FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a frozen dairy confection and, more particularly, to a substantially lactose and sugar free product which contains a relatively high water content.

BACKGROUND QF THE INVENTION

There are an increasing number of people who cannot tolerate milk products. The principal reason for this intolerance is lactase deficiency. Lactase is the intestinal enzyme needed for proper digestion of lactose, the major sugar contained in milk. Lactose digestion takes place in the intestines, but if it is not digested, it passes unchanged into the colon. When this occurs, bacteria residing in the colon cause the lactose to ferment, creating various gases. Thus, those persons suffering from lactase deficiency experience such symptoms as bloating, cramps, diarrhea, and gas when they ingest dairy products. Even though many non-dairy products have been developed, there has been a lack of substantially lactose and sugar free frozen dairy confection products which have the texture, body, flavour and palatability of products using milk.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The novel frozen dairy confection is prepared from commercial products, along with protein, suitable sweeteners, and flavouring. The product may be readily frozen and has the keeping characteristics of conventional products. Because the

product is substantially free of lactose, it may be ingested by those persons having lactase deficiency without incurring many of the undesirable effects of lactose containing commercial products.

It is, therefore, a general object of this invention to provide a novel substantially lactose and sugar-free product which has the taste, appearance, palatability, and aroma of conventional products.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a novel product and method of making it which includes as its principal ingredients, selected dairy products which are low in lactose or contain no lactose.

Accordingly, the above objectives are substantially met by a substantially lactose and sugar-free low calorie frozen dairy confection having about 20 to 100% overrun comprising a low calorie sweetener in an amount of about 0.005% to 1%; a bulking agent or a microcrystalline cellulose or mixture of these in an amount of about 10% to 20%; anhydrous milk fat in an amount of about 1% to 10%; a substantially lactose-free milk protein concentrate in an amount of about 3% to 7%; preferably the milk protein is ultrafiltered, stabilizers, including microcrystalline cellulose; emulsifiers; buffering agents; water in an amount of about 65% to 80%. Optionally flavouring agents are present.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In accordance with the present invention, a novel substantially lactose and sugar-free product is prepared by blending selected lactose-free commercial dairy products,

carbohydrates, or starch bulking agents and selected stabilizers, emulsifiers and buffering agents to form a homogenized mixture which is then treated to create overrun and frozen. Suitable flavouring may be added to impart the desired flavour to the product. It has been found that this novel product has all of the characteristics, including taste, appearance, palatability, aroma, and keeping qualities as do commercial products which are made from milk.

Conventional frozen dairy confections are made from a combination of milk products, including cream, butter, butterfat, or milk in one of its various forms: whole fluid milk, evaporated milk, skim milk, condensed milk, sweetened dried milk, or dried skim milk. These milk products, for the most part, contain various concentrations of lactose and cannot be ingested by lactase deficient persons. The present product uses substantially lactose-free dairy products which include anhydrous milk fat and ultrafiltered milk protein. In this way, many, if not most, of the attributes of milk can be retained while eliminating most, if not all, of the lactose in the milk. By lactose-free or substantially lactose-free as used herein, is meant milk protein containing a maximum of about 4% of lactose, preferably the milk protein is ultrafiltered.

In the past, lactose-reduced ice cream products have been proposed, for example in U.S. 4,374,861 and 4,643,906, and microcrystalline cellulose has also been used in frozen confections, see U.S. 4,264,637 and 4,857,352. None of these formulations have been completely satisfactory to accomplish applicants' goals. U.S. 4,855,156 employs a specific protein in a whipped frozen dessert product. The removal of most of the lactose and the use of the combination of anhydrous milk fat and ultrafiltered milk protein instead of full milk

products, coupled with the high water content and sugar replacement, necessitated a careful blend of bulking agents, stabilizing and emulsifying agents, buffering agents and flavourants to approximate the texture, mouth feel and other organoleptic qualities of frozen dairy desserts using simply sucrose and milk. The anhydrous milk fat must be appropriately emulsified thus requiring selected combinations of emulsifiers. In addition, selected gums and soybean protein isolates are preferred to achieve appropriate texture. The high water content requires a sufficient amount of the gums to maintain it as part of the overall system rather than allowing the water to form ice crystals. Cellulose gums with microcrystalline cellulose and selected polyols as bulking agents are preferred to take the place of the sugar that is left out and various combinations of flavourants must be used to offset the lactose and sucrose sugars that have been removed.

Typical emulsifying agents may be phospholipids and proteins or esters of long chain fatty acids and a polyhydric alcohol. Fatty acid esters of glycerol, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, sorbitan esters of fatty acids and polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene esters of fatty acids may be used but organoleptic properties, of course, must be considered. Mono- and di-glycerides are preferred. Emulsifiers are used in amounts of about 0.03% to 0.2%, preferably 0.05% to 0.1%.

Soybean protein isolates combined with modified food starches such as Ultrafreeze 400C ¹ obtained from A. E. Staley Manufacturing Co. assist in texturizing the product and may be used in amounts of 0.5% to 3.0%, preferably 0.75% to 2.0%.

Gum stabilizers are particularly effective in controlling viscosity, providing mouth feel and improving whipping

(aerating) properties; to provide a protective colloid to stabilize proteins to heat processing; to modify the surface chemistry of fat surfaces to minimize creaming; to provide acid stability to protein systems and; to increase freeze-thaw stability. Gums can be classified as neutral and acidic, straight- and branched-chain, gelling and non-gelling. The principal gums that may be used are locust bean gum, carageenan, xanthan, guar and carboxymethyl cellulose, all of which are disclosed in U.S. 5,209,942, hereby incorporated by reference.

Gums are generally used in concentrations of about 0.02-0.5 wt. % of the composition or 1-6 wt. % of the protein level. Because of differing functionalities, combinations of gums provide a better product than a single gum.

The stabilizer is a key ingredient in these unique compositions. It must have at least two components, one of which is preferably microcrystalline cellulose as described in U.S. 5,209,942, e.g., Avicel 581 , which is activated or "peptized" . Microcrystalline cellulose is cellulose crystallite aggregates with a level-off D.P. Level-off DP is the average level-off degree of polymerization measured in accordance with the paper by O.A. Battista entitled: "Hydrolysis and Crystallisation of Cellulose". Vol. 42, pages

502 to 507, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 1950. An example of microcrystalline cellulose is the water-dispersible cellulose crystallite aggregates described for use in food

^' compositions in British Pat. No. 961 398 (Also c . U.S. Patent Nos. 2,978,446; 3,157,518 and 3,539,365) . A combination of microcrystalline cellulose and sodium carboxymethyl cellulose

(CMC) gives particularly good results, and the microcrystalline cellulose is preferably a material in which the particles are themselves coated with 10 percent (by weight

of the material) of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The sodium carboxymethyl cellulose used for coating is preferably one of medium viscosity, that is one which, in 1 percent aqueous dispersion, has a viscosity of from 300 to 1000 centipoises at 20°C.

Microcrystalline cellulose has been listed in the Fourth Supplement to the Food Chemicals Codes, First Edition, by the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council as: Cellulose, Microcrystalline (cellulose gel) .

The other component comprises one or any combination of carboxymethylcellulose (in addition to that with which the microcrystalline cellulose may be coated) , xanthan gum, starch and alginate.

Certain salts, for example phosphates and chlorides, are employed to alter the buffering capacity of the system and to improve the water binding capacity of proteins and improve solubility and flavour. Sodium chloride and sodium monophosphate at very low levels are preferred. Sodium chloride at about 0.05% to 0.3%; and sodium monophosphate at about 0.01% to 0.1%. The bulking agents employed must have only trace amounts of mono- and disaccharides. Conventional bulking agents such as polydextrose, maltodextrose, sugar alcohols or starches may be used. The bulking agents are used in amounts of about 10% to 20%, preferably 13% to 16%.

The sweetener may be any of the artificial sweeteners well known in the art such as aspartame, saccharine, Alitame"

(obtainable from Pfizer) , acesulfame K, obtainable from

Hoechst, cyclamates and the like. Aspartame is preferred.

The sweeteners are used in varying amounts of about 0.005% to

1%, preferably 0.007% to 0.73% depending on the sweetener, for example. Aspartame may be used at a level of 0.05% to 0.15%, it is preferred at a level of .07% to .11%. Acesulfame K is preferred at a level of 0.09% to 0.15%.

Glycerol may be used to control ice formation. Sorbitol may also be employed but glycerol is preferred. The glycerol may be used in an amount of about 1% to 5%, preferably 2.5% to 4.0%.

Flavourings are preferably added to the product but only in amounts that will impart a mild, pleasant flavour. Since the present frozen dairy product does not contain full milk components, such as cream, there is a need to approximate the natural flavour of such cream. The flavouring may be any of the commercial flavours employed in ice cream, such as varying types of cocoa, pure vanilla or artificial flavour, such as vanillin, ethyl vanillin, chocolate, extracts, spices and the like. It will further be appreciated that many flavour variations may be obtained by combinations of the basic flavours. Such is not in any way critical to the present invention, and their selection as optional ingredients depends on particular flavour requirements and consumer demands. The confection compositions are flavoured to taste as mentioned above. Suitable flavourants may also include seasoning, such as salt, and imitation fruit or chocolate flavours either singly or in any suitable combination.

Processes used for the manufacture of the product are essentially the same as for their full dairy product counterparts. The processes common to all such products include: ingredient blending, pumping, pasteurization,

homogenization, cooling, aeration, freezing and packaging. Products can be manufactured by batch or by continuous processes. Ingredients may be either liquid or dry, or a combination of both. Liquid ingredients can be blended by the use of positive metering pumps to a mixing tank or by in-line blending. Dry ingredients must be hydrated during the blending operations. This is most commonly accomplished by the use of turbine mixers in processing vats or by incorporating the dry material through a high speed, centrifugal pump. The blending temperature depends upon the nature of the ingredients, but it must be above the melting point of any fat and sufficient to fully hydrate gums used as stabilizers and proteins. Pasteurization is generally carried out in high temperature short time (HTST) units, in which the homogenizer is integrated into the pasteurization system.

In the preparation of the confections invention, it is critical that the protein and microcrystalline cellulose be fully hydrated before adding other components which might interfere with the hydration.

The invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the following specific examples. All parts, percentages and proportions herein and in the appended claims are by weight unless otherwise indicated.

EXA PLE 1

A typical prior art formulation is as follows

INGREDIENTS % WT.

Water 74.77

Skim Milk Powder 12

Maltrin 100 ¹ 7

Cocoa 4

Milk fat 1

Avicel 581 0.50

Citric Acid 0.01

Emulsifier ² 0.25

Stabilizer ³ 0.35

Vanillin 0.02

Aspartame 0.01

¹ 10 DE maltodextrin

² Mono & diglycerides

³ Cellulose gum, locust bean gum

Time/Temperature

Water Temperature 180°F = 82°C

Final Batch 144°F = 62°C Temperature

Total Mixing Time 32 in.

OVERRUN

Cup Weight 220

Overrun 40%

The freeze mix was aerated to about 40% overrun to

temperature and consistency to allow filling of molds. The bars were dip finished prior to wrapping in white wraps and hardened in a -25°F (-32°C) blast freezer.

EXAMPLE 2

Three formulations of the invention, A, B, and C, were prepared with the following compositions:

FORMTΠATIONS

¹ Stabilizer Blend: For 500 grams; Cellulose Gum - 250 grams; mono- and diglyceride - 125 grams; Guar Gum - 50 grams; Locust Bean Gum - 50 grams; Carrageenan - 25 grams.

² 10 DE - maltodextrin

³ 4 DE - maltodextrin

⁴ Modified food starch and soy protein isolate

⁵ anhydrous

PROCESSING

OVERRUN DATA

Mix Number A-15 B-15 C-17

Cup Weight 222 222 225

Overrun 40% 40% 39%

EXAMPLE 3

A white formulation was prepared as described below. The formulation may employ various flavour systems within the invention.

INGREDIENTS % WT.

Water 73.10

Avicel 581 0.50

Stabilizer Blend ¹ 0.25

Milk Protein Concentrate 4.30

Polydextrose 7.00

Glycerol 3.75

Maltrin 100 ² 9.00

Ultrafreeze 400C ³ 1.00

Milkfat ⁴ 1.00

Aspartame 0.11

Citric Acid 0.11

Mix Density 9.30

Total Mix Weight 90.33

¹ Stabilizer Blend: For 500 grams; Cellulose Gum - 250 grams; Mono and diglycerides - 125 grams; Guar Gum - 50 grams; Locust Bean Gum - 50 grams; Carrageenan - 25 grams. 10 D.E. maltodextrin

² Modified food starch and soy protein isolate ⁴ Anhydrous

Analysis of Examples 2 and 3 showed a consumer acceptable frozen dairy confection which was substantially lactose and sugar free.