Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1~738~0
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M ISTURE STABLE CHEWING GUM_
The present invention relates to chewing gum products
which contain relatively large amounts of liquid hygroscopic
softening agents and which are stabilized against the
absorbance of water during the storage thereof by formulating
the product, during the manufacturing process, with such
amounts of water as would be needed to saturate the amount of
hygroscopic softening agent present.
Recent advances in the art of formulating sugarless or
sugar based chewing gums in order to make products which re-tain
a soft texture over extended periods of storage have dictated
that such products be made with relatively large amounts of a
liquid hygroscopic softening agent such as glycerine or
propylene glycol. See in this regard, for example, Canadian
Patent 1,205,666 and International Patent Application WO 84-
10693, open for public inspection on May 10, 1984. The
formulations for the products of these patent applications
require that they have relatively very low moisture contents,
of the order of, respectively, less than 2%, and less than 1~.
Although these products do tend to retain their
softness properties over extended periods of time, it is
necessary, in order to prevent these products from absorbing
water during storage, to package them in moisture impermeable
packaging. Unless these prior art products, therefore, are
packaged and stored in moisture impermeable packages, they will
readily absorb moisture from the atmoæphere. At relative
humidities Of ;2 50%, at 22C, these products will absorb
enough water as to, within about 24 hours, first render the
product
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sticky enough to prevent a ~acile removal of the packaging
material therefrom. After about 72 hours the product will then
absorb enough water as to turn it into a puddle of water. It
will literally deliquesce.
Thus, the commercialization of these prior art
products requires that they be made, packaged and stored under
anhydrous conditions in order to prevent deleterious amounts of
water from being absorbed by these products.
It has been found that the basic reason why these
products have such an affinity for absorbing water in
deleterious quantities is that they have relatively low
equivalent relative humidity values, i.e., of the order of less
than 15.
Equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) or relative
vapor pressure is the humidity at which a foodstuff neither
gains nor loses moisture and the figure is expressed as a
percentage. A discussion of ERH relative to food products and
a method for the determination thereof is to be found in
"Chocolate, Cocoa And Confectionery," Science and Technology,
Second Edition, 1980, Bernard W. Minifie, AVI Publishing Co.,
Inc., Westport, Connecticut, U.S.A., Appendix I, pp. 672-677.
The test procedure disclosed in such publication is the one
used for testing and evaluating the compositions disclosed
herein.
Prior to the present invention, therefore, it has
not been thought possible by those in the art to provide a soft
chewing gum product made with large quantities of liquid
hygroscopic softening
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1 agent which will not absorb deleterious amounts of
water upon storage, and thus not require the use of
stringent and expensive anhydrous manufacturing,
packaging and storing conditions and means.
The present invention relates to chewing
gum comprising at least 8~ by weight of at least one
liquid hygroscopic softening agent and having an ERH
of more than 25.
The present invention also relates to a
10 method for preventing moisture absorbance in the
chewing gum product comprising liquid hygroscopic
softening agent in an amount which is at least 8~ of
the weight of said chewing gum during the storage of
said product which comprises formulating said
product with water in such an amount as would be
needed to saturate said amount of liquid hygroscopic
softening agent during the manufacture of said
product.
It has now been found, according to the
present invention, that soft chewing gum products
made with relatively large amounts of liquid
hygroscopic softening agents but which do not absorb
water to an unacceptable extent during the storage
thereof while exposed to the ambient atmosphere can
be provided by formulating the chewing gum product
during the manufacture thereof with such amounts of
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1 water as would be needed to saturate the amount of
hygroscopic softening agent in said product.
The term "hygroscopic softening agent" as
used in the context of the present invention means a
liquid material (at 25C) which is a food grade
softening or plasticizing agent which is
hygroscopic. These liquid hygroscopic softening
agents would include glycerine and propylene glycol.
In saturating the hygroscopic softening
agent with water during the manufacturing process,
according to the present invention, the amount of
water being added to the formulation for this
purpose may include:
a) water added as such,
b) water present in the softening agent,
c) water added in the form of an aqueous
solution of a bulking agent or other component of
the formulation, and/or
d) water added as a component of any
other component of the formulation.
The amount of water needed to saturate the
hygroscopic softening agent will vary depending on
the softening agent being used, but will always be
the same for such softening agent regardless of the
type and/or amount of the other components in the
chewing gum formulation. The amount of water needed
to saturate a specific hygroscopic softening agent
can be determined experimentally or gleaned from the
literature. See, for example, Handbook of Food
Additives, 1968, Thomas E. Furia, The Chemical
Rubber Co., Chapter 11, Polyhydric Alcohols, pp.
447-460. In the compositions of the present
invention at least about 0.20 to 0.25, and
~ ~3 ~3L1f ~
l preferably at least about 0.26 to 0.35, and most
preferably about 0.36 to 0.50 parts by weight of
water are used per part by weight of the softening
agent.
It is not known for a fact that when the
water is added to the chewing gum formulations of
the present invention it actually physically
saturates all portions of the hygroscopic softening
agent in such formulations. What is known, however,
as observed by the present inventors, is that when
the amount of water added to the formulation is the
amount which would saturate the hygroscopic
softening agent per se, the applicant's desired
results are obtained. The resulting manufactured
products do not absorb water in deleterious amounts
upon storage. Their ERH values are at least two to
three times higher than the ERH values of chewing
gum products containing more than 8% liquid
hygroscopic softening agents and less than 2%
moisture. As evidenced by the tests used to
evaluate the ERH values of the products of the
present invention, they do absorb small amounts of
water of the order of about 1 + 0.5~ at 52% relative
humidity over a 72 hour test period. These amounts,
however, would not have a deleterious effect under
common commercial storage conditions. The products
of the present invention have ERH values of more
than 25, and preferably of about 30 to 35, and most
preferably of up to about 35 to 50 or more.
Preferred ERH values are ~25 to ~ 35, at least ~35
to ~50, 30 to ~40 and ~40 to ~50. They may be
safely packaged and stored in moisture permeable
packaging under relative humidity values of up to
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l about 60 to 70~ at 15 to 30C, for at least four
months without experiencing commercially adverse
water absorption problems.
CHEWING GUM COMPOSITIONS
The chewing gum compositionS contemplated
by the present invention comprise all types of sugar
and sugarless chewing gums and chewing gum
formulations known to those skilled in the art,
including the regular gum and the bubble gum types.
10 Typical chewing gum compositions comprise a chewing
gum base, a modifier, a bulking agent or sweetener,
and one or more other additives such as flavoring
agents, colorants and antioxidants. The modifying
agents are used to soften, plasticize and/or
compatibilize one or more of the components of the
gum base and/or of the formulation as a whole.
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l The chewing gum products of the present
invention would have the following formulation:
Weight ~ of Component
Component Broad Range Preferred Range
gum base 15 to 3520 to 30
liquid, hygroscopic
softening agent 8 to 3010 to 15
modifying agent other
than liquid, hygro-
scopic softening agent 0 to 5 0.3 to 3.0
15 non-nutritive sweetener 0 to 2 0.1 to 0.4
natural sugar 0 to 9040 to 65
coloring agent 0.1 to 0.50.15 to 0.3
flavoring agent
(other than sweetener) 0.5 to 2.5 0.18 to 1.2
moisture* 2 to 83.5 to 5.0
hydrogenated starch
hydrolysate 0 to 30 5 to 20
~otal 100 100
* Moisture content contributed by all components,
including any H20 added as such.
~38~0
l GUM BASE
The composition of the gum base will vary
depending on whether the gum base is to be used in a
5 chewing gum product which is to be a regular, or
non-bubble, gum product or a bubble gum product. For use
in making a bubble gum or regular chewing gum product,
the following gum base formulations may be used, in
accordance with the present invention:
Weight % of Component in Gum Base For
Bubble Gum Product Reqular Gum Product
BroadPreferred BroadPreferred
Component RangeRange Range Range
masticatory
material 8-22 9-18 8-25 9-18
plasticizer for
maSticatory
: material 5-3510-20 2-30 8-20
hydrophilic
detackifier 0-30 4-10 5-35 10-25
plasticizer for
hydrophilic
detackifier 0-14 0-8 1-15 3-12
3o wax 3-15 5-10 4-20 8-15
; mineral filler 1-35 10-22 5-35 15-30
antioxidant 0-0.10.05-0.09 0-0.10.03-0.09
35 Total 100 100
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The masticatory substances are elastomeric materials
which may be synthetic or natural in origin~ The masticatory
substances of synthe-tic origin would include styrene-butadiene
copolymer, butyl rubber (which is isobutylene-isoprene
copolymer) and polyisobutylene. The natural masticatory
substances would include chicle, crown gum, nispero, balata,
jelutong, pendare, perillo, niger gutta, tunu, leche caspi,
sorva and gutta hank kang.
The plasticizer for the masticatory substance will
preferably comprise a hydrogenated ester gum, that is, a
glycerol ester of hydrogenated rosin and/or dimerized ester
gum. However, other rosins may be employed such as
pentaerythritol ester gum, polymerized ester gum, polyterpene
resin and ester gum.
The hydrophilic-type detackifier is a material which
will absorb saliva and would include vinyl polymers having a
molecular weight of at least 2,000, and preferably of about
2,000 to 80,000 or more, such as polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl
butyl ether and copolymers of vinyl esters and/or vinyl ethers
with ethylene.
The plasticizers for the hydrophilic type
detackifiers would include one or more of triacetin, acetylated
glycerides and other flavor adjuvants such as ethyl acetate and
triethyl citrate, and others as listed in U.S. Patent No.
4,452,820 at column 4, lines 27 to 46.
The oleaginous material includes waxes which are used
primarily as compatibilizers/
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1 plasticizers between the elastomeric and rosin
phases, where such two phases are employed.
Examples of the waxes are petroleum waxes such as
paraffin wax and microcrystalline wax; the
polyethylene waxes; and natural waxes derived ~rom
either plant or animal sources such as candelilla
wax, carnuba wax and bees wax. The oleaginous
material may also include hydrogenated vegetable or
animal fats, cocoa butter or other softening-
emulsifying agents such as phosphatides such aslecithin and di- and tri-glycerides of fatty acids.
The mineral fillers would include calcium
carbonate, titanium dioxide, talc, alumina,
tricalcium phosphate and mixtures thereof.
In addition, the gum base may include
antioxidants such as butylated hydroxy toluene,
butylated hydroxy anisole and propyl gallate.
The chewing gum compositions of the
present invention can be sugar based or sugarless.
The sugar or sugar substitute used in the
compositions of this invention include natural
sugars or non-nutritive sweeteners. The amount of
natural sugar which can be present in the final
composition can range from about 0.5 to about 90
weight percent. The amount of non-nutritive
sweetener which can be used can range from 0 to
about 2 weight percent of the final composition.
The term "natural sugar" includes one or
more sugar containing materials, for example,
3o monosaccharides of 5 to 6 carbon atoms, such as
; arabinose, xylose or sorbose, or mixtures of two or
more of the foregoing monosaccharides; disaccharides
such as sucrose, for example, cane or beet sugar
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1 including sucrose and dextrose, lactose, maltose or
cellobiose; and polysaccharides such as dextrin or
corn syrup solids.
In addition, the dried higher polyhydric
5 alcohols may be employed together with a non-
nutritive or artificial or intense sweetener such as
poorly water-soluble, as well as water-soluble,
sweeteners such as aspartame or L-aspartyl-L-
phenylalanine methyl ester, the free acid form of
saccharin, sodium, calcium or ammonium saccharin
salts, dihydrochalcones, glycyrrhizin, dipotassium
glycyrrhizin, glycyrrhizic acid/ammonium salt,
talin, acesulfame K, as well as Stevia rebaudiana
(Stevioside), Richardella dulcifica (Miracle Berry),
Dioscoreophylim cumminisu (Serendipity Berry), fre0
cyclamic acid and cyclamate salts, and the like, or
mixtures of any two or more of the above. The
artificial sweetener may also be employed without
any other sweetening agent.
In addition to the above, the chewing gum
made by this invention can also contain conventional
FD&C and natural coloring agents.
The flavoring which can be included in the
chewing gum compositions made in this invention can
~25 comprise one or more synthetic flavors and/or oils
;derived from plants, leaves~flowers and fruit.
Representative flavors and oils of these types
include acids such as adipic, succinic and fumaric
acid; citrus oils such as lemon oil, orange oil,
lime oil and grapefruit oil; fruit essences, such as
apple essence, pear essence, peach essence,
strawberry essence, apricot essence, raspberry
essence, cherry essence, plum essence and pineapple
essence; essential oils such as peppermint oil,
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l spearmint oil, mixtures of peppermint oil and
spearmint oil, clove oil, bay oil, anise oil, oil of
nutmeg, oil of sage, oil of bitter almonds, cassia
oil and methylsalicylate (oil of wintergreen).
5 Various synthetic flavors such as those for a mixed
fruit, may also be incorporated in the chewing gum
with or without conventional preservatives.
When aspartame is used as a sweetening
agent in the chewing gum formulations of the present
invention, it has been found desirable to use
aqueous solutions of hydrogenated starch hydrolysate
as a stabilizing agent for the aspartame. See, in
this regard, the following U.S. patent applications
filed on even date hereith, Serial No. 677,717,
filed in the names of John E. Beam, et al. and
entitled Comestible Containing Moisture and Shelf
Storage Stabilized L-Aspartic Acid Derivative, and
Serial No. 677,716, filed in the names of John E.
Beam, et al. and entitled Comestible Containing
Moisture, CaCo3, and Shelf Storage Stabilized
L-Aspartic Acid Derivative. The disclosures of
these patent applications are incorporated herein by
reference thereto.
The aqueous solutions of hydrogenated
starch hydrolysate which are used in such
compositions may be the main preferred source of
water added to such compositions for the purposes of
providing the high ERH value chewing gum
compositions of the present invention. In other
chewing gum compositions of the present invention
which do not employ the hydrogenated starch
hydrolysate solutions, the water can be added
thereto, as such, or as an aqueous solution of
another component such as an aqueous solution form
of one or more of the sweetening or bulking agents.
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l The hydrogenated starch hydrolysate which
may be used in the compositions of the present
invention may be a hydrogenated corn syrup or
hydrogenated starch hydrolysates of varying dextrose
5 equivalents (DE), such as are disclosed in U.S.
Patent Re. No. 26,959 and U.S. Patent Nos.
3,556,811, 4,279,931 and 4,382,962, as well as
various hydrogenated glucose syrups and/or
reconstituted powders which contain sorbitol,
hydrogenated disaccharides, tri- to hexa-
hydrogenated saccharides, and hydrogenated higher
polysaccharides, or mixtures of any two or more of
the above.
The hydrogenated glucose syrups or
hydrogenated starch hydrolysates and/or powders
thereof may be produced by catalytic hydrogenation
of standard glucose syrups (acid and/or enzyme
converted) to the point where all the glucose end
groups of the saccharides are reduced to alcohols,
that is, dextrose to sorbitol. In the case of
hydrogenated glucose syrups, the total solids
contents will usually range from about 65 to about
80%, which solids are made of from about 4 to about
70%, and preferably from about 4 to about 20%,
sorbitol, from about 8 to about 65%, and preferably
from about 20 to about 65%, hydrogenated
disaccharides (that is, mannitol), and 20 to 80% of
the higher (2 tri to hepta) hydrogenated
saccharides. The preferred of the hydrogenated
starch hydrolysates contain from about 8 to about
45%, and preferably about 15 to 45~, tri- to hepta-
hydrogenated saccharides, and from about 10 to about
35%, and preferably about 15 to 25%, hydrogenated
saccharides higher than hepta.
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The hydrogenated starch hydrolysate is also referred
to in the literature as hydrogenated glucose syrup, or by the
trademark or tradename Lycasin polyol or Lonza polyol. The
term hydrogenated starch hydrolysate will be used herein to
designate such material. The hydrogenated starch hydrolysate
is usually sold commercially in the form of an aqueous solution
thereof having a moisture content of about 20 to 35%.
The preferred L-aspartic acid derivative to be used
in the compositions of the present invention is, as noted
above, L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester, known as
Aspartame*. Other L-aspartic acid sweetening derivatives may
also be used. Such derivatives are disclosed in U.S. Patent
No. 3,955,000 at column 3, line 63 to column 4, line 35. The
following description will be directed to aspartame with the
understanding that the other L-aspartic acid sweetening
derivatives may be used in lieu of and/or in addition to the
aspartame. These compounds are also known as dipeptides.
GENERAL PREPARATION OF CHEWIWG GUM PRODUCT
The chewing gum products of the present invention
are prepared by first separately preparing the gum base. To
then prepare either a sugar based of sugarless chewing gum
formulation, the gum base for the product is melted, at a
temperature about 190 to 250F, and the other components of the
composition are added thereto. The resulting composition is
uniformly admixed. This takes about 3 to 7 minutes for
commercial sized batches of these formulations. Each of the
- components is usually
*=Trade mark
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l separately added to the formulated composition and
uniformly mixed in before the next component is
added. All of the admixing operations are conducted
at temperatures in the range of about 115 to 185F,
5 and preferably of about 125 to 180F, for a total
mixing time, at such temperatures, of about 10 to 20
minutes. These operations do not have to be
conducted under anhydrous conditions in preparing
the compositions of the present invention, and any
amounts of moisture that are normally present in the
raw materials that are used in the compositions of
the present invention do not usually have to be
removed therefrom either prior to, or during, the
formulating process. The one exception to this
concept of not removing water occurs when using
rubber latices as the source of the masticatory
substance. As in prior art practice, the moisture
content of the latex is, essentially, normally
removed after coagulating the latex.
The chewing gum formulations disclosed
herein may thus be prepared, and processed into
chewing gum products, using conventional chewing gum
formulation mixing, processing and packaging
equipment and concepts.
The following examples are merely
illustrative of the present invention and are not
intended as a limitation upon the scope thereof.
PREPARATION OF CHEWING GUM COMPOSITIONS
Various chewing gum compositions were
prepared using various of the gum bases prepared as
described above. In preparing the chewing gum
compositions, they were prepared either in pilot
plant sized batches, or in commercial production
sized batches in paddle mixers. In preparing each
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~73~34V
l batch, the previously prepared gum base is melted at
a temperature of up to about 245 + 5F and is
premixed with lecithin and color additive, and,
optionally, the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate,
until the temperature drops to about 185 to 189F.
Then there is sequentially added powdered sorbitol
(at a temperature of ~ 180F), liquid flavor (i.e.,
peppermint), liquid sorbitol, if used, glycerin, if
used, alone or with the hydrogenated starch
hydrolysate, if the latter is not premixed with the
gum base, any additional flavorants, and finally the
aspartame, and, optionally, any other intense
sweeteners. Each component is paddle mixed in
before the next is added. Each mixing step takes
about 0.5 to 5.0 minutes and the total mixing time
is about 10-13 minutes. The resulting product is
recovered and further processed and packaged using
conventional chewing gum making procedures.
The hydrogenated starch hydrolysate used
in the chewing gum compositions evaluated in the
example had a solids content of 75 + 1%, a
monosaccharide content of about 6 to 8%, a
disaccharide content of about 50 to 55%, and a
higher saccharide content of about 38 to 48%. The
higher saccharides were about 20 to 25~ in the 3-7
DP (degree of polymerization) range, and about 18 to
23% in the > 7 DP range.
Unless otherwise indicated, the total H20
content reported below for each of the chewing gum
formulations of the Examples is a calculated amount
based on the water content of the hydrogenated
starch hydrolysate (HSH), about 25%, and glycerine,
- about 1.0%, (where used) plus any added water used
in the respective formulations. The actual water
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~73~340
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1 content of these formulations is about 0.2 to 0.5
higher than the reported calculated values, since
such additional amounts of water enter the final
formulated product from the other components of the
formulation and from the ambient atmosphere. The
total of the reported weight percents for the
respective formulations of these Examples will thus
total about 100% plus the respectively reported
calculated water contents.
The test formulations were prepared using
batch pilot plant procedures. Prior to beginning
the pilot plant batch making process, two separate
glycerine/HSH batches are prepared, each of which
contains one-half of each of the formulated amounts
of the glycerine and the hydrogenated starch
hydrolysate that are to be used in making the
product of each example. One of such premixtures is
then used in each of steps 4 and 7 noted below.
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l Ste -Wise Pilot Plant Procedure
P
1. Into a pre warmed sigma bladed mixer
add molten gum base. The gum base temperature
should be between 150-200F, and preferably between
170-190F.
2. With the blades of the mixer
operating, and the temperature in the cited range,
the lecithin is added and the mixing is continued
for one minute.
3. Add l/3 of the bulk sweetener
(sorbitol powder) and mix for two minutes, or until
homogeneous.
4. Add one of the glycerine/HSH
premixtures or the first 1/2 of the HSH and mix for
two minutes, or until homogeneous.
5. Add 1/3 of the sorbitol powder and
contlnue mixing for two minutes. Add (any) added
water.
6. The liquid flavor is then added and
mixing is continued for one minute.
7. Add the second glycerine/HSH
premixture, or the second 1/2 of the HSH and mix for
two minutes.
8. Add the remaining 1/3 of the sorbitol
powder and the non-sugar sweetener. Prior to
production of the batch, the non-sugar sweetener is
premixed with approximately 1/3 of the sorbitol
powder. Continue mixing for two minutes, or until
the batch is homogeneous. The final gum temperature
3o is approximately 112F.
9. The gum is removed from the mixer and
condition at 70F/ambient R.H prior to forming.
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1 10. The gum is rolled and scored into a
stick configuration. Mannitol is applied to the
surface of the scored gum to prevent surface
adhesion. The gum is then packaged.
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l Examples 1-3
Three chewing gum products were made in
the pilot plant procedure as described above to
5 which 2.75, 4.75 and 6.75%, respectively water, as
such was addedt using the following formulations,
and they had the ERH values reported therefor,
below:
10 Component Weight ~ of a Component in Product
1 2 3
styrene-butadiene 28.00
elastomer based
gum base
15 srbitl powder 47.88 >
lecithin 1.00 >
flavor 1.00 >
saccharin 0.12
mannitol . 2.00 - ~
20 glycerine 15.00 >
hydrogenated starch 5.00
hydrolysate
100.00 100.00 100.00
added water2.75 4.75 6.75
ERH value 36 38 53
Calculated water 3.90 5.90 7.90
content*
When the products of Examples 1 to 3 are
packaged and stored in moisture permeable packaging
under relative humidity values of about 60 to 70~ at
15 to 30C they do not experience commercially
adverse water absorption problems.
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l Similar products, however, when made with
about 8% or more of glycerine and having a water
content of no more than about 2% will undergo severe
water absorbtion problems under the same conditions
5 and in the same type packaging and, as such, are not
commercially acceptable products from a long term
storage point of view.
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