack soon after emerging from the fryer. The food product has a light, crispy, improved crunchy texture, improved flavor and a fat content of from about 20 % to about 38 % nondigestible fat, and is fortified with vitamins.

Description

VITAMIN SUSPENSION

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to a vitamin suspension and an improved method of vitamin fortification of food products made with a nondigestible fat to provide a more attractive appearance, and better texture and taste to such food products In particular, this application relates to a process for preparing a flowable vitamin suspension and vitamin fortified food products by applying the vitamin suspension onto the surface of the fried or cooked pieces

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of starch and protetn-based snack food products are presently available to the consumer Many of these products are in the form of chips, strips, and extruded tubular pieces Some of these products are expanded or puffed and contain a cellular or honeycombed internal structure In addition, most of the present-day snack products contain a fairly high level of fat, either in the form of separately added ingredients, such as cheese, or in the form of fats imparted to the product during cooking, as in the case of corn or potato chips Fat improves the flavor and palatability of these products The use of nondigestible fats to replace the fat provides a lower calorie, good tasting snack However, the nondigestible fat needs to be fortified with fat soluble vitamins to compensate for any loss of these vitamins by absorption into the nondigestible fats which are then excreted and not absorbed by the body

Vitamins have been applied to salted snacks as a powder, which can result in the loss of vitamm material It can be difficult to obtain accurate and precise levels of addition applying vitamins to food products as a powder The process is complicated by the relatively low amounts of material to be added, making flow control difficult The powder composed of discrete particles can flow randomly with high variability easily influenced by environmental conditions Adhesion to the food product can be low due to dissimilar surface tension or the governing physics of the application process that cause the particles to strike then repel away from the product surface

Vitamin powders can be blended with salt or seasoning to act as carriers to improve metering capability Segregation is a problem that increase the non-uniformity of the application and limits the maximum powder particle size to about 250 microns, preferably less than 150 microns The lower particle size reduces, but does not eliminate segregation induced variability due to differences in total particle size distribution, bulk density, and particle shape between the vitamins and carrier The salt or seasoning can preferentially adhere to the food product surface lowering the vitamin application rate further by competing for available space Addition with a salt or seasoning carrier has the disadvantage of coupling the vitamin addition control strategy with that of the carrier The two materials can not be independently controlled which can lead to flavor or vitamin level problems A further consideration with salt blends is that the salt will potentate undesirable vitamin flavors due to intimate contact during eating The practice of over compensation, increasing the vitamin application rate or level in the carrier due to low adhesion, often leads to undesirable vitamin flavor While over compensation can lead to higher average application levels, it also causes the upper tail of the vitamin level distribution to increase exponentially, in some cases double or triple the average level

The low vitamin powder adhesion rates can cause dusting, becoming a source of airborne vitamins a potential occupational health concern

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved method of adding vitamins to a food product, particularly a fried snack containing a nondigestible fat This method is economical and effective for delivering the vitamins on a snack product It is a further object to provide a vitamin suspension containing an edible oil base and vitamins suspended therein, which ts easily added to food products

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a suspension of a vitamin, preferably an encapsulated vitamin, in a flowable edible fat, the edible fat being a nondigestible fat, a digestible fat, or a mixture thereof The suspension can be applied to warmed food products more evenly and efficiently than conventional powdered or liquid vitamins

The present invention also relates to an improved method of adding vitamins to a food product, particularly a reduced fat fried snack product The method comprises suspending powdόred or encapsulated vitamins in a flowable edible fat, preferably a semi-solid nondigestible fat with reduced viscosity, optionally heating the vitamin suspension to a flowable temperature, and applying the vitamin suspension in a controlled amount to the surface of a food product A preferred food product is a fabricated potato chip The vitamin suspension is preferably applied when the chip is still hot, such as when just out of the fryer, oven or extruder BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Figure 1 represents an equipment system used to apply the vitamin suspension to a snack chip or other food, consisting of a tank, pump and piping to deliver streams of the vitamin suspension to rows of fabricated snack food

DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

All percentages and proportions are "by weight" or "by dry weight" unless otherwise specified

This invention relates to a method of quantitative, preferably precise, addition of vitamins, such as Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, to reduced-calorie foods, preferably potato chips or snacks, by adding a vitamin suspension onto the surface of the chips Preferably powdered vitamms are added to a flowable edible fat, preferably a nondigestible fat such as a sucrose fatty acid polyester, to make the suspension A preferred sucrose fatty acid polyester is olestra, which is sold under the Olean® brand by The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio

The invention enables controlled addition of vitamins such as Vitamin A, B, C, D, E and K to the product with little or no loss or degradation of the vitamins Other encapsulated and non- encapsulated vitamins can also be included in the composition The level of control provided by this suspension eliminates the need to excessively fortify with vitamins to compensate otherwise for losses and processing variations Over-addition of vitamins can result in objectionable off-flavor, and higher vitamin cost

A Definitions

The term "nondigestible fat" refers to those edible fats that are partially or totally nondigestible Such edible fats can be polyol fatty acid polyesters, such as olestra, and polyol ethoxylates The term "polyol" means a polyhydπc alcohol containing at least 4, preferably from 4 to

1 1 hydroxyl groups Polyols include sugars (l e , monosacchaπdes, disacchandes, and tπsacchaπdes), sugar alcohols, other sugar derivatives (1 e , alkyl glucosides), polyglycerols such as diglycerol and triglycerol, pentaerythπtol, sugar ethers such as sorbitan and polyvmyl alcohols Specific examples of suitable sugars, sugar alcohols and sugar derivatives include xylose, arabinose, πbose, xylitol, erythritol, glucose, methyl glucoside, mannose, galactose, fructose, sorbitol, maltose, lactose, sucrose, raffinose, and maltotnose

The term "polyol fatty acid polyester" means a polyol having at least 4 fatty acid ester groups It is not necessary that all of the hydroxyl groups of the polyol be esteπfied, but it is preferable that disacchaπde molecules contain no more than 3 unesteπfied hydroxyl groups for the purpose of being nondigestible Typically, substantially all, e g , at least about 85%, of the hydroxyl groups of the polyol are esteπfied In the case of sucrose polyesters, typically from about 7 to 8 of the hydroxyl groups of the polyol are esteπfied The polyol fatty acid esters typically contain fatty acid radicals typically having at least 4 carbon atoms and up to 26 carbon atoms These fatty acid radicals can be derived from naturally occurring or synthetic fatty acids The fatty acid radicals can be saturated or unsaturated, including positional or geometric isomers, e g , cis- or trans- isomers, and can be the same for all ester groups, or can be mixtures of different fatty acids

As used herein "starch-based materials" refer to naturally occuπng, high polymeric carbohydrates composed of glucopyranose units, in either natural, dehydrated (e g , flakes, granules, meal) or flour form The starch-based materials include, but are not limited to, potato flour, potato granules, com flour, masa com flour, com grits, com meal, rice flour, tapioca, buckwheat flour, rice flour, oat flour, bean flour, barley flour, tapioca, as well as modified starches, native starches, and dehydrated starches, starches derived from tubers, legumes and grain, for example cornstarch, wheat starch, rice starch, waxy com starch, oat starch, cavassa starch, waxy barley, waxy rice starch, glutinous rice starch, sweet rice starch, amioca, potato starch, tapioca starch, cornstarch, oat starch, cassava starch, rice starch, wheat starch, and mixtures thereof

As used herein "Brabender Units (BU)" is an arbitrary unit of viscosity measurement roughly corresponding to centipoise

As used herein, "modified starch" refers to starch that has been physically or chemically altered to improve its functional characteristics Suitable modified starches include, but are not limited to, pregelatinized starches, low viscosity starches (e g , dextrms, acid-modified starches, oxidized starches, enzyme modified starches), stabilized starches (e g , starch esters, starch ethers), cross-linked starches, starch sugars (e g glucose syrup, dextrose, isoglucose) and starches that have received a combination of treatments (e g , cross-linking and gelatinization) and mixtures thereof

As used herein, the term "added water" refers to water which has been added to the dry dough ingredients Water which is inherently present in the dry dough ingredients, such as in the case of the sources of flour and starches, is not included in the added water

B The Edible Fat . The edible fat for use int eh present invention can be a nondigestible fat, or a digestible fat, or even mixtures of the two fats

Any nondigestible fat can be used to prepare the vitamin suspension, so long as the vitamins can be adequately mixed and made to be suspended in the fat, and so long as the resulting nondigestible fat vitamin suspension is sufficiently flowable to permit application thereof to the food product The nondigestible fat can be either a liquid, a solid, or a semi-solid (partially liquid fat and partially solid fat) at the usage temperature Preferred is a semi-solid polyol fatty acid polyester A preferred semi-solid nondigestible fat is a blend of a liquid nondigestible fat having a melting point below body temperature, and a solid nondigestible fat having a melting point above body temperature. This nondigestible fat must be capable of becoming flowable and pumpable on application of shear or low temperature heating when the nondigestible fat is below it's melting point, in order to allow pumping and application through the nozzle and onto the food product. At the same time, the nondigestible fat must be viscous enough to suspend easily the solid vitamins. The nondigestible fat preferably has a viscosity of not less than 1.0 poise, more preferably not less than 5.0 poise, at 100°F (37.8°C) after 10 minutes of steady shear at a rate of 10 seconds ^" ' . Shear viscosity is measured as described in U.S. 5,021 ,256 issued to Guffey et al. June 4, 1991 at Column 12, lines 10-45, herein incorporated by reference.

A highly preferred nondigestible fat is a blend of liquid and solid sucrose fatty acid polyesters of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids having from 8 to 24 carbon atoms. These materials are described in U.S. 5,422,131 issued to Elsen et al. (1995) and in U.S. 5,085,884, issued to Young, et al. U.S. 5,306,514 and U.S. 5,306,516 issued to Letton et al. ( 1994) also describes compositions which can be used herein. These preferred nondigestible oil compositions preferably form into a stiffened material when cooled from a completely melted state to a temperature below 37°C in a substantially quiescent state (i.e., without agitation). The stiffened material is particularly effective in retaining large quantities of liquid nondigestible oil, and thus inhibiting or preventing passive oil loss of the nondigestible oil through the body of the consumer.

A digestible fat can also be used in admixture with or replaced entirely with the nondigestible fat, but it will contribute some calories. Vitamin fortification is particularly useful when fabricating snacks and other foods with nondigestible oils and fats. Such snacks and other foods are referred to as either reduced-fat or fat-free foods. Fat free foods are generally defined as containing 0.5 grams or less of digestible fat in a 30 ounce serving. A digestible fat can be used as all or a portion of the flowable edible fat of the vitamin suspension to make a fat-free vitamin fortified snack food, so long as the level of addition of the digestible fat vitamin suspension does not contribute an amount of digestible fat which causes the total digestible fat in the food to exceed the 0.5 gram per serving limit.

Two Theological properties of the edible fat important to delivering a stable flowable suspension are the viscosity and Consistency. The viscosity relates to the capability of the edible fat to- maintain the vitamin powder in a suspension that resists the settling by inertial and gravitational forces. The Consistency relates to the flowability of the material.

A stable suspension can be achieved by using an edible fat with a viscosity of about 1-15 poise measured at a shear rate of 10 sec"' between 20-40°C, preferably 1.2-6 poise, and more preferably 2.5-5.5 poise. The desired viscosity can be obtained by using the edible fats in their original as-processed state or by shear thinning the material as herein after described. In one embodiment, a stiffened, nonflowable nondigestible fat can be mixed or subjected to an amount of shear to physically change the crystal network of the material such that it becomes flowable. The material is used in its fully cooled, solidified state. Importantly, the nondigestible fat should display minimal post shear hardening that would impede flowabihty after processing The desired flowabihty can be achieved by controlling the crystal morphological structure or level of solid fat Preferred crystal structures are not beta-prime tending and resemble more alpha or beta type crystal states The alpha or beta crystal states can be preferentially achieved by use of sucrose fatty acid esters A preferred embodiment is the use of sucrose fatty acid esters which are more likely to retain a fluid structure with sufficient suspension viscosity after shear The steanc hindrance fatty acid arrangement derived from the molecular geometry promotes the formation of spherical or platelet crystals which resist an ordered orientation that would lead to post shear hardening The inherent viscosity of the material due to its higher molecular weight than other edible oils improves the capability to suspend solid particulates The lower tendency for post shear hardening allows a wider range of solid fat materials to be used to tailor the level of the suspension viscosity The nondigestible solid fat level used to minimize or avoid post hardening is 1-20%, preferably 3-15%, more preferably 4-10%, and most preferred 5-8%

Shear can be applied to the edible oil by an impeller type agitator (e g Lightmn Mixer) or a swept wall mixer (e g Hobart, Hamilton, Bredda) or similar mechanical rotary mixing devices for between 5- 15 minutes The shear applied via this type of processing is 1000-4000 dynes/cm^, preferably 1200-3600 dynes/cm^, more preferably 1800-3000 dynes cm^ The sheared nondigestible fat has a Consistency of less than 600 P sec(ⁿ" ' ), preferably less than 400 P sec(ⁿ" ^■ more preferably less than 200 P sec(ⁿ" ' ), and most preferably less than 100 P sec(ⁿ" ' ) in a temperature range of 20-40°C Surprisingly, the non-digestible fat does not have a yield point and reaches a stable rheology capable of supporting a stable suspension after sufficient shear mixing The mixing can be done at temperatures up to 49°C (about 120°F) and preferably at ambient temperature, for example at about 21°C This type of process is suitable for manual or batch shear thinning of small quantities on the order of one drum (about 200 liters) of nondigestible fat per batch, and would not accommodate a continuous mass production facility

Preferred for use with the present invention are flowable nondigestible oils which, though capable of being used in food products to provide effective passive oil loss control, are processed to be flowable at ambient storage conditions (temperatures of from 5°C to about 40°C), and therefore easy to process into the vitamin suspension Such a flowable nondigestible oil composition generally has a Consistency of less than 600 P sec(n-l ) in a temperature range of from 20-40°C The flowable nondigestible oil composition will have a Consistency of preferably less than about 400 P sec(^n* 1 ), more preferably less than about 200 P sec(ⁿ" 1 ), and most preferably less than about 100 P sec(n- l), in a temperature range of 20-40°C

A preferred flowable nondigestible oil composition comprising a solid nondigestible oil component having a melting point above 37 °C can be processed by applying shear to the composition while crystallizing the solid nondigestible oil component Such flowable nondigestible oil compositions and processes tor making are described in co-pending USSN 08/844,590 (Attorney Docket No. 6586), filed April 21 , 1997, and are herein referred to as fractionally crystallized flowable polyol polyesters. The solid nondigestible oil component comprises a saturated polyol fatty acid polyester, and preferably also a diversely esterified polyol polyester. The solid saturated polyol polyester is capable to crystallizing into spherulites from a liquid oil in which it is melted. The solid saturated polyol polyester of the present invention will comprise esters of essentially only, and preferably only, long chain saturated fatty acid radicals which are typically normal and contain at least 14, preferably 14 to 26, and more preferably 16 to 24, and most preferably from 20 to 24, carbon atoms. Particularly preferred are saturated fatty acid radicals of 22 carbon atoms. The long chained saturated radicals can be used in combination with each other in all proportions. Examples of suitable long chain saturated fatty acid radicals include tetradecanoate (myristate), hexadecanoate (palmitate), octadecanoate (stearate), eicosanoate (arachidate), docosanoate (behenate), tetracosanate (lignocerate), and hexacosanoate (cerotate).

The solid diversely esterified polyol polyester of the present invention comprises polyol polyesters which have their ester group-forming fatty acid radicals selected so that the polyol backbone does not contain all of a single type of ester group. Generally, these polyol polyesters contain two basic types of ester groups. These are (a) ester groups formed from long chain saturated fatty acid radicals, as herein above described, and (b) dissimilar ester groups formed from acid radicals which are "dissimilar" to the long chain saturated fatty acid radicals. When these "dissimilar" fatty acid and/or other organic acid radicals are esterified onto a polyol that contains or will contain long chain saturated fatty acid radicals, they will introduce diverse esterification into the resulting polyol polyester molecule, thereby altering the crystal structure as these molecules pack together during crystallization. This diverse esterification can be due to differences in length of the ester-forming acid radicals (e.g., short chain versus long chain), or other steric factors, e.g. branched chain versus straight chain, unsaturated chain versus saturated chain, aromatic chain versus aliphatic chain, etc. Polyol polyesters containing these "long chain" and "dissimilar" ester groups are therefore herein called "solid diversely esterified polyol polyesters".

The solid diversely esterified polyol polyesters tend to have "asymmetrical" or irregular molecular structures. It is believed that the asymmetrical structure of these molecules interfere with the normal packing tendency of the symmetrical solid saturated polyol polyester molecules during co-crystallization in the liquid polyol polyester. This interference blocks the usual unrestrained three dimensional growth of the solid saturated polyol polyester molecules and thus induces restrained three dimensional growth or otherwise induces growth in, at most two dimensions, e.g., the formation of relatively thin platelet-like particles.

The dissimilar ester groups are formed from acid radicals selected from long chain unsaturated fatty acid radical, short chain saturated fatty acid radical, and other dissimilar fatty acid radicals, and mixtures thereof. The preferred dissimilar acid radical is a long chain unsaturated fatty acid radical. The long chain unsaturated fatty acid radicals are typically straight chain (i e , normal) mono- and di-unsaturates, and contain at least about 12, preferably about 12 to about 26, more preferably about 18 to 22, and most preferably 18 carbon atoms Examples of suitable long chain unsaturated fatty acid radicals for the solid polyol polyesters herein are lauroleate, myπstoleate, palmitoleate, oleate, elaidate, erucate, linoleate, nolenate, arachidonate, eicosapentaenoate, and docosahexaenoate For oxidative stability, the mono- and/or diunsaturated fatty acid radicals are preferred

The short chain saturated fatty acid radicals are typically normal and contain 2 to 12, preferably 6 to 12 and most preferably 8 to 12, carbon atoms Examples of suitable short chain saturated fatty acid radicals are acetate, butyrate, hexanoate (caproate), octanoate (caprylate), decanoate (caprate), and dodecanoate (laurate)

Other dissimilar ester-forming radicals can include fatty-fatty acid radicals having at least one hydroxyl group that is esteπfied with another fatty or other organic acid Nonlimiting examples of suitable fatty-fatty acid radicals include 12-hydroxy-9-octadecenoιc acid (πcmoleic acid), 12-hydroxy-octadecanoιc acid, 9-hydroxy-octadecanoιc acid, 9-hydroxy-10, 12- octadecadienoic acid, 9-hydroxy-octadecanoιc, 9, 10-dιhydroxyoctadecanoιc acid, 12, 12- dihydroxyeicosanoic acid, and 18-hydroxy-9, I I , 13-octadecatπenoιc acid (kamolenic acid) Ricinoleic acid is a preferred hydroxy-fatty acid Castor oil is a convenient source of πcinoleic acid Other sources of hydroxy-fatty acids include hydrogenated castor oil, strophanthus seed oils, calendula officinahs seed oils, hydrogenated strophanthus seed oils and hydrogenated calendula officinaiis seed oils, cardamine impatiens seed oils, kamala oils, mallotus discolor oils, and mallotus claoxyloides oils

The fractionally crystallized flowable polyol polyester can also optionally contain other solid nondigestible particles which comprise polymerized polyesters, i e , polyol polyester polymers Such polyol polyester polymers can be added so long as they do not significantly interfere with the formation of the solid saturated polyol polyester spheruiites Polyol polyester polymers are those formed by polymerizing a polyol polyester monomer to provide a molecule having at least two separate esterified polyol moieties linked by covalent bonds between ester groups of these different polyol moieties For example, two sucrose octabehenate monomers could be cross-linked between fatty acids to form a polymer Repeating units of such polyol polyester polymers can be the same or different such that the generic term "polymer" in this context includes the specific term "copolymer" The number of repeating monomer (or co-monomer) units which make up such polyol polyester polymers can range from about 2 to 20, preferably from about 2 to 12 Depending on the method of preparing them, the polyol polyester polymers are frequently oligimers containing from 2 to 4 monomeric units, I e , are dimers, trimers, or tetramers The most typical type of polyol polyester polymer for use herein is dimer Liquid nondigestible oils have a complete melting point below about 37°C include liquid polyol fatty acid polyesters (see Jandacek, U S Patent 4,005,195, Issued January 25, 1977), liquid esters of tricarballylic acids (see Hamm, U S Patent 4,508,746, Issued April 2, 1985), liquid diesters of dicarboxylic acids such as derivatives of malonic and succinic acid (see Fulcher, U S Patent 4,582,927, Issued April 15, 1986), liquid triglyceπdes of alpha-branched chain carboxylic acids (see Whyte, U S Patent 3,579,548, Issued May 18, 1971), liquid ethers and ether esters containing the neopentyl moiety (see Minich, U S Patent 2,962,419, Issued Nov 29, 1960), liquid fatty polyethers of polyglycerol (See Hunter et al, U S Patent 3,932,532, Issued Jan 13, 1976), liquid alkyl glycoside fatty acid polyesters (see Meyer et al, U S Patent 4,840,815, Issued June 20, 1989), liquid polyesters of two ether linked hydroxypolycarboxylic acids (e g , citric or isocitric acid) (see Huhn et al, U S Patent 4,888, 195, Issued December 19, 1988), various liquid esterified alkoxylated polyols including liquid esters of epoxide-extended polyols sich as liquid esteπfied propoxylated glycerins (see White et al, U S Patent 4,861,613, Issued August 29, 1989), Cooper et al, U S Patent 5.399,729, issued March 21 , 1995, Mazurek, U S Patent 5.589,217, issued December 31 , 1996, and Mazurek, U S Patent 5,597,605, issued January 28, 1997), liquid esterified ethoxylated sugar and sugar alcohol esters (see Ennis et al, U S Patent 5,077,073), liquid esterified ethoxylated alkyl glycosides (see Ennis et al, U S Patent 5,059,443, issued October 22, 1991), liquid esteπfied alkoxylated polysacchaπdes (see Cooper, U S Patent 5,273,772, issued December 28, 1993), liquid linked esteπfied alkoxylated polyols (see Ferenz, U S Patent 5,427,815, issued June 27, 1995 and Ferenz et al, U S Patent 5,374,446, issued December 20, 1994), liquid esterfied polyoxyalkylene block copolymers (see Cooper, U S Patent 5,308,634, issued May 3, 1994), liquid esterified polyethers containing ring-opened oxolane units (see Cooper, U S Patent 5,389,392, issued February 14, 1995), liquid alkoxylated polyglycerol polyesters (see Harris, U S Patent 5,399,371 , issued March 21, 1995), liquid partially esterified polysacchaπdes (see White, U S Patent 4,959,466, issued September 25, 1990), liquid polydimethyl siloxanes (e g , Fluid Silicones available from Dow Coming) Solid nondigestible fats or other solid materials can be added to the liquid nondigestible oils to prevent passive oil loss Particularly preferred nondigestible fat compositions include those described in US 5,490,995 issued to Comgan, 1996, US 5,480,667 issued to Comgan et al, 1996, US 5,451 ,416 issued to Johnston et al, 1995 and US 5,422,131 issued to Elsen et al, 1995 US 5,419,925 issued to Seiden et al, 1995 describes mixtures of reduced calorie tπglyceπdes and polyol polyesters that can be used herein However the latter composition may provide more digestible fat

The first step of a continuous process of making fractionally crystallized flowable polyol polyester comprises melting the solid polyol fatty acid polyesters in the liquid polyol polyester at a temperature above the temperature where substantially all of solid material of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester is melted into the liquid Preferably, the composition is raised to a temperature at least 10 °C above the complete melt temperature of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester wherein all the solid polyol fatty acid polyester is melted. The process includes the next step of fractionally crystallizing solid saturated polyol polyester into spherulites, by reducing the temperature of a melted nondigestible oil composition to a first crystallization temperature less than the onset crystallization temperature of the solid saturated polyol polyester, and holding the nondigestible oil composition at the first crystallization temperature for a time sufficient to crystallize the solid saturated polyol polyester into crystallized spherulites. Furthermore, the first crystallization temperature should be selected such that crystallization of any solid diversely esterified polyol polyester is avoided, since such could disrupt the formation of the flow-efficient spherulites. Preferably the first crystallization temperature is at least about 1°C, more preferably at least 2°C, and most preferably at least 3°C, higher than the onset crystallization temperature of the solid diversely esterified polyol polyester.

The next step of the process comprises crystallizing any remaining portion of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester, specifically the diversely esterified polyol polyester, by reducing the temperature of the composition to a second crystallization temperature, and holding the composition at the second temperature for a time sufficient to crystallize the remaining portion of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester. In a preferred process, this step further comprises applying shear energy during the step of crystallizing.

Preferably crystallization of the solid diversely esterified polyol polyester, after crystallization of the solid saturated polyol polyester into large spherulites, will substantially avoid forming the large aggregate particles clustered together, which result in a less flowable nondigestible oil. One method of forming the flowable nondigestible oil involves crystallizing the portion of the solid diversely esterified polyol polyester onto the surfaces of the spherulites (formed from solid saturated polyol polyesters) which results in an aggregated spherulite comprising a spherulite particle core surrounded or coated substantially with aggregate particles of the solid diversely esterified polyol polyester. The size of the small aggregated spherulites (comprising a spherulite core with aggregate solid diversely esterified polyol polyester crystallized to its surface) as described herein are generally about 1 micron to about 50 microns. Preferably they are from about 1 micron to about 30 microns, and more preferably from about 1 micron to about 10 microns. This process generally involves reducing the second crystallization temperature slowly through the temperature range where the solid diversely esterified polyol polyester crystallizes, in order to likewise slow the rate of crystal formation of the solid diversely esterified polyol polyester.

An alternative method is to form crystallized aggregates of the diversely esterified polyol polyester in the liquid polyol polyester, which results when the cooling through the second crystallization temperature occurs more rapidly. By applying mechanical shear to the composition during the crystallization, the small aggregate particles and platelets are prevented from clustering together into larger aggregate particles. The shear energy also can result in tearing or breaking apart of larger aggregate particles into the smaller aggregate particles. In addition, the shear energy -I l¬

ls theorized to compress the crystal structures of the smaller aggregate particles such that their dimensions and porosity are reduced The cooling rate is typically more than about 3 °C/mιn , and can be up to about 80 °C/mιn Preferably the rate of cooling is accompanied by moderate to high shear agitation A scraped wall heat exchanger is a preferred apparatus for rapidly reducing the temperature of the composition, at rates typically of about 8-80 °C/mιn

In an alternative embodiment, a flowable nondigestible fat comprising a solid nondigestible oil component having a melting point above 37 °C, the solid nondigestible oil component comprising a fully saturated polyol polyester (known as hardstock polyol polyester), can be made by fractionally crystallizing the hardstock polyol polyester into well defined spherulites of a diameter from about 3 microns to about 50 microns Such flowable nondigestible oil compositions and processes for making are descnbed in US Provisional Application

(Attorney Docket No 6650P), filed May 20, 1997, and herein referred to as shear crystallized flowable polyol polyester The solid nondigestible oil component comprises a saturated polyol fatty acid polyester, and preferably also a diversely esterified polyol polyester, as described above for the fractionally crystallized flowable polyol polyester The first step of the process of makmg shear crystallized flowable polyol polyester comprises melting the solid polyol fatty acid polyesters in the liquid polyol polyester at a temperature above the temperature where substantially all of solid material of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester is melted into the liquid Preferably, the composition is raised to a temperature at least 10 °C above the complete melt temperature of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester when all the solid polyol fatty acid polyester is melted The next step of the process comprises rapidly crystallizing at least a substantial portion of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester, defined as at least more than 50% by weight, and preferably more than 80%, more preferably more than 95%, and most preferably more than 99%, by reducing the temperature of the molten polyol polyester composition to a crystallization temperature of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester, and holding the polyol polyester composition at the crystallization temperature for a tune sufficient to crystallize the solid polyol fatty acid polyester The crystallization temperature is preferably within a crystallization temperature range of from about the onset crystallization temperature of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester, down to about 25°C Most preferably, the crystallization temperature of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester is within the temperature range of the storage conditions for the flowable nondigestible oil, typically about 25°C to about 40°C, though more preferably about 25°C to about 30°C The step of rapidly crystallizing the substantial portion of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester typically is completed in less than about 30 minutes, preferably in less than about 5 minutes, and more preferably in less than about 30 seconds, and most preferably in less than about 15 seconds The process also comprises the step of shearing during the step of crystallizing the solid polyol fatty acid polyester at the crystallization temperature By applying shear to the composition during the crystallization, the solid polyol fatty acid polyester is encouraged to crystallize into discrete crystals and unaggregated crystal platelets By shearing while the crystallization is occurring, the resulting discrete and unaggregated crystals can be inhibited from growing to a size that might be large enough to separate from the liquid phase It is also believed that the small crystal platelets may aggregate into small aggregate particles, but that the shearing inhibits the small aggregate particles from further clustering into larger aggregate particles which can begin to stiffen the composition During the crystallizing step, shear is imparted to the polyol polyester composition at from about 400 sec¹ to about 8000 sec"' , more preferably at from about 500 sec^{- 1} to about 6000 sec 1

The crystallizing step can be conducted in such equipment as a swept-wall, scraped-wall, or screw-type heat exchanger or equivalent, scraped wall agitated reactors, plate and frame heat exchangers, and tube and shell heat exchangers Such equipment in general cools the composition at a rate of from about 0 4°C/mιn to 300°C/mιn , more preferably from about 0 8°C/mιn to about 150°C/mιn Examples of such heat exchangers include Cherry Burrell Votator, Girdler "A" units, a Sollich Turbo Temperer, and a Groen Model #DR(C) used for margarine and shortening manufacture, and Aasted chocolate tempering units A preferred unit is the Votator unit which consists of a steel shaft rotating in a tube which is cooled externally by a coolant The rotating shaft is fitted with scraper blades which press against the cool inner surface at high rotation speeds, continuously scraping the crystallizing composition from the inner surface of the tube References to these conventional units include Greenwell, B A , J Amer Oil Chem Soc , March 1981, pp 206-7, Haighton, A J , J Amer Oil Chem Soc , 1976, Vol 53, pp 397-9, Wiedermann, L H J Amer Oil Chem Soc , Vol 55, pp 826-7, Beckett, S T , editor, Industrial Chocolate Manufacture and Use, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1988, pp 185-9 All of these publications are incorporated herein by reference

A scraped wall heat exchanger is a preferred apparatus for rapidly reducing the temperature and crystallizing the composition under high shear, typically at temperature reduction rates of about 8-300°C/mιn , and preferably about 100-300°C/mιn The temperature of the coolant used for this crystallizing step in this equipment is sufficiently low to quickly cool the polyol polyester composition, but not so low so as to cause a significant amount of plating out of the polyol- polyester onto the chilled surfaces of the apparatus Typically the coolant temperature is in the range of from about -23°C to about 20°C, more preferably in the range of from about -6 7°C to about 7°C Typical coolants include liquid ammonia, brine, and other refrigerants

Following the step of rapidly crystallizing and shearing the polyol polyester composition to form the discrete and unaggregated crystal particles, it is preferred to continue shearing the crystallized composition at the crystallization temperature for a time sufficient for crystallization of the solid polyol fatty acid polyester to come substantially to completion, and to allow the solid polyol fatty acid polyester to complete crystallization to the discrete and unaggregated crystal particles The continued shearing step serves to disrupt the formation of larger aggregate particles and any three-dimensional crystalline matrix that otherwise can form from the larger aggregate particles in the absence of the shearing Such continued shearing preferably avoids creating any dead zones in the mixing vessel v> ich might result in a localized stiffened composition Typically the continued shearing is done for at least about 5 minutes, and more preferably for at least about 10 minutes Generally no more than about I hour, preferably no more than about 30 minutes, is required for the continued shearing step Less shear is needed in comparison with that used during the crystallization step, generally the shear rates range from about 10 sec" 1 to about 8000 sec" ' Preferred types of apparatus for carrying out the continued shearing step include any agitated, jacketed vessel capable of being operated such that preferably air can be excluded from incorporation into the polyol polyester composition, and the temperature of the composition can be suitably controlled An example of a suitable scraped-wall, jacketed, open tank mixer is a Krueter temper kettle (Beckett, pp 183-4) In addition, it is possible to carry out the conditioning step m two or more separate pieces of agitated, heat exchanger equipment Another mechanical devices that can be used for the continued shearing of the crystallized polyol polyester is a Ross 410 X-3 or a Readco twin screw mixer

The continued shearing step can also be accomplished using non-mechanical mixing devices such as static mixers, consisting of a pipe section having a plurality of mixing elements contained in a series therein Turbulence and shear are imparted to the product as it passes through stationary mixing blades within the pipe Manufacturers of in-line static mixer include Ko ax and Lightnin

Other ingredients known in the art can also be added to the nondigestible fat, including antioxidants such as TBHQ, and chelating agents such as citric acid

Digestible fats can be used as the edible oil suspension agent, in partial or full replacement to the nondigestible fats provided there is sufficient rheology to provide particle suspension while also maintammg flowabihty This has the disadvantage of add g caloric density to the composition, but can provide the capability to further tailor the suspension rheology Suitable digestible fats include tπglyceπde oils refined or partially hydrogenated, fully hardened tπglyceπdes, lnteresteπfied tπglyceπde fats, mono and diglyceπdes, acetylated monoglyceπdes, fat based-emulsifiers, partially digestible medium chain tπglyceπdes or trans-esteπfied medium chain tπglycerides blended to achieve the desired rheology Digestible fats for this application have a Consistency of less than 600 P sec^""¹), preferably less than 400 P sec(ⁿ" ' ), more preferably less than 200 P sec(ⁿ" ^■ and most preferably less than 100 P sec(^n" ' ) in a temperature range of 20- 40°C The iodine value of the digestible fat would typically be between 85 to 1 15 with a solid fat content of 2% to 12% at a temperature of 21 1°C, preferably an iodine value of 90 to 1 15 and a solid fat content of 3% to 10%, and more preferably an iodine value of 100 to 1 15 with a solid fat content of 3% to 6% A particularly preferred digestible fat composition if partially hydrogenated com oil with an iodine value of 1 13 + 3, and a solid fat content of 2 9 + 0 8 % at 26 7°C The crystal morphology of the digestible fat can affect the amount of post shear hardening To minimize any change in Consistency it is desirable to control the level of beta-prime tending crystals which can be accomplished by limiting the combined level of C 16 and C I 8 fatty acid chains to less than 13% of the total weight of the digestible lipid and preferably less than 10% by weight An alternate approach would be to use small levels of acetylated monoglyceπde in the blend to seed alpha forming crystal structures

C The Vitamins

The food additive regulation for olestra (a nondigestible oil, available as Olean® from The Procter & Gamble Company) was issued in February 1997 and requires vitamm supplementation of at least an amount necessary to compensate for any interference with absorption of fat soluble vitamms Therefore, the following vitamins are added to foods containing olestra 1 0 milligrams alpha-tocopherol equivalents per gram olestra, 51 retinol equivalents per gram olestra (as retinyl lacetate or retinyl palmitate), 12 IU vitamin D per gram olestra, and 8 ug vitamin K per gram olestra

The fat soluble vitamms A, D, E and K. are liquids Vitamin E acetate is stable under frying conditions and can be added directly to the nondigestible fat used to make the snack or used to fry the snack The liquid forms of the vitamins are less bioavailable due to their solubility and partitioning in the nondigestible fat Powdered or encapsulated vitamins are much less soluble providing the needed bioavailability The difficulties of maintaining a uniform dispersion and the potential for oxidative/thermal degradation of some vitamins makes the application of powdered vitamin in frying oils impractical The viscosity of nondigestible fats at frying temperatures will not suspend the vitamin powder particles These liquid vitamins can be blended together or separately formed into a powdered product The powdered product is prepared by blending the vitamin with a dry carrier such as starch, sugar, gums, dextrin, gelatin or cellulose The vitamin can also be encapsulated in a gel matrix, e g gum acacia and sugar, dextrin, gelatin, or other gums Any conventional encapsulation technique and carrier can be used See U S 4,486,435 and U S 5,290,567 for disclosure of encapsulated vitamms Water soluble vitamins in a powdered or stable emulsion form can also be added

Examples of the solid vitamins that can be used in the present invention include A, B, C, D, E, and K

Vitamins in liquid form can also be part of the mixture Preferably these vitamins are readily bioavailable in the presence of nondigestible fats and are shelf stable Mixed tocopherols and tocopherol acetate from natural or synthetic sources can be added as liquids

D Other Ingredients Th e shear thinned edible oil can also be a carrier for accurate and precise metering of other food ingredients Example ingredients include oil soluble flavors in powdered or liquid form, water soluble flavors in powdered or emulsion form, minerals, nutrients such as calcium, colorants, caffeine, and tπgeminal nerve stimulants such as capsaicin

E The Vitamin Suspension

Vitamms, such as vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K in powdered or encapsulated form, are homogeneously blended with the flowable edible fat to form a stable vitamin suspension

Typically, such flowable edible oil composition will have a Consistency of about 600 or less, preferably less than about 400, and more preferably less than about 200, and most preferably less than 100

The powdered vitamins are added to the flowable nondigestible fat and mixed until a suspension is formed A preferred process is a batch making process for making the suspension, since the equipment is simple and inexpensive, and can ensure excellent control of the level of vitamins in the suspension This fat composition can generally be heated up to about 49°C (about 120°F) without causing significant vitamin degradation or disruption of the suspension This heating lowers the viscosity of the nondigestible fat and improves the pumpability and flowabihty of the vitamin suspension Preferably, the suspension is maintained at ambient temperature, such as 21 °C Once the vitamin suspension is formed, it is preferred to apply agitation or mixing sufficient to maintain the vitamin in suspension The vitamin suspension can be held in storage tanks, preferably with an inert gas blanket, until used

The ratio of vitamin powder or encapsulated vitamins to flowable nondigestible fat can be varied, as well as can be the delivery temperature and pumping rate These will be tied to food product production line speed to insure the correct level of vitamin suspension addition To maintain flowabihty, the level of vitamm powder is less than 50%, more preferably less than 30%, and most preferably less than 20% Particle size of the vitamin powder can also be varied with the maximum size governed by the inner diameter of the application apparatus with possible particle diameters of 1000 microns or greater, though preferably the vitamin powder will have about the same particle size as any salt or flavorings normally added to the food product, so that the food product will have a uniform surface of appearance and consistency The final Consistency of the suspension is less than 4000, more preferably less than 3000, and most preferably less than 2000

F The Food Product

The vitamin suspension can be readily applied for accurate and precise metering to a wide variety of continuously processed food products including fried or baked snack foods, baked goods such as cookies, breads, crackers, pretzels, bars, muffins, pie doughs or roasted nuts, coated nuts or popcorn or food service products like french fries, chicken, fish, meats A preferred food product ts a fabricated snack food, preferably in the form of a snack chip. Preferred fabricated snack chips include potato and com chips. Such fabricated potato or co snack chips. Any form or shape of a snack food or other food product can be used with the present invention, and any such food products can be fried, baked or otherwise cooked. In a preferred embodiment, the vitamin suspension is applied to a preferred fabricated snack food, the process comprises the steps of:

(a) forming a sheetable dough comprising from about 50% to about 70% of a starch- based material comprising: i) at least about 3.2% modified starch comprising at least about 3% hydrolyzed starches having a D.E. value of from about 5 to about 30, and wherein any dried modified starches present have a WAI of from about 0.4 to about 8 grams of water per gram of modified starch; ii) up to about 96.8% potato flakes having a WAI of from about 6.7 to about 9.5 grams of water per gram of starch; iii) provided that if any other starch-containing ingredient is present in the starch- based material other than potato flakes, the other starch-containing ingredient has a WAI below that of the potato flakes; and b) from about 30% to about 50% added water, (b) forming the dough into a sheet; (c) cutting snack pieces from the sheet;

(d) frying said snack pieces in a nondigestible fat; and .

(e) applying a controlled amount of the vitamin suspension to the hot snack pieces. The snack pieces are fried at a temperature sufficient to form a snack product having a light, crispy, crunchy texture, improved flavor and a nondigestible fat content of from about 20% to about 38%, preferably from about 30% to about 36%, and a moisture content of less than 5%, and are fortified with the vitamins.

Optionally, the dough compositions can include from about 0.5% to about 6% of an emulsifier.

- a) starch-based materials An important component in the dough compositions of the present invention are the starch-based materials. The doughs of the present invention can comprise from about 50% to about 70%, preferably from about 55% to about 65%, and more preferably about 60% of a starch-based material. The starch-based material can comprise from about 25 to 100% potato flakes with the balance (i.e., from 0 to about 75%) being other starch-containing ingredients such as potato flour, potato granules, com flour, masa com flour, com grits, co meal, rice flour, tapioca, buckwheat flour, rice flour, oat flour, bean flour, barley flour, tapioca, as well as modified starches, native starches, and dehydrated starches, starches derived from tubers, legumes and grain, for example comstarch, wheat starch, rice starch, waxy com starch, oat starch, cavassa starch, waxy barley, waxy rice starch, glutinous rice starch, sweet rice starch, amioca, potato starch, tapioca starch, cornstarch, oat starch, cassava starch, rice starch, wheat starch, and mixtures thereof The starch- based material preferably comprises from about 40% to about 90%, more preferably from about 50% to about 80%, and even more preferably about 60% to about 70%, potato flakes and from about 10% to about 60%, preferably from about 20% to about 50%, and more preferably from about 30% to about 40%, of these other starch-containing ingredients

Particularly preferred starch-based materials of the present invention are made from dehydrated potato flakes and potato granules wherein the potato flakes comprise from about 25% to about 95%, preferably from about 35% to about 90%, and more preferably from about 45% to about 80% of the starch-based material, and the potato granules comprise from about 5% to about 75%, preferably from about 10% to about 65%, and more preferably from about 20% to about 55%, of the starch-based material

Another preferred embodiment can be made using a mixture of potato flakes and potato granules, combined with other starch-containing ingredients that are not potato flakes or granules Typically, the combined flakes and granules comprise from about 40% to about 90%, preferably from about 50% to about 80%, and more preferably from about 60% to about 70% of the starch- based material, while the other non-potato flake/granule starch-containing ingredients comprise from about 10% to about 70%, preferably from about 20% to about 50%, and more preferably from about 30% to about 40%, of the starch-based materials

Particularly preferred potato flakes comprise from about 40% to about 60% broken cells, from about 16% to about 27% amylose, from about 5% to about 10% moisture, and at least about 0 1% emulsifier Additionally, the dehydrated flakes of the present invention have a WAI of from about 6 7 to about 9 5 grams of water per gram of flakes, a hot paste viscosity of from about 100 Brabender Units (BU) to about 320 BU and a cold paste viscosity of from about 100 BU to about 200 BU From about 40% to about 60% of the dehydrated potato flakes remain on a #40 U S screen

The potato flakes can be prepared by steam peeling raw potatoes and slicing the peeled potatoes to a thickness of from about 025 to about 0 75 inches, preferably from about 0 3 to about 0 7 inches and more preferably from about 0 35 to about 0 65 inches (hereinafter referred to as "slabs")

Next the raw potato slabs are cooked under atmospheric pressure using steam typically having a pressure of about 2 to about 20 psig (pounds per square inch gauge) The temperature of the potato slabs rise from about 175°F ( 79°C) to about 212°F (100°C) during the first one-third of the cooking cycle, with the temperature remaining at about 212°F (I 00°C) during the remainder of the cooking cycle The temperature rise from about 175°F (79°C) to about 212 °F ( 100°C) preferably occurs over a time period of more than about 10 minutes with the total cooking time being at least about 30 minutes After steam cooking, the potato slabs are need, dehydrated and comminuted by known methods

In order to obtain the desired organoleptical properties in the snack product (i e , enspness, decreased waxiness impression and increased mouthmelt), it is important that the starch-based material comprise at least about 3 2% of a modified starch comprising at least about 3% hydrolyzed starches having a DE of from about 5 to about 30, and wherein any dried modified starches present have a WAI of from about 04 to about 8 grams of water per gram of modified starch It is also important that any potato flakes in the starch-based materials have a WAI of from about 6 7 to about 9 5 grams, preferably from about 7 0 to about 9 0, and more preferably from about 7 7 to about 8 3, grams of water per gram of starch and that any other starch-contain ing mgredients have a WAI lower than the potato flakes

The starch-based materials preferably comprise a high amylopectin flour or starch (~ at least about 40% amylopectin) selected from the group consisting of waxy com, waxy barley, waxy rice, glutinous rice, sweet rice, and mixtures thereof When a high amylopectin flour or starch is used it is preferably present at a level of from about 1% to about 15%, preferably from about 2% to about 10%, and more preferably from about 3% to about 6%, by weight of the starch-based materials

In order to obtain the desired organoleptical properties of the snack and sheetability of the doughs of the present invention, it is important that the high amylopectin flour have a WAI lower than the flakes or granules used to make the dough composition Preferred high amylopectin flours are selected from the group consisting of sweet rice flour, waxy rice flour and waxy com flour Particularly preferred high amylopectin starches are available from National Starch and Chemical Coφoration, Bπdgewater, NJ and is sold under the trades name of Cereal Crisp™, Amioca™ and Hylon V™ (50% amylose ) and Hylon VII ™ (70% amylose) b) modified starch

An essential ingredient in the dough compositions of the present invention is modified starch (When calculating the level of modified starch according to the present invention, modified starch (e g , gelatinized starch) that is inherent in potato flakes or granules and flours is not included ) At least about 0 2% modified starch selected from the group consisting of pregelatinized starches, cross-linked starches, acid modified starches, and mixtures thereof are needed to increase the enspness of the chip Preferably, a level of from about 0 2% to about 10%, more preferably from about 1% to about 7%, and even more preferably from about 3% to about 5%, modified starch is used Particularly preferred modified starches are available from National Starch and Chemical Coφoration, Bπdgewater, NJ and are sold under the trade names of N-Lite™ (pregelatinized- crosslinked starch, Ultrasperse -A™(pregelatιnιzed, waxy co ), N-Creamer™ 46 and Co PCPF400™ This material is a partially pre-cooked co meal Hydrolyzed starch is also needed in the dough compositions of the present invention Hydrolyzed starch is important to the processability of the doughs of the present invention which have relatively low water levels In the absence of hydrolyzed starches, low moisture levels in the dough can prevent formation of a continuous, smooth extensible dough sheet, can hinder subsequent expansion of the dough pieces during frying and can also affect the elasticity of the dough. Although the dough compositions can be sheeted without the inclusion of hydrolyzed starches, the resulting snack product is high in fat and has an undesirable hard, brittle and foamy texture

Hydrolyzed starches can be included in the dough compositions in an amount of at least about 3%, with a usual range of from about 3% to about 15%. Preferably, hydrolyzed starches are included in an amount of from about 5% to about 12%. Suitable hydrolyzed starches for inclusion in the dough include maltodextπns and com syrup solids The hydrolyzed starches for inclusion in the dough have Dextrose Equivalent (D.E.) values of from about 5 to about 30, preferably from about 10 to about 20 Maltπn™ M050, Ml 00, Ml 50, Ml 80, M200, and M250 (available from Grain Processmg Coφoration, Iowa) are preferred maltodextπns. The D E value is a measure of the reducing equivalence of the hydrolyzed starch referenced to dextrose and is expressed as a percentage (on a dry basis) The higher the D.E. value, the higher the dextrose equivalence of the starch. c water The dough compositions of the present invention comprise from about 30% to about

50%% added water, preferably from about 22% to about 40%, and more preferably from about 24% to about 35%, added water. The level of water in flours and starches is usually from about 3% to about 8%. However, if the maltodextπn or com syrup solids are added as a solution or syrup, the water in this syrup or solution is included as "added water". The amount of added water includes any water used to dissolve or disperse ingredients and includes water present in co syrups, etc. d. emulsifiers

An ingredient that can be added optionally to the dough compositions to aid in the processability of the dough is an emulsifier. The emulsifier works via several mechanisms. The first is as a coating of the flour m the mixer just prior to the addition of the water. This limits the moisture absoφtion of the flour producing a "short" dough The second function of the emulsifier is to create a dispersion of fat and moisture droplets throughout the dough Both of these mechanism tend to limit the adhesiveness of the starch contained in the flour, preventing permanent adhesion to the sheeting rolls An emulsifier is preferably added to the dough composition prior to sheeting the dough

The emulsifier can be dissolved in a fat or in a polyol fatty acid polyester, preferably a sucrose fatty acid polyester such as Olean™, available from The Procter and Gamble Company. Suitable emulsifiers include mono- and diglyceπdes, diacetyl tartaπc acid esters and propylene glycol mono- and diesters and polyglycerol. Polyglycerol emulsifiers such as monoesters of polyglycerols, preferably hexapolyglycerols can be used.

Particularly preferred emulsifiers comprise a blend of from about 42.5% to about 90%, preferably from about 50% to about 85%, more preferably from about 60% to about 80%, nondigestible fat with the balance being a mixture of di-glyceride, triglyceride, and preferably a monoglyceride wherein the level of monoglyceride is at least about 30%, and is typically from about 30% to about 95%, preferably from about 50% to about 90% wherein the monglyceride has an IV of greater than about 60, preferably an IV between about 70 to about 120, more preferably an IV of from about 80 to about 1 10, even more preferably an IV of from about 90 to about 100.

Preferably, the mono-glyceride is a distilled monoglyceride having an IV of about 60, derived from, for example, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower seed oil, palm oil, palm olein, safflower oil, com oil, peanut oil and mixtures thereof The preferred distilled monoglyceπdes include but are not limited to monoglyceπdes derived from,soybean oil, rapeseed and palm oil and mixtures thereof.

Typically commercially available mono-glycerides contain varying amounts of di- and tri- glyceπdes. For example, distilled monodiglyceride comprise about 90% monoglyceride while monodiglycerides comprise about 30% mono-glycerides Either can be used in the dough formulations of the present invention. The level of emulsifier depends on the amount of work input that the dough will receive in subsequent processmg (e.g., extrusion, sheeting) steps. As used herein, the term "emulsifier" refers to an emulsifier which has been added to the dry dough ingredients Emulsifiers which are inherently present in the dry dough ingredients, such as in the case of the potato flakes, are not included in the term added emulsifier. Particularly preferred monoglycerides are sold under the trade names of Dimodan™ available from Danisco, New Century, Kansas and DMG 70, available from Archer Daniels Midland Company, Decatur, Illinois.

The need for higher levels of emulsifier increases as work input increases. Typically, if the doughs are to be sheeted, emulsifiers are added to the dough in an amount of from about 0.5% to about 6% by weight, preferably from about 1.0% to about 5%, more preferably from about 2% to about 4% and more preferably about 3%.

A preferred process and apparatus for preparing fabricated chip-type fried products is disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,626,466, issued to Liepa on Dec. 7, 1971 , the disclosure of which is incoφorated by reference. The equipment system is used to make fabricated chips by frying dough pieces in dovals or as constrained dough pieces. The dough pieces are cut from a continuous dough roll and placed between two mated, perforated mold halves. The surfaces of the mold halves can be any desired shape, though preferred is a saddle shape which provides the ship with a uniform shape that can be packaged in a compact manner The apertures of the perforated mold halves are preferably uniformly distributed over the surface of the mold halves to permit the heated frying medium (preferably a heated nondigestible oil) to come into intimate contact with the surfaces of the dough sections which are positioned there between and thereby fry the same to a uniform color and texture In terms of size, apertures having a diameter of greater than about 1 centimeter are undesirable because water dispersed within the dough can vaporize into steam during frying to form surface bubbles thereon as a result of which the dough can expand through the apertures and result in difficulty when the dried chip is to be removed from the molds Preferred are stainless steels molds having a thickness of about 0 80 millimeters, and having circular apertures of about 1 6 millimeters in diameter with the centers spaced uniformly from one another by about 4 75 millimeters in a staggered pattern

The mold halves with the dough piece there between is passed through a fryer, which is a reservoir having a suitable heated fat or frying medium therein such as edible oil, shortening, or the like, and preferably a nondigestible oil The mold halves are positioned so that the dough piece is immersed in the frying medium When the dough sections have been fried, they are carried from the frying medium by the mold halves and deposited onto a finished chip delivery belt in one or a plurality of substantially straight rows of fried chips

G Application of Vitamin Suspension to the Food Product Figure 1 shows a vitamin suspension addition station 60 The finished chip delivery belt carries the chips 61 to the vitamin suspension addition station 60 where the vitamin suspension is added onto the food product stream The vitamin suspension is transferred to a feed tank 66 where it is conveyed by a pump 65 to a manifold 62 which is fitted with a plurality of nozzles 63 through which the vitamm suspension is dispensed as a vitamin suspension stream 64 The nozzle 63 can be a conventional nozzle through which the suspension is sprayed or streamed, or it can be a open- ended tube through which the suspension is dribbled The tube size or size and shape of the nozzles will depend on the food product being treated and the required application rate of the vitamin suspension, as one skilled in the art, without undue experimentation, can determine Generally, a conventional oil sprayer can be used that can accommodate the viscosity of this suspension A plurality of nozzles 63 are positioned each above a corresponding row of hot chips 61 passing thereunder on the conveying belt 3, and deliver the streams 64 of vitamin suspension onto the surfaces of the chips 61

In a preferred equipment system, each nozzle above each row of chips 61 comprises its own feed pump 65 and its own piping system, with each feed pump sourcing out of a feed tank 66 This piping arrangement permits each stream of vitamin suspension to be individually, precisely controlled via its individual pump or other metering device Optionally, the inlet to each pump can be fed from a header supplied by a separately pumped recirculation from the feed tank to further minimize flow variability

An alternate application equipment system is to pump the vitamin suspension over a rotating bed of product being turned by a tumble drum The nozzle design can be singular or multiple application points to optimize contacting with the product A variation of this concept is to apply the vitamin suspension to a mov g bed of product conveyed on a transfer belt

The rate of application of the vitamin suspension is dependent on the concentration of the vitamins in the suspension and the desired level of vitamin fortification The concentration of the vitamin suspension is determined based on the desired amount of digestible or nondigestible fat in the product that is to be contributed by the vitamin suspension stream, and on the desired level of vitamms required to be added to meet the Food Additive Petition requirements, and to compensate for any absoφtion of fat soluble vitamins caused by the nondigestible fat

Typically, edible fat be absorbed into the foods leaving the powdered or encapsulated vitamins adhering to the surface of the food In some cases, for example when the vitamm suspension is applied to food substrates having low temperature (e g , below about 60 °C, such as about 35 °C) the edible fat will not be absorbed but will form a thin coating on the surface of the food which may be aesthetically displeasing Cooling after the vitamin suspension application must be controlled to enable capillary condensation of the nondigestible fat into the surface porosity, but avoiding rapid viscosity increases via crystallization that can create an inertial barrier to absoφtion resulting in a greasy film appearance

In a preferred embodiment, where the edible oil is a nondigestible oil comprises a solid component with a melting point above about 37°C, as in the case of the nondigestible fat Olean®, the vitamin suspension is preferably added onto the food product as it exits the baking or frying processor at an elevated temperature The residual heat in the baked or fried food product can melt substantially completely the solid component of the nondigestible fat, permitting the nondigestible fat to be readily absorbed into the matrix of the product, and leaving the suspended vitamin powders adhered to the food product surface without loss of vitamin efficacy The absoφtion of the nondigestible oil into the matrix of the food leaves the food usually with no greasy appearance ^• If the snacks are fried in a fat and then steam stripped to remove fat from the surface of the fried food, the vitamin suspension is added to the fried snacks after the steam stripping operation For extruded snacks, which are not baked or fried, the suspension is added as the hot product emerges from the extruder

The present invention allows accurate and precise metering/addition of vitamms at a lower level than previously possible, which can eliminate objectionable off-flavor Additionally, the nondigestible fat further lowers off flavor by acting as a flavor masking agent Suspending the vitamin powder or encapsulated vitamins in a semi-solid nondigestible fat further helps control off- flavor that may develop in the vitamins by acting as an encapsulate It also lowers delivery costs of the vitamins significantly, since the dispensing of vitamin powder is more easily controlled when it is suspended in the nondigestible fat (less overusage and loss), and the vitamin powder does not readily separate into individual vitamin species, avoiding any need to have powdered or encapsulated vitamins with narrow or specific particle size profiles. There are no significant levels of airborne vitamins generated eliminating a potential occupational health issue.

H. Methods a) Water Absorption

In general, the "Water Absoφtion Index" and "WAI" refers to the measurement of the water holding capacity of any carbohydrate based material as a result of a cooking process. (See for example Anderson, R. A., Conway, H. F., Pfeifer, V. F. and Griffin, Jr., E. L., 1969,

Gelattmzatwn of Corn Grits By Roll- and Extrusion-Cooking. CEREAL SCIENCE TODAY; 14(1):4).

This measurement is typically expressed as the ratio of mass of water held per unit mass of material. The WAI for a sample is determined by the following procedure. The weight to two decimal places of an empty centrifuge tube is determined. Two grams of dry sample (e.g., potato flakes) are placed into the tube. Thirty milliliters of water is added to the tube. The water and sample are stirred vigorously to insure no dry lumps remain. The tube is placed in a 30°C (85°F) water bath for 30 min., repeating the stirring procedure at 10 and 20 min. The tube is then centrifuged for 15 min. at 3,000 RPM. The water is then decanted from the tube, leaving a gel behind. The tube and contents are weighed. The WAI is calculated by dividing the weight of the resulting gel by the weight of the dry sample (i.e., [weight of tube and gel] - [weight of tube] -

[weight of dry flakes]).

While this invention has been described as having preferred embodiments and compositions, the present invention can be further modified with the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.

b) Rheology Method for Edible Oils

The Consistency (K) of the nondigestible oil is measured at a temperature between 20° and 40°C using a Rheometrics controlled stress rheometer equipped with a cone and plate measuring system. The cone diameter is 4 cm and the cone angle is 2 degrees. A sample of the edible oil is carefully applied to the plate and the cone is then slowly lowered onto the sample (gap = 0.048 mm). A flow measurement is performed via the programmed application of a shear stress over time. The shear stress is increased from zero to 5,000 dynes/cm- over a 2 minutes time span. The applied stress results in deformation of the sample (i.e., strain) and the rate of strain is reported as a shear rate These data are used to create a flow curve of log [apparent viscosity] versus log [shear rate] for the nondigestible oil sample The flow curve is then modeled according to the following power law model

Apparent Viscosity = K (Shear Rate)"" ' where the apparent viscosity is expressed in units of poise (P), shear rate is in units of 1/sec, K is the Consistency in units of P sec(ⁿ"' ), and n is the shear index (dimensionless) The power law model is widely used to describe the flow behavior of non-newtonian materials On the log-log plot of apparent viscosity versus shear rate, the power law model is a straight line with slope of (n- 1 ) The shear index (n) varies from 0 to 1 The closer n is to 1, the closer the material's flow behavior is to newtonian behavior The Consistency (K) is numerically equal to the apparent viscosity at a shear rate of 1 sec^"' The values of K and n describe the flow behavior of the nondigestible oil within specific limits of shear

c) Viscosity Method for Edible Oils The viscosity of the nondigestible oil is measured at a temperature between 20° and 40°C using a Rheometrics controlled stress rheometer equipped with a cone and plate measuring system The cone diameter is 4 cm and the cone angle is 2 degrees A sample of the edible oil is carefully applied to the plate and the cone is then slowly lowered onto the sample (gap = 0 048 mm) The shear rate is set at 10 sec" ' in a step rate manner and the viscosity is measured after shear is applied for thirty seconds

d) Rheology Method for Vitamin Suspensions

The Consistency method for the edible oils was modified for the vitamin suspension to account for the effect of the solid vitamin particles on the resultant shear stress It is important to use a rheometer that controls the shear rate since The Consistency (K) of the vitamin suspension oil is measured at a temperature between 20° and 40°C using a Paar Physica MCI 00 controlled shear rate rheometer equipped with a cone and plate measuring system An MK23 cone with a diameter of 50 mm and a fixed gap of 0 05mm from the plate was used for the measurement The shear rate results in deformation of the sample requπng a given level of torque to maintain the rate against the inertial forces of the sample The torqu required is reported as a shear stress These data are used to create a flow curve of log [apparent viscosity] versus log [shear rate] for the nondigestible oil sample The flow curve is then modeled according to the following power law model

Apparent Viscosity = K (Shear Rate)"" ' where the apparent viscosity is expressed in units of poise (P), shear rate is in units of 1/sec, K is the Consistency in units of P sec(^π"' ), and n is the shear index (dimensionless) The power law modei is widely used to describe the flow behavior of non-newtonian materials On the log-log plot of apparent viscosity versus shear rate, the power law model is a straight line with slope of (n- 1 ) The shear index (π) varies from 0 to 1 The closer n is to 1 , the closer the material's flow behavior is to newtonian behavior The Consistency (K) is numerically equal to the apparent viscosity at a shear rate of 1 sec" ' The values of K and n describe the flow behavior of the nondigestible oil within specific limits of shear

I Examples

Examples of Making of a Fabricated Potato Chip

The following composition is also used to make fabricated potato chips The dough composition A comprises 35% water (based on the total dough composition), 5% of an emulsifier, and 65% of the following mixture of ingredients

Dough Composition A

Ingredient Wt. %

Potato flakes (WAI 8 5) 79 5

Potato granules (WAI 4 0) 9 0

Sweet Rice Flour (WAI 2 2) 6 0

Maltodextπn DE 18 4 0

N-Lite LP™ (WAI 0 7) 1 5

A mix consisting of the dry ingredients, water and emulsifier are blended in a Turbohzer™ to form a loose, dry dough (~ 15-60 seconds) The dough is sheeted by continuously feeding it through a pair of sheeting rolls forming an elastic continuous sheet without pin holes Sheet thickness is controlled to 0 02 inches (0 05 cm) The front roll is heated to about 90°F (32°C) and the back roll is heated to about 135°F (57°C) The dough sheet is then cut into oval shaped pieces and fried in a constrained frying mold at 385°F ( 196°C) in Vitamin E enriched OLEAN™ (made by The Procter and Gamble Company) for about 12 seconds The product is held in the molds for about 20 seconds to allow the OLEAN™ to drain The resulting product has a crisp texture The non-digestible fat level is about 30% The digestible fat level from the emulsifier is less than 0 5 grams/30 gram serving The following composition is used to make fabricated potato chips. The dough composition B comprises 30% water (based on the total dough composition) and 70% of the following mixture of ingredients:

Dough Composition B

Ingredient t. %

Potato flakes 75

Wheat Starch 9

Com Meal 9

N-Lite LP™ 3

Malto-dextrin 4

The wheat starch and co meal are blended in a Turbulizer™ mixer. The maltodextrin is dissolved in the water and added to the blend. The blend is mixed with potato flakes to form a loose, dry dough. The dough is sheeted by continuously feeding it through a pair of sheeting rolls forming an elastic continuous sheet without pin holes. Sheet thickness is controlled to 0.02 inches (0.05 cm). The dough sheet is then cut into oval shaped pieces and fried in a constrained frying mold at 375°F for about 12 seconds. The frying fat is a blend of cottonseed oil, com oil and

Olean™ (available from the Procter & Gamble Company). The fried pieces contain about 38% fat.

N-Lite LP is a crosslinked starch available from National Starch and Chemical Company,

Bridgewater, NJ.. A mix consisting of the dry ingredients is blended with a 15/85 blend of distilled monoglyceride of soybean oil, Dimodan OK, available from Donasco, and Olean®, available from The Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. The modified starch is N-Lite LP ( 1.5% dry). The 6% waxy rice flour helps to increase the sheet strength of the dough. The level of the emulsifier Olean® blend is 5% of the dough. Added water, 35%, and salt (0.4%) are mixed with the dry ingredient and emulsifier blend to form a loose, dry dough in a continuous Turbolizer® mixer with a residence time of 15 to 60 seconds (large scale).

Vitamin Suspension Example I • A blend of vitamins, available from BASF, Mt. Olive, NJ, was suspended in Olean®, available from The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH, in the weight proportions shown in Table 1. The Olean® was made of sucrose polyesters of cottonseed oil and about 7% of a solid sucrose fatty acid octaester of oleic acid and behenic acids. The Olean® was mixed in a 150 pound capacity Hobart beater mixer for 15 minutes until its viscosity is reduced to a flowable consistency of 55. The Olean® at this stage was pumpable and remains at this viscosity indefinitely even after freezing and thawing. All shear thinning and mixing were done at an ambient temperature of 75-80 °F. The vitamin powders were added to the Olean® in the mixer for 15 minutes and blended until the mixture appears homogeneous. The vitamin suspension was transferred to a tank and metered through a pipe with nozzles directly over the product on the belt The temperature of the vitamin suspension in the transfer tank was about 25 to 32°C

Fabricated potato chips were made as described above having Dough Composition A As the chips emerged from the fryer, they were transferred to a conveyor belt The chip temperature out of the fryer was about 240°F (1 15°C) to about 260°F (127°C) The vitamin suspension was added to the hot chip at about 0 9% by weight of the finished chip This was about 1 3 to 1 4 times the level recommended for vitamin supplementation, and ensured the FDA supplementation standards were at least exceeded, as well as compensated for any loss or degradation of the vitamins The chips were then cooled at a rate of about 82°C - 107°C/mιn, thereby ensuring that the nondigestible oil of the vitamin suspension, and used as the frying medium, in the fabricated chip was of a stiffened form and provided the required passive liquid oil loss control

The level of Olean® in the chips, including the Olean® used as the frying medium and the Olean® used in the vitamin suspension, was about 30 - 33% by weight of the total chip

Table 1

Target Potency m Gel

Ingredient Potency % by Weight Suspension

Vitamin A Powder 142,000 I U /g 6 10 8662 I U /g Acacia Gum, Sugar Matrix

Vitamm D Powder 100,000 I U /g 0 61 6100 I U /g Acacia Gum, Sugar Matrix

Vitamin K Powder 1% 4.12 412 ppm Acacia Gum, Sugar Matrix

Olean® ~ 89 17 N/A

Vitamin Suspension Example 2 A blend of vitamins, available from BASF, Mt Olive, NJ, was suspended in an edible vitamin suspension agent, in the weight proportions shown in Table 2 The vitamin suspension was made by teh procedure of Vitamin Suspension Example 1, except that the Olean® was shear thinned in a drum using a Lightmn Agitator mixer for about 30 minutes, and that the mixing of the vitamin suspension was done in a 100 gallon capacity Hamilton swept wall agitator mixer kettle in about a 500 pound batch The fabricated potato chips were made as described above having Dough Composition B The edible vitamin suspension agent was a 85/15 blend by weight of Olean® and monoglyceride of soybean oil The mixed tocopherols were supplied by Henkel Coφoration of LaGrange, IL under the Coviox T-70 brand name

Table 2 Target Potency in Gel

Ingredient Potency % by Weight Suspension

Vitamin A Powder 139,000 I.U./g 6.23 8662 I.U./g Acacia Gum, Sugar Matrix

Vitamin D Powder 100,000 I.U./g 0.61 6100 I.U./g Acacia Gum, Sugar Matrix

Vitamin K Powder 1% 4.12 412 ppm Acacia Gum, Sugar Matrix

Vitamin E Acetate 99.1% 2.24 2.20% Liquid Form

Mixed Tocopherols 70.0% 5.00 3.50% (Vitamin E) Liquid Form

Olean® - soybean oil — 81.80 N/A blend

The following dough composition samples are prepared and used to apply the vitamin suspesnions of Examples 1 and 2.

Dough Composition C

The following composition is used to make fabricated potato chips. The dough composition C comprises 35% water (based on the total dough composition), 5% emulsifier, and 65% of the following mixture of ingredients:

Ingredient t. %

Potato flakes (8.5 WAI) 72.8

Potato granules (4.0 WAI) 8.2

Cereal Crisp (6.9 WAI) 4.0

Maltodextrin DE 18 4.0

N-Creamer 46™ ( 1.7 WAl) 1.0

Dough Composition D The following composition is used to make fabricated potato chips. The dough composition D comprises 35% water (based on the total dough composition), 5% emulsifier, and 65% of the following mixture of ingredients:

Ingredient t.

Potato flakes (8.5 WAI) 82

Ultra-Sperse™ (3.7 WAI) 4.0

Maltodextrin DE 18 4.0

Potato Granules (4.0 WAI) 9.0

N-Creamer 46™ (1.7 WAI) 1.0

Dough Composition E

The following composition is used to make fabricated potato chips. The dough composition E comprises 35% water (based on the total dough composition), 5% emulsifier, and 65% of the following mixture of ingredients:

Ingredient Wt.

Potato flakes (8.5 WAI) 82

Ultra-Sperse™ (3.7 WAI) 4.0

Maltodextrin DE 18 4.0

Com Flour (4.0 WAI) 9.0

N-Creamer 46™ (1.7 WAI) 1.0

Dough Composition F

The following composition is used to make fabricated potato chips. The dough composition F comprises 35% water (based on the total dough composition), 5% emulsifier, and 65% of the following mixture of ingredients:

Potato flakes (8.5 WAI) 82.4

Potato Granules (4.0 WAI) 9.2

Soft Wheat Flour (1.7 WAI) 3.4

Maltodextrin DE 18 4.0

N-Creamer 46™ ( ! .9 WAI) 1.0

Dough Composition G

A dough composition G is prepared and comprises 30% water and 70% of the following mixture of ingredients:

Ingredient Wt. % in mixture

Potato flakes 78

Wheat Starch 9

Com Meal 9

Malto-dextrin 4

Dough Composition H A dough H is prepared from the following ingredients:

Ingredient Wt. % of total formula

Potato flakes 53.10

Potato granules 5.90

Maltodextrin 4.50

Water 32.70

^♦Emulsifier 3.00

Sugar 0.40

Salt 0.40

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A vitamin suspension comprising a flowable edible fat and a vitamin, wherein the vitamin suspension is pumpable.

2. The vitamin suspension of Claim 1 wherein the vitamin is a fat soluble vitamin selected from vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, and mixtures thereof.

3. The vitamin suspension of Claim 2 comprising up to 30 % vitamin.

4. The vitamin suspension of Claim 2 wherein the edible oil is a nondigestible fat selected from the group consisting of sucrose fatty acid polyester wherein the fatty acids are selected from aliphatic saturated or unsaturated fatty acids having from 8 to 22 carbon atoms, polysiloxanes, alkoxylated glycerol fatty acid esters, and mixtures thereof.

5. The vitamin suspension of Claim 4 wherein the nondigestible fat has a viscosity of not less than I poise at 100°F after 10 minutes of steady shear at a rate of 10 seconds" ' .

6. A method of fortifying a food product with vitamins, comprising the steps of: 1 ) preparing a flowable vitamin suspension containing a vitamin and an edible fat, and 2) adding a controlled amount of the vitamin suspension to the food product.

7. The method of Claim 6 wherein the preparing of step 1 ) comprises the steps of i) preparing a flowable edible fat, and ii) admixing the flowable edible fat with the vitamins to form the flowable vitamin suspension.

8. The method of Claim 7 wherein the flowable edible fat is a nondigestible fat having a Consistency of less than 600 P.sec ¹" ') in a temperature range of from 20-40°C.

9. The method of Claim 6 wherein the food product is at a temperature which is sufficient to melt completely a solid component of the edible oil of the vitamin suspension, and wherein the vitamin suspension is metered onto a surface of the food product, whereby the edible fat of the vitamin suspension is melted and absorbed into the food product.

10. The method of Claim 9 wherein the food product is a fabricated snack.