WO2014154219A1

WO2014154219A1 - A low fat extruded snack product

Info

Publication number: WO2014154219A1
Application number: PCT/DK2013/050091
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lone Andersen; Morten VINTHER
Original assignee: Kims A/S
Priority date: 2013-03-27
Filing date: 2013-03-27
Publication date: 2014-10-02

Abstract

A low fat extruded snack product is disclosed, the snack product comprising a first snack component comprising rye endosperm flour, wherein the rye endosperm flour content of the snack product is 5% to 95% by weight, the snack product further comprising flavoring in an amount of 2 to 25% by weight of said product, fat component in the amount of 1 to 25% by weight of said product. Furthermore, a method of producing a snack product is disclosed.

Description

A LOW FAT EXTRUDED SNACK PRODUCT

Field of the invention

The invention relates to a snack product according to claim 1, a method of producing the snack product according to claim 31, and use of rye endosperm according to claim 33.

Background of the invention

The invention relates to extruded snack products. Within the field of the technology, there is a general distinguishing between so-called expanded snack and direct extruded snack products.

In the present context, an expanded snack should be understood as a snack produced from a dough mix, which has been extruded into a certain shape to obtain an intermediate snack product; the final snack product being obtained by deep-frying the intermediate snack product in a fat or oil in order to expand the snack. Of course the intermediate snack product may expand or puff to some degree after extrusion, however, it is to be understood that the essential part of the expansion takes place during the deep-frying.

By a direct extruded snack is meant a snack, which undergoes expansion after the extrusion without being fried. This is contrary to an expanded snack, where the expansion happens due to the heat influence from the oil during frying. Instead, in a direct extruded snack, the puffing happens due to the extruded dough having a high temperature immediately after extrusion. Therefore, no additional heat influence is needed when producing a direct extruded snack. I.e. a direct extruded snack uses its heat energy it has received prior to being extruded, e.g. in the extruder itself or while passing through a pre-heater, to expand or puff directly after being extruder, hence the name directly extruded. Within the field of expanded snack products there has been a desire to improve the dietary properties. Such improvement may e.g. result in calorie reduced snack products. A problem of such products is that the taste and texture is regarded as inferior to the consumers, and that such products therefore are disregarded by large consumer segments.

Summary of the invention

The invention relates to a low fat extruded snack product comprising

a first snack component comprising rye endosperm flour, wherein

the rye endosperm flour content of the snack product is 5% to 95% by weight, the snack product further comprising

flavoring in an amount of 2 to 25% by weight of said product,

fat component in the amount of 1 to 25% by weight of said product. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product may comprise flour made on the basis of rye grains. The rye grains may be more or less processed prior to milling into flour. An important feature of the invention is that the endosperm forms the primary part of the applied rye grain flour. It has been established that the endosperm part of the rye is a very advantageous source of dietary fiber in relation to snacks. When applied, the rye endosperm as a dietary fiber source may both be utilized in relation to extruded crispy and crunchy snack products, in particular directly extruded snacks. The fiber incorporated in the rye endosperm is surprisingly not counteracting the expansion, and thereby the final desired texture, or at least the counteraction of the fibers on the expansion is surprisingly insignificant, resulting in a snack product surprisingly having a sufficient degree of expansion.

Moreover, and even more significant, the texture and obtainable taste may facilitate a very low fat content while still maintaining the conception of a traditional high-fat snack. A further advantage of applying the rye endosperm as a fiber source is that a part of the fibers contained therein is water soluble, and that this water solubility apparently is providing an improved mouth feel as compared to water insoluble fibers. A further advantage of applying the rye endosperm is that the fiber content, compared to other types of starch sources is extremely high, and that the fiber content does not compromise the texture and taste of the snack.

Note in the present context that the fat component refers to a fat which is added either to the composition or added to the product after extrusion.

If not stated otherwise, weight is given on a dry weight basis, i.e. the weight of the snack when dried subsequent to extrusion, expansion and the final flavoring. Also, the rye endosperm flour comprises starch which may be essential to the expansion process. Although the snack product may comprise other starch sources, the rye endosperm starch may provide a significant contribution to the expansion ability of the snack product. Furthermore, as stated above, the fibers provided in the rye endosperm may typically have a counteracting effect on the expansion, which may be disregarded or at least regarded as sufficiently low. Therefore, the rye endosperm flour may be regarded as comprising a puffing agent of starch, and at the same time being rich in dietary fibers.

Moreover, it has been established that even fiber rich endosperm of rye may act as a puffing agent, at least to some degree. Contrary to when mixing a fiber-poor starch component with fiber-rich bran, an effective puffing agent is obtained. One important advantage of the invention may be that a snack product may be obtained which has a relatively low fat content, and therefore is healthy compared to some known snack products with a very large fat content. Normally, such a low-fat snack product may compromise the taste and/or texture of the snack product, i.e. the consumer perception. However, it has been possible to obtain a snack product according to several important embodiments of the invention, which may have a low fat content and without being perceived as a low-fat snack. Simultaneously, it has been made possible to obtain a healthy looking snack product, i.e. a snack product with a high health perception compared to regular snack products. This may be obtained without compromising the taste and texture perception.

With respect to the texture perception, it may be important to obtain a crunchy snack product rather than a crispy snack product, since the crunchy texture may often be perceived as more healthy compared to a crispy texture. While both crispy and crunchy snack products have a brittle texture, a crispy texture is typically associated with a very light-weight product, which may easily soften when coming into contact with water. Therefore, in the mouth may be associated with a melting-on-the-tongue feeling. Contrary to this, a crunchy snack product will stay substantially intact when exposed to some water, i.e. in the mouth no it may stay intact until it is chewed. Typically, one difference between crispy and crunchy may be that a crispy snack product may far more easily fracture compared to a crunchy snack product. This relates inter alia to the degree of expansion of the snack product, i.e. the ratio between the volume of the unexpanded snack product right at the extruder output as defined by the extruder die and the volume of fully expanded final snack product, where a high degree of expansion correlates with a crispy snack product and a low degree of expansion with a crunchy snack product.

Several of the advantages associated with the invention may be especially pronounced in relation to direct expanded snack products, i.e. a product expanded due to the extrusion without deep frying. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises rye endosperm flour in an amount of 10% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 20% to 95% by weight of the snack food product and most preferably in an amount of 30% to 95% by weight of the snack food product.

In advantageous embodiments of the inventions rye endosperm content may be increased to very high levels. This may make the product more crunchy, but still maintaining a very good texture and taste of the final product. It should be noted that texture and taste still resembles conventional high fat snack product texture and taste, thereby providing an impressing combination of texture, taste and source of dietary fiber.

It should generally be noted that fiber in the dough may affect the expansion such that the texture of the final product may rather resemble cereal or biscuits/crackers, which is undesired for snack products.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises rye endosperm flour in an amount of 40% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 45% to 95% by weight of the snack food product and most preferably in an amount of 50% to 95% by weight of the snack food product.

In advantageous embodiments of the inventions rye endosperm content may be increased to very high levels. This may make the product more crunchy, but still maintaining a very good texture and taste of the final product. It should be noted that texture and taste still resembles conventional high fat snack product texture and taste, thereby providing an impressing combination of texture, taste and significant source of dietary fiber. Level of fiber in the final snack product, fat and flavoring may easily be more than 10% by weight of the snack product, still maintaining a very attractive taste and texture. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 15% by weight of said product.

Surprisingly, it has been established that the texture and mouth feel may resemble that of conventional snack made on a high content of fat in spite of the fact that low calorie - low fat - snacks typically are very different in texture and taste from their normal fat reference snack. In particular it has been established that the amount of fat may be kept at a relatively low level, while still maintaining that the consumer conceives the texture and taste as that of a conventional fat level snack.

This effect may be especially distinct in relation to direct extruded snack products.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 5 to 15% by weight of said product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 8 to 15% by weight of said product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 5 to 10% by weight of said product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 13% by weight of said product. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 11% by weight of said product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 9% by weight of said product. It should be noted that the fat content may go even below 9% by weight of the snack product and even lower, if the final snack product is compared with taste and texture of state of the art low calorie extruded snack products. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product further comprises a second snack component comprising a puffing agent in an amount of 5 to 65% by weight of the snack food product,

The second component may advantageously be utilized as a texture modifying component. The second component may thus primarily be a starch source, or it may be a further source or starch and dietary fiber. An example of the starch source may e.g. be corn starch and an example of a starch and dietary fiber source may be whole grain wheat. I.e. the puffing agent is added with a purpose of aiding or increasing the puffing of the snack product.

The puffing agent of the second snack component comprises starch or starch- comprising substances, such as flour. Examples of puffing agents may comprise, rye flour, rye starch, wheat flour, wheat starch, corn flour, corn starch, potato flour, potato starch, rice flour, rice starch, oat flour, oat starch, millet flour, millet starch, sorghum flour, sorghum starch, barley flour, barley starch, buckwheat flour, buckwheat starch, or flour or starch from other plants, or combinations of the aforementioned starches and/or flours. When the dough comprising the puffing agent is heated, the starch absorbs water, which may be explained in relation to a gelatinization process. After the dough is extruded, the water will evaporate relatively quickly due to the heated dough experiencing a pressure decrease associated with the extrusion. This water evaporation creates distributed small cavities within the hot dough. Due to the gelatinization of the starch, the viscosity of the dough is increased, preventing the cavities from migrating, i.e. maintaining, at least to some degree, a porous or puffed structure, even after evaporation of the water and cooling down to ambient temperatures of the snack product. According to an embodiment of the invention, the first snack component comprises whole grain flour.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the first snack component may comprise both the endosperm part of the kernel, and the subaleurone and optionally the aleurone layers thereby increasing the amount of dietary fiber in the flour and the resulting snack.

In a preferred embodiment the first snack component consist of whole grain rye.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the second snack component comprises whole grain flour.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the second snack component may comprise both the endosperm part of the kernel, and the subaleurone and optionally the aleurone layers, and thereby be a further source of starch and dietary fiber beside the first snack component.

The second snack component may advantageously comprise a significant amount of whole grain flour and even consist of whole grain flour.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product is formed by extrusion of a dough and wherein the dough comprises the first and preferably also the second component mixed with water

The dough may e.g. also comprise further components that the abovementioned first and second snack components; starch, fat and flavoring included.

According to an embodiment of the invention, at least a part of said fat is added to the snack product subsequent to extrusion. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the fat is added to snack product subsequent to extrusion for the purpose of giving the desired snack and mouth feel.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said fat and at least a part of said flavoring is added to the snack product subsequent to extrusion.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the fat is added to snack product subsequent to extrusion for the purpose of giving the desired snack and mouth feel and moreover for the purpose of binding flavor(s) to the snack.

The flavoring or flavoring agents may be added to the snack by means of spraying. The flavoring may moreover be mixed with the fat and be sprayed onto the snack.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product is dried subsequent to extrusion and prior to adding of the flavoring.

According to an embodiment of the invention, at least a part of the flavoring is added to the dough during extrusion. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the flavoring may be added to the dough during extrusion and thereby availing that the flavoring may assist the flavor experience obtained through the adding of flavoring subsequent to extrusion.

According to an embodiment of the invention, at least a part of the flavoring added to the dough during extrusion is malt, e.g. as a malt powder, or as a malt liquid. The amount of malt added to the dough is in the amount of 0.1 to 10% by weight of the final snack product, preferably in the amount of 1 to 6 % by weight of the final snack. Malt may be germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains may be made to germinate by soaking in water, and then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malting grains develops the enzymes required to modify the grain's starches into sugars, including the monosaccharide glucose, the disaccharide maltose, the trisaccharide maltotriose, and higher sugars called maltodextrines. It also develops other enzymes, such as proteases, which break down the proteins in the grain into forms that can be used by yeast. Malt may also contain small amounts of other sugars, such as sucrose and fructose, which are not products of starch modification but were already in the grain.

When added to the dough, the malt gives a very good taste to the final snack, partly because of the sweet sensation itself but also possible due to interaction with the dietary fibers.

Malt also gives an attractive flavoring of the snack product, e.g. due to the content of sweeteners such as sugars. According to an embodiment, the malt may be provided as a malt powder, which preferably may be dark malt powder. This may facilitate a darker look of the final product, which may be important to increase the health perception.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the malt may be rye malt.

According to an embodiment of the invention, sweetener is added to the dough.

According to an embodiment of the invention, sweetener may be added, preferably during extrusion to avail a final taste and texture with less need for fat. According to an embodiment said sweetener may comprise nutritive carbohydrates, or artificial sweeteners. Said sweetener may be liquid or dry sweeteners, such as corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, malt syrup, malt syrup solids, honey, maple syrup, rice syrup, rice syrup solids, sorghum syrup, refiners syrup, corn syrup solids, dextrose, fructose, crystalline fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, sucrose, brown or invert sugars, molasses and other compositions that substantially comprise sugars, whether crystalline, syrup or other physical form, and combinations thereof. Sugar substitutes can also be used according to the invention, including, e.g. saccharine, acesulfone K, aspartame, sucralose, d-tagatose and the like. Such sugar substitutes can be used in addition to, or as a substitute for, any sweetener used.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the dough comprises an added protein source.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the protein source is whey in an amount of 0.1 to 40 by weight of the snack product.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, whey may be used together with the first snack component to add a significant amount of protein to the snack product without significantly compromising the expansion, the final texture and taste.

According to an embodiment of the invention, at least 30%, preferably at least 40%, most preferably at least 50% by weight of the dietary fiber contained in the snack product is originating from the rye endosperm.

According to an embodiment of the invention, rye bran may be applied as an added fiber source, but it is preferred that significant amounts of fibers are originating from the endosperm due to the fact that bran fibers tends to counteract the desired expansion. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises a high density fiber source. The high density fiber source has a high concentration or density of fibers, higher than the fiber content of the rye endosperm. Examples of such a fiber source may include rye bran, wheat bran, or bran from other grain types, or it may be a fiber source based on other vegetable or plant parts, e.g. as extracted fibers.

According to an embodiment of the invention, other fiber sources than rye or rye bran may be applied as an added fiber source, but it is preferred that significant amounts of fibers are originating from the endosperm due to the fact that bran fibers tends to counteract the desired expansion.

In particular, it should be noted that fat alone does not provide the desired properties of a snack and that a high content of a high-concentrate fiber tends to counteract the snack-mouth feeling, e.g. by increasing the hardness of the product. In other words, the high content of fiber is desired for the purpose of obtaining a healthy snack, but it is not desired that the product resembles the texture of a cereal or many types of biscuits and crackers. In an embodiment of the invention, it is preferred that the content of high density fiber, such as bran or fiber extracts should be below 20% of the final product, preferably below 15% of the final product.

When referring to e.g. bran, it is desired that the bran percentage of the complete flour composition is below 40 or 30% according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product is a directly extruded snack product. An advantage of the above embodiment may be that a snack product with a relatively low fat content may be obtained. Due to the fact that no additional heat is needed to complete the expansion, such additional heat typically being provided by deep frying, it may only be necessary to apply fat to the snack product as a flavoring and/or to facilitate adhesion of flavoring to the snack product. Thereby, a relatively low amount of fat may be sufficient to obtain a satisfactory product with a rich taste associated with traditional snack products.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product is an expanded snack product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said flavorings comprises one or more of saline seasonings, such as salt, spiced salt, saltpeter, acid seasonings, such as plain vinegar (e.g. sodium acetate), or same aromatized with tarragon; verjuice, lemon and orange juices, hot seasonings, such as Peppercorns, ground or coarsely chopped pepper, or mignonette pepper; paprika, curry, cayenne, and mixed pepper spices, saccharine seasonings, such as sugar, or honey, pungent condiments, such as onions, shallots, garlic, chives, horseradish, hot condiments, such as mustard, gherkins, capers, English sauces, such as Worcestershire, Baron Green Seasoning, Harvey, ketchup, etc. and American sauces such as chili, Tabasco, A-l Steak Sauce, etc.; the wines used in reductions and braisings; the finishing elements of sauces and soups, or other flavors, such as e.g. buttery flavor; cinnamon flavor; 5 onion flavor; fish flavor; parmesan flavor; sesame flavor; com flavor; beef flavor; chicken flavor; lamb flavor; shrimp flavor; nacho seasoning flavor; potato flavor; green chile flavor; ranch salad dressing flavor; tomato flavor; apple flavor; mint flavor; rosemary flavor; mixed fruit flavor; mixed vegetable flavor; mixed meat flavor; mixed spice flavor; and mixed herb flavor. According to an embodiment of the invention, flavorings may also comprise malt, e.g. liquid malt or powdered malt, and also sourdough. Typically, sourdough may be considered as a leavening agent, however, sourdough also contributes to the flavoring, e.g. as a sour flavoring. Therefore, even if the taste facilitated by adding sourdough as a flavoring may be considered as an untraditional taste component, it may in some embodiments be considered as a very important flavoring. Similarly, even though malt may often be adding with the purpose of coloring, as especially dark malt may give an advantageous dark color; however, malt may also contribute to the flavor, e.g. due to a content of sweetener, and therefore, malt may be considered as a an important flavoring.

Such seasonings may e.g. be mixed in the oil and hence applied together with the oil, or alternatively applied after the oil application. According to an embodiment of the invention, said fat comprises one or more of sun flower oil, palm oil, coconut oil, rapeseed (canola) oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, olive oil, corn oil, grape seed oil, linseed oil, rice bran oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, safflower oil, or poppyseed oil, butterfat, cocoa butter, tallow, lard, animal shortening, marine fats, or synthetic oil, such as sucrose polyesters, which are liquid at ordinary room temperature.

The above fat component may according to an embodiment of the invention be present as e.g. natural, hydrogenated, or interesterified oils, combinations thereof. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises whole- grain rye flour in an amount of 10% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 20% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 30% to 95% by weight of the snack food product. According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises whole- grain rye flour in an amount of 40% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 45% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 50% to 95% by weight of the snack food product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises whole- grain rye flour in an amount of 50% to 90% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 50% to 80% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 50% to 70% by weight of the snack food product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises wheat flour in an amount of 1% to 70% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 10% to 50% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 20% to 30% by weight of the snack food product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises whole- grain wheat flour in an amount of 1% to 70% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 10% to 50% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 20% to 30% by weight of the snack food product.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises sourdough powder in an amount of 0.1% to 10% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 1% to 5% by weight of the snack food product. According to one embodiment, said sourdough powder is present as a flavoring. Typically, such sourdough powder may produce a mildly sour taste because of the lactic acid produced by lactobacilli.

Sourdough and corresponding powder may typically be a dough containing a Lactobacillus culture in symbiotic combination with yeasts. Although sourdough and corresponding powder in bread production is normally used as a leavening agent instead of e.g. baker's yeast, it may also, or alternatively, be used as a flavoring due to the sour taste it provides. Especially in products where relative conditions, such as high temperatures may be applied, or where the time for leavening is relatively short, such sourdough or sourdough powder may still provide a characteristic flavoring.

Apart from the first snack component, fat and flavoring, the ingredients may be milk products, flavor enhancers, pH regulating means, nutritional supplements, such as vitamins or minerals, and coloring additives.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the snack product comprises whole- grain rye flour in an amount of 40% to 70%, preferably in an amount of 50% to 60%, and

wherein the snack product comprises whole-grain wheat flour in an amount of 15% to 30%), preferably in an amount of 20% to 27%, and

wherein the snack product comprises fat in an amount of 5% to 25%, preferably in an amount of 5% to 15%, and

wherein the snack product comprises flavoring in an amount of 0.5% to 20%, preferably in an amount of 5% to 10%.

wherein the snack product comprises flavoring in an amount of 0.5% to 20%, preferably in an amount of 5% to 10%, and wherein the snack product comprises malt in an amount of 1% to 8%, preferably in an amount of 4% to 6%, and

wherein the snack product comprises sourdough in an amount of 0.5% to 4%, preferably in an amount of 1% to 3%.

The invention furthermore relates to a method of producing a snack product, whereby the method is performed by extrusion of a snack product according to any of the above embodiments.

Moreover, the invention relates to a use of rye endosperm as a puffing agent in a fat containing snack product, wherein the amount of rye endosperm is higher than 10% by weight of the snack product.

Moreover, the invention relates to a use of rye endosperm as a puffing agent according to claim 30, wherein the amount of rye endosperm is higher than 20%, preferably more than 30, most preferably above 40% by weight of the snack product.

The drawings

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described in more detail in the following with reference to the figure, in which figure 1 illustrates a system for producing expanded snack products according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Extrusion may be defined as a cooking-extrusion process with the aim of producing a voluminous, expanded, crispy or crunchy product resembling somewhat a baked product. Although many different raw materials may be used in an extrusion process, typically a dough comprising one or more of the following dry products starch, protein, fat, sugar, and fibers, together with liquids, such as water. One important feature of extrusion, especially in relation to directly expanded snack products, may be the relatively high temperature of above 100°C and above-ambient pressure of the dough when exiting the extruder. For expanded snack products, the temperature may not be a critical factor, since such a process may be understood as comprising an extrusion and a subsequent expansion process; the extrusion is responsible mainly for the shaping of the product, while the expansion process of heating e.g. submerged in hot oil is responsible mainly for the expansion of the snack product into the desired texture.

Typically, a puffing agent is added with a purpose of aiding or increasing the puffing or expansion of the snack product. Typically, the puffing agent for a snack product comprises starch or starch-comprising substances, such as flour. In an extrusion process, the dough under high temperature and pressure as described above, is fed out of the extruder through a hole or die into ambient conditions. The dough, pressed through a die into a room of ambient or atmospheric pressure, blows up mainly due to water evaporating at a very high speed, expands as per its elasticity, cools down, however, due to the heat loss suffered by it in evaporating out the water, hardens up due to the cooling as well as due to the loss of water and retains, depending on the grade of hardening, its form and volume, which it has obtained due to its earlier mentioned expansion. Various different snack products, such as directly expanded products, are cut after being outputted from the extruder. Some directly extruded products are cut very near to the die-face. Other directly extruded products, such as extruded bread chips, may often be cut only after the expanded dough has cooled to some extent and has become more firm. Such a cut, made through an already expanded material, creates an open pored extrudate surface with an attractive optical appearance and texture, reminding one of the appearance of a cut bread slice.

In order to be able to expand overheated dough at the exit of the die into a well- formed strand, the dough in the die must be held under a definite pressure which is larger than the steam pressure. E.g. dough temperatures of 160-180°C demand hence a minimum pressure of 6-10 Bars. Higher the dough pressure at the die, more intensive is the expansion of the strand in the direction transverse to the direction of extrudate strand flow.

If one now selects a big die opening to achieve a strand with the largest cross section, it also causes simultaneously a lower die-pressure, and one runs the risk that the minimum pressure, below which the dough expansion occurs, is already reached even when the dough is inside the die. The result is a badly formed, frequently splitting strand, with a rough surface.

One can increase the die pressure through a higher viscosity of the dough (lower moisture) and thus cause a higher expansion in the direction transverse to the direction of strand flow. Dough with lower moisture hardens very quickly and is hence subjected to very little shrinkage after expansion, which may be advantageous in the formation of strands with larger cross-sections. A lower moisture, however, also encourages the formation of very soft textures, which differentiate themselves significantly from the texture of "roasted bread". Highly viscous, drier doughs, however, have lower elasticity, as a result of which significant tension is caused within the product even during the process of expansion. These tensions lead to splitting of the strand surface and formation of irregular pores / texture. Therefore, in order to obtain a crunchy and uniform texture, which comes as close as possible to the texture of roasted bread, it is necessary to carry out the extrusion at sufficiently high moisture levels (which may be e.g. 17-23%). At such moisture levels the dough remains relatively soft and elastic for relatively longer time after expansion.

The use of whole-grain raw-materials with corresponding content of evaporation nuclei in the form of size-reduced fiber material, may help to reduce the size of the bubbles and thus in forming more uniform textures. But they also reduce the expansion in the transverse direction. Such a reduction in expansion may, however, be desired, as this may lead to a more crunchy texture rather than a very light, crispy texture associated with relatively high degrees of expansion.

Also, a relatively high content of fibers, such as fibers from whole-grain raw- materials, may advantageously be combined with relatively high water content in the dough. This may in turn require a corresponding drying process after extrusion, although a high degree of water evaporation takes place immediately after extrusion. According to different important embodiments of the invention, rye endosperm flour or whole-grain rye flour may be used as the first snack component. In such embodiments, the first snack component comprises rye endosperm flour as a dominating part. This may be illustrated in relation to extraction rate of different rye flours. Flours may generally be characterized by the rate of extraction. Extraction rate is the proportion of flour, derived by milling, from a known quantity of grain. E.g. white wheat flour typically has an extraction rate of 75-78% or less. Whole grain flour is characterized by a very high extraction rate, and the extraction rate may typically be required, depending on national law, to be 100% or at least very close to 100% to market a flour or flour-containing product as whole-grain.

Flour having an extraction rate below 100%, such as e.g. 70%, the removed part (e.g. the 30%)) is typically the most fiber-rich part, namely the bran, due to the typically relatively poor characteristics of such parts for e.g. baking, and correspondingly the relatively advantageous characteristics of the fiber-poor parts, i.e. the endosperm, for e.g. baking. However, removed parts, i.e. the bran, may be sold separately for purposes where the fiber-content is most important. Therefore, when an extraction rate of flour is lower than 100%, this flour may be composed almost entirely of grain endosperm parts, e.g. have more than 90% or 95% or even high degree of endosperm parts. Although whole-grain flour has a lower degree of endosperm parts, these endosperm parts are still dominant, and may e.g. be constitute around 75-90% of the flour.

According to the present invention, rye flour may be used either as a whole-grain flour, or as a flour with a lower extraction rate, such as e.g. around 80%. In any case such rye flour is based primarily on the rye endosperm. Therefore, whether using rye endosperm flour, which may have an extraction rate of e.g. 80%, or using whole- grain rye flour with an extraction rate of about 100%) as a first snack component, the first snack component will comprise rye endosperm flour as the part of the first snack component based on the rye endosperm. Examples

A number of experiments have been performed to illustrate example embodiments of the invention. Table 1 : Dry ingredients of example 1-10

Example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Whole- 20 20 70 13 9 10 10 20 10 13 grain rye

flour

Whole- 40 40 30 26 18 21 20 40 20 26 grain

wheat

flour

Corn 50 50 0 33 23 26 37.5 25 25 32

Potato 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 0 0 0 granulate

Whole- 10 10 0 7 5 5 0 0 0 0 grain rice

flour

Whole- 25 12.5 0 8 6 6 0 0 0 0 grain spelt

flour

Sofabran 0 10 0 7 5 5 0 0 0 0 fibers

Whole- 10 10 0 7 5 5 0 0 0 0 grain

buckwheat

flour

Dark malt 0 0 4 0 0 0.79 0 0 0 0 flour Sourdough 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 powder

Above the dry ingredients of the different example snack products are listed in parts, i.e. in arbitrary units which not necessarily adds up to 100. A snack product can be produced from the ingredients listed in the above table 1, with a subsequent treatment of shape, oil or fat, and seasoning. In more detail, the ingredients listed in table 1 are inputted in an extruder, e.g. as a pre-mixed dough, and subjected to a relatively high pressure and temperature in the extruder, before being extruded to ambient temperature and pressure, which causes the dough to expand to a desired size, preferably after being cut into suitable pieces. Finally, the expanded snack is coated with oil and seasoning to produce the final snack product.

Now, referring to figure 1, a snack product system (SPS) for producing a snack product (FPR) according to an embodiment is illustrated. The snack product system (SPS) comprises a premixer (PMX), an extruder (EXT) having an extruder input (EXI) and an extruder output (EXO), a cutter (CUT), a dryer (DRY), and a flavor applier (FLA).

The extruder input (EXI) comprises a first extruder input (EXI1) for receiving a first input stream (INI) and a second extruder input (EXI2) for receiving a second input stream (IN2). In alternative embodiments, the extruder (EXT) may only have a single input, or the extruder (EXT) may have several additional inputs. Preferably, the second extruder input (IN2) and subsequent inputs may be for receiving input streams of relatively low volume. The first input stream (INI) is preferably inputted to the pre-mixer (PMX) and fed on to the first extruder input EXI1 as a pre-mixed dough (PMD). The first input stream (INI) may comprise several components, such as a first snack component and , optionally, a second snack component and further snack components. Also, the first input stream (INI) preferably comprises water for mixing with the snack components in the pre-mixer (PMX) to obtain a pre-mixed dough (PMD). The pre-mixer (PMX) may typically be connected to the first extruder input (EXI1) via a feeding system, or preferably directly connected, or even in some embodiments integrated in the extruder (EXT). The pre-mixed dough (PMD) is passed through the extruder (EXT), which may typically comprise a heater.

Optionally the pre-mixer (PMX) may also comprise a heater to heat the pre-mixed dough. Also, the extruder (EXT) may optionally facilitate further mixing of the dough. The extruder (EXT) may comprise e.g. a screw conveyer or a piston for moving the pre-mixed dough (PMD) through the extruder (EXT) towards the extruder output (EXO). An extruded product (EXP) is formed as the output of the extruder output (EXO). The extruder output (EXO), comprises a die, which has a certain transverse cross-sectional shape that defines the shape of the extruded product (EXP). E.g. the die may have a flat elongated substantially rectangular shape. This results in a flat extruded product (EXP), which may typically expand primarily in the direction transverse to the longer dimension of the die, i.e. for a die with an elongated rectangular shape with the longer direction being horizontal, the dominating direction of expansion of the extruded product (EXP) is vertically. The extruded product (EXP) is fed through a cutter (CUT) thereby forming a cut product (CPR), which may be positioned immediately after the extruder output (EXO) or with a certain length of e.g. conveyer belts between so as to allow the extruded product (EXP) to expand before cutting. The cut product (CPR) is then fed into a dryer (DRY) where it is subjected to heat and/or air flow so as to facilitate further evaporation of water from the cut product (CPR), thereby, forming a dried product (DPR). The dried product (DPR) is finally fed into a flavor applier (FLA), which applies fat, e.g. as a vegetable oil, and flavoring onto the dried product (DPR), thereby, forming a final snack product (FPR). The application of fat and flavoring may e.g. be by spraying a mixture of fat and flavoring onto the dried product (DPR) or by application of fat, and a subsequently application of flavoring.

It should be noted that the contents referred to in the tables are directed to dry ingredients or ingredients present in the dough during extrusion. Typically, the dough of the snack products referred to contains an amount of water. A part of the water is already contained in the ingredients, e.g. in the flour. Another part needs to be added to the dry ingredients to facilitate mixing into dough and an appropriate expansion. Referring to the examples, 5 to 20 parts of water have been added to obtain the desired result. Evidently, other amounts of water may be applicable e.g. depending on the specific type of formulation, the applied extruder, die dimension etc.

In relation to fat, it should also be noted that the final snack product of the examples will be added a fat component. Some fat may already be present in the ingredients listed in the tables and fat may also be added to the dough, typically for the purpose of providing a certain desired flavor or texture of the final product.

In the present examples, as stated in the tables, no separate fat source has been added to the dough.

However, fat has been added to the snack product subsequent to extrusion, expansion and drying. The expansion and drying will effectively bring the water content below 6%, typically below 2 to 4% by weight of the snack product. The fat may e.g. be sprayed onto the expanded snack product in the form of an oil, whereby the snack product will bind all or a part of the sprayed oil. The sprayed oil may advantageously be mixed with the flavoring, e.g. salt and seasoning, thereby giving the final faste and texture of the product.

In the present examples, the final content of fat in the snack product has been kept as low as 8 to 12 % by weight of the final product. The fat component may of course be adjusted to fit the desired final product. Different types of fat may be applied. In the present context, sunflower oil has been used in all examples.

Example 1

Specifically referring to example 1 , the ingredients from table 1 are fed into a pre- mixer together with a suitable amount of water, e.g. around 10 wt%, which outputs a pre-mixed dough. This pre-mixed dough is inputted to an extruder through an extruder input, which may comprise more than one separate input, such as input valves, through which other ingredients may be added in-line. The extruder used in the present example is a High Tempereature Ultra Short Time (HTUST) extruder from Schaaf Technologie GmbH operating with an internal pressure well above ambient pressure, typically several bars, and an internal temperature of about 140°C.

Typically, the internal pressure and temperature depends on the specific type of extruder, and whereas an HTUST-type extruder has been used in the present example, other types of extruders may be used to produce a snack product according to various embodiments of the invention. The dough, which may be fed forward by an internal screw conveyer, is pressed through an extruder die, which is a shaping tool determining the transversal cross-section of the outputted dough. Immediately after the dough is outputted, it is partitioned by a partitioner, which may e.g. be a reciprocating knife cutting the dough into pieces of a predetermined size, thereby obtaining separate dough pieces. The dough will start to expand immediately after being outputted from the extruder, due to the relatively high temperature of the dough and ambient pressure. At the same time, the water content will decrease. The dough pieces are then passed through a dryer in order to further decrease the water content, thereby obtaining an intermediate snack product, having substantially the physical properties of the final product, such as the desired crunchiness. The intermediate snack product is finally passed through a taste enhancer, which applies oil and seasonings, such as salt, herbs, and/or spices, to the intermediate snack products thereby obtaining a final snack product.

The final snack product has been evaluated with respect to texture and health perception, i.e. the quality of the snack product has been assessed in relation to these parameters. The result is given in table 2 below.

Table 2: Results of evaluation of example snack products

Example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Texture 3 3 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 5

Health medi medi high medi medi Medi Medi medi medi medi perceptio um um um um um um um um um n The texture parameter represents the difference between crisp and crunch, where crisp is associated with low-density, light, and melting-on-the-tongue perception. Opposite is crunch, which is associated with a more dense, higher density, and absence of melting

With regard to the health perception, it has evaluated to which degree the final product is perceived to have a healthy character, with regard to its look, feel, and taste. More specifically, the above scores are given with basis in the definitions below:

low health perception: light to yellow color, no taste/flavor, not satiating feeling, open structure and open porosity,

medium health perception: light brown color, crispy texture, very light taste, low feeling of being satiating, visual structure like bread, more open structure and medium porosities,

high health perception: brown color, crunchy texture, taste of rye bread, heavy- satiety, visual structure like bread - i.e. close and small porosities.

Example 2-10

The ingredients listed in table 1 for each of examples 2-10 are mixed with water and subjected to the process described in relation to example 1 to obtain snack products.

Also, the texture and health perception has been evaluated for the snack products of example 2-10. These evaluations are listed in table 2. Example 11-16

The ingredients listed in table 3 for each of examples 11-16 are mixed with water, and subjected to the process described in relation to example 1 to obtain snack products. Also, the texture and health perception has been evaluated for the snack products of example 11-16. These evaluations are listed in table 4. Table 3 : Dry ingredients of example 11-16

Above the dry ingredients of the different example snack products are listed in parts, i.e. in arbitrary units which not necessarily adds up to 100.

Table 4: Results of evaluation of example snack products

Comparative example 17-20

The ingredients listed in table 5 for each of the comparative examples 17-20 are mixed with water and subjected to the process described in relation to example 1 to obtain snack products.

Also, the texture and health perception has been evaluated for the snack products of example 17-20. These evaluations are listed in table 6.

Table 5: Dry ingredients of example 17-20

Example 17 18 19 20

Whole-grain wheat flour 0 0 20 0

Corn 75 165 25 75

Potato granulate 0 0 25 0 Whole-grain rice flour 0 25 0 0

Whole-grain spelt flour 0 0 25 0

Sofabran fibers 25 25 0 0

Whole-grain buckwheat 0 0 0 25

flour

Above the dry ingredients of the different example snack products are listed it parts, i.e. in arbitrary units which not necessarily adds up to 100.

Table 6: Results of evaluation of example snack products

Exampe 17 18 19 20

Texture 1 2 4 3

Health perception low low medium medium

Figure references

SPS. Snack product system EXT. Extruder

EXI. Extruder input EXIl . First extruder input EXI2. Second extruder input PMD. Pre-mix dough PMX. Pre-mixer

INI . First input stream IN2. Second input stream EXO. Extruder output EPR. Extrusion product DRY. Dryer

CUT. Cutter

CPR. Cut product

DPR. Dried product FLA. Flavor applier FPR. Final product

Claims

Patent claims

1. A low fat extruded snack product comprising a first snack component comprising rye endosperm flour wherein the rye endosperm flour content of the snack product is 5% to 95% by weight, the snack product further comprising flavoring in an amount of 2 to 25% by weight of said product, fat component in the amount of 1 to 25% by weight of said product.

2. A low fat extruded snack product according to claim 1, wherein the snack product comprises rye endosperm flour in an amount of 10% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 20% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 30% to 95% by weight of the snack food product.

3. A low fat extruded snack product according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the snack product comprises rye endosperm flour in an amount of 40% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 45% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 50% to 95% by weight of the snack food product.

4. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 15% by weight of said product.

5. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 13% by weight of said product.

6. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 11% by weight of said product.

7. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises fat component in the amount of 1 to 9% by weight of said product.

8. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product further comprises a second snack component comprising a puffing agent in an amount of 5 to 65% by weight of the snack food product.

9. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first snack component comprises whole grain flour.

10. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the second snack component comprises whole grain flour.

11. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product is formed by extrusion of a dough and wherein the dough comprises the first and preferably also the second component mixed with water.

12. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least a part of said fat is added to the snack product subsequent to extrusion.

13. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said fat and at least a part of said flavoring is added to the snack product subsequent to extrusion.

14. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product is dried subsequent to extrusion and prior to adding of the flavoring.

15. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least a part of the flavoring is added to the dough during extrusion.

16. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least a part of the flavoring added to the dough during extrusion is malt, as a malt powder, or as a malt liquid.

17. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein sweetener is added to the dough.

18. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the dough comprises an added protein source.

19. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the protein source is whey in an amount of 0.1 to 40 by weight of the snack product.

20. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least 30%, preferably at least 40%, most preferably at least 50% by weight of the dietary fiber contained in the snack product is originating from the rye endosperm.

21. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product is a directly extruded snack product.

22. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product is an expanded snack product.

23. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises whole-grain rye flour in an amount of 10% to 95%o by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 20% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 30%> to 95% by weight of the snack food product.

24. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises whole-grain rye flour in an amount of 40% to 95%o by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 45% to 95% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 50% to 95% by weight of the snack food product.

25. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises whole-grain rye flour in an amount of 50% to 90%) by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 50% to 80% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 50% to 70% by weight of the snack food product.

26. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises wheat flour in an amount of 1% to 70% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 10% to 50% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 20% to 30% by weight of the snack food product.

27. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises whole-grain wheat flour in an amount of 1% to 70% by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 10%> to 50% by weight of the snack food product, and most preferably in an amount of 20% to 30%> by weight of the snack food product.

28. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises sourdough powder in an amount of 0.1%> to 10%) by weight of the snack food product, preferably in an amount of 1%> to 5% by weight of the snack food product.

29. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises whole-grain rye flour in an amount of 40% to 70%), preferably in an amount of 50% to 60%, and

30. A low fat extruded snack product according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the snack product comprises whole-grain rye flour in an amount of 40% to 70%), preferably in an amount of 50% to 60%, and

31. Method of producing a snack product

whereby the method is performed by extrusion of a snack product according to any of the claims 1- 30.

32. Use of rye endosperm as a puffing agent in a fat containing snack product, wherein the amount of rye endosperm is higher than 10% by weight of the snack product.

33. Use of rye endosperm as a puffing agent according to claim 32, wherein the amount of rye endosperm is higher than 20%, preferably more than 30%, most preferably above 40% by weight of the snack product.