US 12,440,051 B2
Food article
Zhe Huo, Shanghai (CN); Yan Liang, Shanghai (CN); Ao Shu, Shanghai (CN); Anna Wong, Shanghai (CN); Houyu Xie, Shanghai (CN); Tanja Grudke-Katschus, Heilbronn (DE); Anja Kunkel, Heilbronn (DE); and Regine Weimar, Heilbronn (DE)
Assigned to Conopco Inc., Englewoods Cliffs, NJ (US)
Appl. No. 17/414,978
Filed by Conopco Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ (US)
PCT Filed Dec. 13, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/085185
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 17, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/126940, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 25, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 18214412 (EP), filed on Dec. 20, 2018; application No. PCT/CN2019/088783 (WO), filed on May 28, 2019; application No. PCT/CN2019/088784 (WO), filed on May 28, 2019; and application No. 19182192 (EP), filed on Jun. 25, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0061563 A1, Mar. 3, 2022
Int. Cl. A47G 21/00 (2006.01); A21D 13/48 (2017.01); A47G 21/06 (2006.01)
CPC A47G 21/004 (2013.01) [A21D 13/48 (2017.01); A47G 21/103 (2013.01); A47G 2400/105 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
 
1. A process for producing a food article consisting of an edible composition having an elongated member extending therefrom, the edible composition having a water content of less than 5 wt. %, said process comprising the steps of:
a) providing a mixture of edible ingredients comprising,
i) edible crystalline material selected from sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sucrose and combinations thereof;
ii) plant matter selected from vegetables, fruit, herbs, spices and combinations thereof;
iii) water,
a1) heating the mixture of edible ingredients provided in step a) at a temperature of at least 60° C. for at least 1 minute; and adding ungelatinized starch after the mixture of edible ingredients has been heated to at least at a temperature of at least 60° C. for at least 1 minute;
b) cooling the mixture of edible ingredients by:
i) cooling and agitating the mixture of edible ingredients to provide a cooled mixture having a temperature of −20 to 5° C. and positioning an elongate member in the cooled mixture, or
ii) filling a mould with the mixture of edible ingredients and providing the mould with an elongate member, and contacting the mould with a liquid or gaseous refrigerant to provide a frozen mixture, and
c) freeze-drying the cooled mixture of step i) or ii) having an elongate member extending therefrom to obtain a food article.