Field of the invention The present invention relates to a breakfast replacement beverage comprising a fibre, vitamin C, calcium and protein, which is particularly adapted to children. It also provides for a process of making such beverage and for uses of the beverage for providing nutrition to a child. Background of the invention

Breakfast is often designated as the most important meal of the day. This is especially true for children, who are in need of essential nutrients in order to face the activities of the day, and namely school-aged children. However, it often happens that people skip breakfast. Many children, for example, skip breakfast regularly due to lack of time or appetite. This phenomenon is becoming more and more important because parents often have limited time to prepare their children for school.

For example, Jackson LW; The most important meal of the day: why children skip breakfast and what can be done about it; Pediatr Ann. 2013;42(9):184-7 teaches that children who consume high fibre and high calcium breakfast have a lower body mass index and are less prone to weight gain.

Rampersaud GC1 , Pereira MA, Girard BL, Adams J, Metzl JD.; Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents; J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105(5):743-60 teaches that children who reported eating breakfast on a consistent basis tended to have superior nutritional profiles than their breakfast-skipping peers. Consumption of a healthful breakfast on a daily basis consisting of a variety of foods, especially high-fibre and nutrient-rich whole grain, fruits and dairy products is described as desirable.

Cardiometabolic risks have also been associated with skipping breakfast (see Smith KJ1 , Gall SL, McNaughton SA, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, Venn AJ; Sk; Skipping breakfast: longitudinal associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study, Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;92(6):1316-25.

An alternative to this ideal breakfast is needed for those who cannot have a proper breakfast. It is therefore desirable to provide a breakfast replacement product which would be convenient, require a short preparation time, while providing adequate nutrients to the consumer, in particular to school aged children. It would further be desirable to render such a product appealing for children even though they lack appetite in the morning.

A complete breakfast should ideally comprise a dairy product, cereals and fruit. Little prior art relates to breakfast replacement products. A few products are already available to consumers from the shelf. For example the product Carnation Breakfast Essentials aims at providing a breakfast replacement drink provided in the form of a powder to be reconstituted with liquid. However, this product is not specifically targeted to the nutritional needs of school aged children. It would therefore be desirable to provide specific compositions specially adapted to the needs of such children.

Milk products intended for children and fortified with specific nutrients such as vitamins and minerals are known. However, these products are not suitable as breakfast replacement for children, namely because they lack a soluble fibre. High amounts of fibre are known to be difficult to include into milk products, namely because of viscosity issues. To solve this viscosity issue, fibres have been hydrolysed, as described in US2005558897A. However, it would be desirable to include intact fibre. Also the compositions described in US2005558897 do not contain a nutrient content specifically targeted to meet the nutritional requirement of breakfast for school-aged children.

Soluble corn fibres have been identified as suitable for incorporation in dairy products and breakfast cereals, for example in WO2008/085529. However, no specific composition targeting the needs of children at breakfast is disclosed.

Summary of the invention In a first aspect, the invention provides a breakfast replacement beverage for children comprising a fibre, vitamin C, calcium and protein.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a process for preparing a breakfast replacement beverage according to the invention.

In a third aspect, the invention provides a method for providing nutrition to a child in the morning comprising feeding the child with a breakfast replacement beverage according to the present invention. Detailed description of the invention

Definition For the purpose of the present invention, "breakfast" is intended as a meal comprising a fruit component, a dairy component and a cereal component in an amount suitable to the age and gender of the child. For example such a breakfast can typically be fruit juice with a bowl of breakfast cereal with milk. The term "beverage" is herein referred to as a ready-to-drink beverage or as a powder product intended to be reconstituted with a liquid, such as water, before being drunk as a beverage.

The terms "breakfast replacement beverage" is herein intended as a beverage that comprises the main nutrients of a breakfast as defined herein and can thus be consumed instead of said breakfast while avoiding significant lack of nutrients.

Breakfast replacement beverage The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention is specifically aimed at children, preferably school-aged children, more preferably children between 4 and 8 years old. Most preferably, it is for children who usually skip breakfast. Children, in particular in that age range, are often keen to skip breakfast, due to lack of time or of appetite. Even though a complete traditional breakfast comprising cereals, a dairy product and juice is of high nutritional value for children, this solution is often difficult to implement in the morning, due to lack of time. A breakfast replacement beverage is advantageous in such situations, in that it can be prepared and consumed in a shorter time, while providing all required nutrients to the child. For children that have little appetite, a beverage is also more appealing than solid food. As the beverage of the present invention has a nutritional profile tailor-made to meet the nutrient requirements of an active child in the morning, this beverage is very advantageous as replacement of a traditional breakfast.

The breakfast replacement beverage can be a liquid or may be in the form of a powder to be reconstituted with liquid. Preferably it is in powder form. Preferably, the liquid with which the powder is to be reconstituted is an aqueous liquid, most preferably water. It can advantageously be reconstituted with water at room temperature and it is therefore quick and convenient to prepare, with no need to heat water before reconstitution. Powder format can be stored at ambient temperature and has long shelf life.

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention is preferably provided in the form of one single serving of liquid or powder, preferably of powder to be reconstituted in liquid, as defined above.

The breakfast replacement beverage comprises a specific combination of ingredients adapted to fulfil the specific needs of the children consuming it, such as children between 4 and 8 years old. It comprises a fibre, vitamin C, calcium and protein.

The fibre may for example be selected from the group of inulin, arabinoxylan, arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides, highly-branched glucans such as reuteran, beta glucans such as OatWell ® (DSM), resistant dextrins such as NUTRIOSE ® (Roquette), xylose and polydextrose.

In one embodiment, the fibre is corn fibre, preferably a soluble corn fibre.

In one embodiment the fibre is a soluble fibre. Solubility of the fibre is defined as solubility in an aqueous medium, preferably water. The soluble fibre preferably has a solubility of at least 5 g/L, more preferably at least 10 g/L, even more preferably at least 12g/L, most preferably at least 13g/L, in water at room temperature. Preferably this solubility is also achieved in the presence of proteins, fat, vitamins and minerals, as defined in any of the below embodiments. Solubility in water or in a more complex composition such as defined below is defined by the ability of the fiber to disperse in the liquid without aggregation in the form of lumps and/or sedimentation.

The fibre may be provided in the form of a fibre composition comprising a fibre component, together with other kinds of carbohydrates. In an embodiment, the fibre composition is an edible carbohydrate composition derived from starch that is digestion resistant or slowly digestible by the human digestive system and which is soluble in water, as defined above. Such a fibre composition may have an available carbohydrate fraction and a fibre component in the form of a non-digestible carbohydrate fraction. The non-digestible oligosaccharide fraction (the fibre) is made of linear and non-linear saccharide oligomers, as defined below, while the available carbohydrate fraction is made of monosaccharides, as defined below.

The fibre composition preferably comprises more than 50wt%, more preferably at least 70wt%, most preferably at least 85wt% of fibre, i.e. of linear and non-linear saccharide oligomers, on a dry weight basis. The terms "oligosaccharide" and "saccharide oligomers" are used herein to refer to saccharides comprising at least two saccharide units, for example saccharides having a degree of polymerization ("DP") of about 2-30.

Preferably the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers in the fibre is greater than the concentration of linear saccharide oligomers. More preferably, the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers is at least twice as high as the concentration of linear saccharide oligomers. Non-linear oligosaccharides include for example isomaltose. This high proportion of non-linear saccharide oligomers reduces the digestibility of the fibre by the gastrointestinal enzymes, so that the fibre can reach the small intestine and provide its full benefit to the consumer. In an embodiment, the concentration of non-linear saccharide oligomers having a degree of polymerization of at least three is at least 25wt%, preferably at least 50wt% by weight on a dry solids basis.

In another preferred embodiment, the fibre composition comprises less than 50wt%, most preferably less than 20wt%, of monosaccharides, on a dry weight basis.

In an embodiment, the fibre is a soluble corn fibre composition. One example of a suitable soluble corn fibre is Promitor® Soluble Corn Fibre 70 or Promitor® Soluble Corn Fibre 85, which are both available from Tate&Lyle, Hoffmann Estates, Illinois, USA.

The advantage of providing the fibre in the form of a fibre composition as defined above, preferably a corn fibre composition, is that the fibre does not hinder the solubility of the composition. Thus, the breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention comprising a fibre composition, preferably a soluble corn fibre composition in powder form can advantageously be dispersed in water, even at room temperature, such as at 25°C. In addition the above described soluble fibre, preferably corn fibre is advantageous in that it does not cause significant viscosity increase of the beverage, compared to the same beverage without fibre. Viscosity increase would be detrimental to a beverage such as encompassed in the present invention, because children having little appetite in the morning may be reluctant to consume a high viscosity beverage.

A more detailed description of soluble fibre compositions suitable for the present invention is provided in W02008/085529, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Such fibre compositions have been found to be well tolerated and to increase calcium absorption, among other benefits.

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention preferably comprises between 1.5 and 5 g of fibre, for example 3.5 g per serving. Such high amounts of fibre can be included without adverse effect on the child consuming the breakfast replacement beverage, because the specific fibre used in the present invention, and in particular soluble corn fibre, is particularly well tolerated, even in amounts such as used in the present invention. When the fibre is provided in the form of a fibre composition, the fibre composition is preferably provided in an amount of 2 to 7 g per serving, for example 4.7 g.

Another essential component of the breakfast replacement beverage is vitamin C. Vitamin C is preferably present in an amount of 1.5 to 130 mg, preferably of 2.5 to 97.5 mg, for example 7 mg per serving. The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention also comprises calcium, preferably in an amount of 100 to 500 mg, for example 265 mg per serving. Such amounts of vitamin C and calcium are particularly adapted to children between 4 and 8 years old at breakfast to prepare them for an active day, such as a school day.

Protein is also a key component of the breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention. Preferably the breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention has a high protein content of 3.1 to 12.8 g, for example 5.1 g per serving. Preferably, the protein is not hydrolysed.

The size of single daily serving of the breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention is preferably of 25 to 50g, preferably 30 to 40 g, more preferably 32 to 37g, for example about 35g. Preferably this serving size is the size of a single daily serving of the breakfast replacement beverage in powder form. The energy provided by one serving is preferably comprised between 100 and 300 Kcal, more preferably between 120 and 280 Kcal, even more preferably between 140 and 260 Kcal, for example about 154 KCal.

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention may comprise additional ingredients. Thus, the breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention preferably also comprises a fat source. Such fat source may be in the form of vegetable fat, milk fat or mixtures thereof. The fat content is preferably of from 3 to 9g, preferably from 4 to 8 g, for example about 6g of fat per serving.

Preferably it comprises full cream milk, which may be present in the form of a powder when the product is to be reconstituted with water. Full cream milk powder is advantageous in that it provides at least part of the protein component. It also contains good quality fats and significant amounts of calcium. Therefore, at least part of the calcium content in the breakfast replacement beverage can be provided by full cream milk. In addition, full cream milk provides a pleasant dairy taste to the breakfast replacement beverage. The amount of full cream milk to be added is dictated by the amount of nutrients (in particular dairy fat and dairy proteins) that are intended to be present in the composition. All or part of the protein and fat components may be provided in the form of full cream milk. Full cream milk may be completed by proteins and/or fats from other sources, such as vegetable source. Full cream milk is advantageous in the case where the breakfast replacement beverage is in powder form, because it has a positive impact on the dispersibility of the powder upon reconstitution with water. The intensity of this positive effect is most prominent when the product in powder form is produced by dry-mixing the ingredients compared to when it is produced by spray-drying of ingredient provided in a wet mix.

Available carbohydrates are preferably present, more preferably in an amount of from 10 to 25g, preferably 15 to 20g, for example about 18g of available carbohydrates per serving. Such levels of available carbohydrates are useful to provide an adequate source of rapidly available energy for the child at the start of the day. To ensure sufficient levels of carbohydrate, sugar, such as sucrose, is preferably present in the beverage of the present invention. The presence of sugar also has the beneficial effect of being appealing to the child and thus has the advantage of motivating the child, who would naturally not be willing to have breakfast, to get the required nutrients before leaving to school. To be noted that the total amount of available carbohydrates includes the available carbohydrate fraction of the fibre composition, if such fibre composition is not made of non-digestible oligosaccharides (i.e. fibre) only, as well as any added available carbohydrates.

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention preferably further comprises other nutrients such as minerals and vitamins, which are advantageously provided at breakfast. These include iron, zinc, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B1 , vitamin B2, folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin A and vitamin D. Iron can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 2.1 to 8.0 mg, more preferably 1 .0 to 6.0 mg, for example about 1 .7 mg per serving. Zinc can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 1 .65 to 2.4 mg, preferably 0.5 to 1.8 mg, for example about 0.64 mg per serving. Vitamin E can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 0.7 to 45 mg, for example about 1 .05 mg per serving. Niacin can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 0.8 to 33 mg, for example about 1 mg per serving. Vitamin B6 can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 0.02 to 8 mg, preferably between 0.06 to 6 mg, for example about 0.093 mg per serving. Vitamin B1 can be incorporated, for example, in an amount of 0.06 to 0.36 mg, for example about 0.08 mg per serving. Vitamin B2 can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 0.06 to 0.36 mg, for example about 0.08 mg per serving. Vitamin B12 can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 0.12 to 0.72 μg, for example about 0.22 μg per serving. Folic acid can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 20 to 80 μg, for example about 31 μg per serving. Vitamin A can be incorporated, for example in an amount of 40 to 220 μg, for example about 160 μg per serving. Vitamin D can be incorporated, in an amount of 0.75 to 15 μg, for example about 2.1 μg per serving. For hedonic purposes, diverse flavours can be present in the breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention. Typically the flavour is a non-savoury flavour, such as for example vanilla, fruit, cream, caramel, chocolate, malt or honey flavour. Such flavours are advantageous in that they render the product more appealing to the child, leading to more wilful consumption of the product, even though the child would be keen to skip breakfast.

Process

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention can be prepared by any method known in the art. When the breakfast replacement beverage is in powder form, it is preferably produced by dry-mixing all ingredients mentioned above or by drying a wet mix of the ingredients. In the second alternative, the drying can be carried out using any known method for drying a concentrate, including spray-drying, freeze-drying, fluid bed drying and the like.

Use

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention can be used for the non-therapeutic purpose of providing nutrition to a child, preferably to a school-aged child, such as a child between 4 and 8 years old. Preferably the beverage of the present invention is used to provide nutrition to such a child, preferably in the morning, more preferably before going to school. Preferably it is used to provide nutrition to a child as described above, which usually skips breakfast. As described above, the breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention has advantageous nutritional properties, which render it particularly suitable to meet the nutritional needs of a child in the morning before starting an active day, such as a school day.

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention can also be used for the purpose of preventing a child from fasting in the morning. As the beverage of the present invention has appealing hedonic properties it is more wilfully consumed as breakfast than a traditional eatable breakfast, such as breakfast cereals. Thus, the present invention advantageously relates to a breakfast replacement beverage for use in a method from preventing a child from fasting in the morning. In other words, it relates to a method for preventing a child from fasting in the morning comprising administering a composition of the invention to a child. The present invention will now be described in further details by the way of the following examples. Example 1 :

A breakfast replacement beverage in powder form was prepared by dry-mixing the following ingredients in the amounts indicated.

Table 1 : Composition of the breakfast replacement beverage

1 ) Origin: Tate&Lyle, Hoffmann Estates, Illinois, USA

The breakfast replacement beverage of the present invention was provided as a single serving of powder of 35g in a sachet and was intended to be consumed by children between 4 and 8 years old in the morning before going to school. The serving contained 154 Kcal. The main nutrients in this composition were as described in the following Table 2. Table 2: Main nutritional content of the breakfast replacement beverage

Nutrient Amount per serving

Fat 6.08g

Protein 5.12 g

Available carbohydrates 18.0 g

Non digestible fibers 3.50 g

Calcium 265 mg

Vitamin C 7 mg

Vitamin E 1 .5 mg

Niacin 1 .06 mg

Folic acid 31 g Iron 1 .67 mg

Zinc 0.64 mg

Vitamin B6 0.093 mg

Vitamin B1 0.084 mg

Vitamin B2 0.080 mg

Vitamin B12 0.22 meg

Vitamin A 160 g

Vitamin D 2 meg