Technical field

Invention pertains to manufacturing snacks, particularly compositions and methods for producing cheese and bread like crisps (chips) having high nutritional value.

Background Art

Producing snacks is a fast expanding field of activity worldwide. Consumption of snack food increases in children and adolescent populations as well as among adults. This affects human eating habits by increasing energetic value, content of fat, easy digestible carbohydrates and sodium chloride (common salt) (Weker H. et al. Models of feeding for healthy children. Med. Wieku Rozwoj., 2000, 4, 3, Suppl. 1, 25-34). In the last 20 years because of sedentary life style and some socio-economic and psychological factors fast increase in frequency of obesity, cardiovascular diseases and other pathologies has been observed which has already reached epidemic character and has been associated with consumption of ,,fast food" (Isganaitis E., Lusting R.H. Fast food, central nervous system insulin resistance and obesity. Arterioscl. Thromb. Vase. Biol, 2005, 25, 2451).

According to data of the study (Sirina J., Zarins Z. Latvijas iedzϊvotaju uzturvielu daudzuma salϊdzinajums 1996.-2000. gada un 2004. gada. RSU 2008. gada zinatniskas konferences tezes, 58.1pp.) animal origin fat content of food used by Latvian people is increasing and the content of unsaturated fatty acids is decreasing. Data from other countries also show rather high consumption of animal fat in population of children of 4-18 years of the age mostly because of use of rich aromatic diary products (Kranz S. et al. Children's diary intake in the United States: too little, too fat. J. Pediatr., 2007, 151, 6, 642-646).

According to medical examination data on children in 183 institutions performed by other authors consumption of common salt is higher than recommended by WHO contributing to development of hypertonic disease and frequency of strokes (Guidelines 2007. Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension. The Task Force for the Management of Arterial Hypertension of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) and of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Mancia G. et al. J. of Hypertension, 2007, 25, 1105-1187; J.S. Kim, S. Choi-Kwon. Risk Factors for Stroke in Different Levels of Cerebral Arterial Disease. Eur. Neurol. 1999, 42, 150-156, Szponar L. et al. Sodium chloride in food rations and dinners in mass catering institutions. Rocz. Paustw. Zakl. Hig., 2001, 52, 4, 285-293). Eating salted food in turn stimulates consumption of sweetened drinks resulting in obesity. Reducing use of common salt twice results in decrease of purchasing of sweetened soft drinks on average by 2.3 bottles per week. (He FJ. et al. Salt intake is related to soft drink consumption in children and adolescent: a link to obesity? Hypertension, 2008, 51, 3, 629-634).

Optimization of range of carbohydrates in food in general as well as in snack food plays important role in the increase of heartiness of food. The trend to decrease the content of easy digestible carbohydrates, mostly mono- and disaccharides, is welcomed. By doing this ability of the food to increase the blood glucose level and overload insulin-dependant processes is decreased (Livesey S. et al. Glycemic response and health - a systematic review and meta-analysis: relations between dietary glycemic properties and health outcomes. Ann.J.Clin.Nutr., 2008, 87, 1, 258S-258S).

Carbohydrates of equal doses but of different source affect blood glucose and insulin level differently in healthy subjects: load from bread is lower than from potatoes

(Wolever T.M.S., Bolognesi C. Source and amount of carbohydrate affect postprandial glucose and insulin in normal subjects. J.Nutr., 1996, 126, 2798-2906). This fact leads to desirability to use bread in producing snacks. However potatoes are still more used in manufacturing snacks.

Another frequently used ingredient in producing snacks is cheese. Cheese is used as flavouring additive or as basic ingredient. Cheese is rich in proteins, minerals especially calcium. Equally it is traditionally oversaturated with salt and biologically inferior fats.

There are known methods for producing cheese snacks where nuts, meat, vegetables, cereals and other ingredients are added to fatty cheese (patent JP2039849, publ. date 08.02.1990; patent JP55150844, publ. date 25.11.1980; pat. application US2005031758, publ. date 10.02.2005).

There are known technologies for producing smoked cheese bits and flakes (patent EP0813818, publ. date 17.02.2002). For improvement of texture, product treatment in microwave oven is provided (patent US4803090, publ. date 07.02.1989; pat. appl. FR2750015, publ. date 26.12.1997). Very tender texture of the snack is provided by method of melting the cheese using emulgators, fats, oils and drying (patent JP3010639, publ. date 18.01.1991; pat. appl. JP11276070, publ. date 12.10.1999). Heartiness of cheese snacks is increased by enriching the product with vitamin A and calcium (pat. appl. JP62232333, publ. date 12.10.1987). However the methods mentioned above can not provide highly nutritional and wholesome products. The compositions described before do not conform with requirements of healthy food, because of their minimum protein content.

Several inventions have been devoted to attempts to optimize carbohydrate profile of snacks. Product in the shape of sandwich is known: melted cheese is put between crackers (patent EP1022953, publ. date 27.06.2001), another solution to use popcorn instead of crackers is known (patent EP0423650, publ. date 03.03.1993). Use of bread crumbs as a source of carbohydrates making the sausage like product is known (pat. appl. DE4301115, publ. date 21.07.1994). The case for snack with cheese filling is made from microwave treated rice flour and potato flakes containing up to 30% starch (patent US5405625, publ. date 11.04.1995).

The method for producing snack from cheese and bread having ham additive is known (pat. appl. DE19533074 Al, publ. date 07.09.1995). According to this invention hot cheese and the salt facilitating the cheese melting process (phosphates and/or citrates) is added to a mixture of ham and bread crumbs, the composition is stirred and cooled. The product thus obtained contains 40% of animal fats and 2% of common salt. The content of animal fats and salt do not satisfy requirements of healthy food. Overconsumption of fats and common salt is known to have undesirable effects on health facilitating development of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and ageing of the body (Denny A. An overview of the role of diet during the ageing process. Br.J.Community Nurs., 2008, 13, 2, 58-67). Although phosphates are widely used as preservatives in manufacturing soft drinks (e.g., Cola) and other food products, their use in manufacturing food may cause health problems. Diet of modern people is already oversaturated with phosphates (Takeda E. et al. The regulation and function of phosphates in the human body. Biofactors, 2004, 21, 1-4, 345-355). Phosphate residue in diet facilitates development of secondary deficiency of calcium, osteoporosis, as well as iron-deficient anemia, because phosphates with certain cations make water-insoluble salts and disturb absorption of minerals.

Because of special harm of beef fat there have been attempts to modify fat content and chemical content of cheese snacks. It was done by drying cheese until 0-2% moisture content, adding some oils (patent EP0751713, publ. date 17.02.2002). However this method does not reduce animal fat content of the product.

Attempts to create cheese snacks having reduced fat level are described in European patent application EP 0750843 A2 (publ. date 02.01.1997). The cheese filling described in this document may be used for producing flavor based snacks (crackers, waffles, etc.). However the products so obtained contain over residue of carbohydrates.

Cheese snacks presently available on market are characterized by low content of proteins (about 5g/100g), dominance of carbohydrates (about 50g/100g) and fatty composition containing 28-48% of saturated fatty acids (see Table 1).

Table 1: Chemical content of some fast snacks in g per lOOg of product (according to manufacturers data)

Mάjas cipsi ar mάrrutkiem __ .

ABP CHIPS GROUP, 5 30/not indicated • , , 1.4

AS LATFOOD ^mdlCated

Istie Adazu cipsi ar sieru, . . .

ABP CHIPS GROUP, 5 32/not indicated . . . 1.4

AS LATFOOD ^mdlCated Pringles cipsi with cheese

35/10 taste, Procter & Gamble 48/3.5 1.81 28.6% Manufacturing, Belgium

Estrella potato chips with

33.5/15 sour cream and cheese, 5.2 52.5/3.5 1.91 44.8% AB Kraft Foods Lithuania

Optima potato chips with dill 61.7/not Not

4.5 26.8/not indicated taste, Poland indicated indie.

HOPS potato chips with

52.5/not Not cheese and onion taste, 6.5 30/not indicated indicated indie. Belprodukt, Belarus

Potato plates with cheese and

52/not Not onion taste, 30/not indicated indicated indie. ,,Pernes L", Latvia

Lays potato chips with 30/14

6 57/ 2.5 2.03 cheese taste, Poland 46.7%

Potato chips with cheese and 45.85/not Not 0.26 48.2/not indicated onions, Lithuania indicated indie.

Cheetos corn snacks with

27/9 cheese and ketchup taste, 59/5.5 2.79 33.3% Poland

Disclosure of the invention

The purpose of the invention is to elaborate snack with high nutritional value having shape similar to well-known fast food snacks which has increased level of proteins, optimized carbohydrate content, enriched with vitamin C, unsaturated fatty acids, reduced level of animal fat, less content of sodium chloride comparing to other snacks however retaining salty taste and minimum other food additives.

Experimentally the following ingredients were chosen for the new product: cheese (cheese product), white bread, rapeseed oil, ,,common salt" with reduced content of sodium chloride, seasonings (dried dills, garlic), ascorbic acid. In order to meet requirements of high nutritional value product, hard cheese with low fat content and without common salt should be used. However cheese having these characteristics has not been produced. Therefore a special technology for producing cheese product is offered. The elaborated technology for producing cheese product is mainly based on known technology for producing hard cheese with second heating of curd at low temperature, namely, technology of producing variety Rossiyski cheese (see Interstate standard. Cheese Rossiyski. Technical regulations - GOST 11041-88: Tekhnologiya sira: Spravochnik / G.P.Shiler - M.: Legkaya I pishevaya promishlennost, 1984). However, the raw material used is milk with reduced fat content (about 0.6%), milk fermenting preparation (e.g., ,,Fromase 2200 TL") and bacterial starter consisting of mesophilic lactic acid streptococci (e.g., S. lactis CHEN-22). Milk is normalized in order to obtain the product having determined characteristics. The second heating of curd is performed at temperature 42 ⁰ C. Ripening conditions - 45 days at the temperature 10 ⁰ C. Addition of sodium chloride and other sodium, potassium and calcium salts, as well as coating the product in polymer film is excluded from the process. After ripening the product is stored at the temperature -20 ⁰ C.

The content of the cheese product obtained by the process described above is as follows: proteins 33.6% - 34.4% (preferably 34.0%), fat - 3.0 - 3.5% (preferably 3.2%), moisture - 52.4% - 57.0% (preferably 55.6%). Fat content of the standard Rossiyski cheese (native product) is no less than 50%.

For production of the proposed snack the fine grated cheese product is used, preferably the fraction of fine grated frozen cheese product.

The use of the cheese product described before substantially improves nutritional value of fats and heartiness of the snack. Because of the invented technical solution the content of animal fats containing mostly saturated fatty acids was reduced 15 times. Refined rapeseed oil of the first pressing having biologically valuable content was used instead of milk fats. The content of rapeseed oil is: saturated fatty acids - 7%, monounsaturated - 60%, unsaturated fatty acids of longer chain - 33%. For comparison the milk fats contain saturated fatty acids - 57%, monounsaturated - 32%, other unsaturated fatty acids - 5%.

Use of rapeseed oil having characteristics described before provides production of valuable snacks, as well as reduces feasibility of formation of carcinogenic compounds during the production process because the oil forms smoke at higher temperature (220 ⁰ C).

Carbohydrate ingredient of the new snack is dried and grated bread (preferably white bread) in a form of crumbs. During elaboration of the composition several varieties of white bread were tested - ,,Veselϊbas" bread containing bran, toaster bread (,,Hanzas maiznϊca"), wheat toaster bread (,,Fazer") and toaster bread with bran (,,Druva"), as well as dried, grated bread. The conclusion was that the quality of the snack does not depend on variety of white bread, however bread containing bran additive should not be used.

As mentioned before the main seasoning of ,,classical" fast food snacks is salt, which when excessively used is harmful to the health. Exclusion of the salt from the composition of the new product would result in waving the use of salt by consumers. It should be noted that according to Latvian legal acts distribution of food containing more than 1.25% of salt in children institutions is prohibited. Almost all fast food snacks on the market infringe these requirements (see Table 1).

For solution of the problem of ,,common salt" a method of enhancement of salty taste was used. The method comprises reduction of sodium chloride partially replacing it with other food salts - potassium chloride and magnesium sulphate. Presently on

European Union market ,,common salt" with reduced content of sodium chloride is available (e.g., Pansalt, Oriola, Finland, food salt Ekstra, TVIN, Belarus). These products are recommended to persons with hypertension and nephropathies. These compositions mostly contain NaCl, KCl, MgSO ₄ , as well as amino acids, citric acid, etc. The invented snack product contains NaCl, KCl and MgSO ₄ , which are allowed for use in food manufacturing.

It should be emphasized that potassium and magnesium ions in the new product fulfill two functions: provide ,,salty" taste and enhance biological value of the snack. K ⁺ and Mg ⁺ ions which people usually intake by fruits and vegetables, perform significant role in the regulation of cardiac, muscular and nervous system functions (Wu G. et al. Potassium magnesium supplementation for four weeks improves small distal artery compliance and reduces blood pressure in patients with essential hypertension. Exp. Hypertens., 2006, 28, 5, 489-97). Presently many people suffer from deficiency of potassium and magnesium, because diet ration of many people is characterized by inadequately low consumption of fruits and vegetables (Joffe M., Robertson A. The potential contribution of increased vegetable and fruit consumption to health gain in the European Union. Public Health Nutr., 2001, 4, 893-901). This explains presence of big number of food supplements containing minerals on shelves of food shops and pharmacies.

The new product contains the following composition of salt substitutes: NaCl - 70%, KCl - 20%, MgSO ₄ .7H ₂ O - 10%. This composition provides salty taste while having 30% less content of sodium chloride comparing to common salt. Ascorbic acid is added in order to result in level of 20 mg in lOOg of final product. Ascorbic acid should be added by 20% more because vitamin C partially decomposes during thermal treatment.

The production of the offered snack comprises the following steps: a) producing the cheese product, b) grating the frozen cheese product, c) preparing rapeseed oil-in- water emulsion, d) mixing the cheese product with crumbs of white bread, e) adding the rapeseed oil-in-water emulsion, f) adding seasonings (dried dills, garlic) and vitamin C, g) stirring the mixture obtained, h) transferring the mixture to waffle pan or other frying device and performing thermal treatment at the temperature 180-190 ⁰ C for 0.5-1.2 minutes, i) cutting the product in thin plates followed by cooling, j) pouring powdered salt substitute onto the ready product in the amount not exceeding 1.6 g per 100 g of the product.

The ready product is hermetically sealed.

The composition of the snack per lOOg of the final product is as follows:

- crumbs of dried white bread 33 - 37g (preferably 35g),

- cheese product 65 - 75g (preferably 7Og),

- refined rapeseed oil 13 - 15g (preferably 14g), - water 69 - 72g (preferably 7Og),

- vitamin C 25mg (decomposing by about 20% during thermal treatment is counted), seasonings (dried dills or garlic) 0.2 - 1.Og, common salt substitute 1.0-1.6g (preferably l,3g)

(poured onto the prepared product, per 10Og).

Frying temperature 180-190 ⁰ C (preferably

185 ⁰ C).

Frying time 0.5-1.2 min (preferably 1 min).

The final outcome of the production according to the composition mentioned above in average is 42% of the raw materials.

The final product is light yellow, 1-2 mm thin, crispy, salty plates with cheese/baked bread taste and relevant seasoning's flavour. The product is characterized by higher protein, nutritionally valuable fats and salt content which complies with recommended standards for children. Table 2 shows chemical content of the new product.

Table 2: chemical content of the invented fast food snack in g/100g of the final product

Total fat/saturated fatty „ , , , ..

Proteins acids. % of satur. f.a. , ^ Sodium chloride from total fat ^{L su} ° ^∞s

42.5 ² ^ ⁰⁰ 26.6 / 1.2 1.00

Examples of implementation of the invention

Example 1 Cheese product used in production of high nutritional value snack is prepared. The cheese product is prepared using technology partially based on known technology for producing variety Rossiyski cheese. As raw materials of the cheese product low fat (0.5%) milk, fermenting preparation ,,Fromase 2200 TL" and bacterial starter consisting of mesophilic lactic acid streptococci S. lactis CHEN-22 were used. Milk is normalized. Secondary heating of the curd is performed at the temperature 42 ⁰ C. Ripening of the product is provided at the temperature 10 ⁰ C for 45 days. Sodium chloride and other sodium, potassium and calcium salts are not added. After that the cheese product is stored at the temperature -20 ⁰ C.

Example 2 In preparation of high nutritional value snack 7Og of grated cheese product (obtained by the method of the Example 1) is added to 35g of crumbs of dried white bread, mixture is stirred, emulsion of rapeseed oil-in- water (14g and 7Og respectively) is added. Vitamin C (25mg), dried dills (0.2g) are added, stirred and laid on the waffle pan as a thin layer. Preparation is fried 1 minute at the temperature 185 ⁰ C. Fried product is cut into thin plates and cooled. Substitute of common salt is powdered and poured onto ready product in amount of 1.3g per lOOg of chips. Such proportion ensures salty taste of the product and the amount of the sodium chloride 1.0g/100g which does not exceed a dose recommended for children consumption (1.25g per 10Og). The product obtained is rich, delicious, crispy, especially if fried on riffled surface.

Example 3

In another variant of the implementation of invention dried crumbs of white bread

(33g) ar mixed with grated cheese product (7Og) obtained according to the Example 1, emulsion of rapeseed oil-in- water (16g and 7Og respectively), vitamin C (25mg), dried garlic (O.lg) are added. The mixture is stirred and passed as a thin layer between two hot cylindrical surfaces for 1 min at the temperature 185 ⁰ C. The fried product is cut into round or other shape pieces and cooled. Substitute of common salt is powdered and poured onto ready product in amount of 1.6g per lOOg of chips. The product so obtained contains 1.25g sodium chloride per lOOg of chips. The texture of the product is more tender than of the product obtained according to Example 2.