FROZEN CONFECTION

FRIANDISE CONGELEE

English Abstract

2134121 9321779 PCTABS00027
Keepable particulate frozen dessert or ice confection product
having a weight average particle size of from 0.001 to 20 ml, the
majority of the particles having a thermal transition temperature
of at least -15 ·C.

Claims

WO 93/21779 PCT/GB93/00841
CLAIMS
1. Particulate frozen dessert or ice confection product
characterised by a volume average particle size of from
0.001 to 20 ml, the majority of the particles having a
thermal transition temperature of at least -15°C.
2. Product according to claim 1, characterised by a
thermal transition temperature of at least -12°C.
3. Product according to claim 1, characterised by a
thermal transition temperature of at least -10°C.
4. Product according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in
that the particles are sintered together.
5. Product according to claim l, 2 or 3, characterised in
that the particles are mainly globular.
6. Product according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in
that the particles are mainly pillow shaped.
7. Product according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in
that the particles are mainly rod shaped.
8. Product according to any one of the preceding claims,
characterised in that the volume average particle size is
in the range from 0.1 to 1 ml.

Description

L~ 'I'O 93/~1779 2 1 3 4 1 2 1 PCr/GB93/00841
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FROZEN CONFECTION
Frozen desserts or ice confection products are due to
change fairly often because customers, often children, are
continuously expecting changes of design, sh~pe, flavour f
or of other features of the products.
Accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide
novel frozen desserts or ice confection products having
features not known to date, which products should be
keepable during normal storage periods under usual storage
conditions.
The invention provides thereto a particulate frozen dessert
or ice confection product which is characterised by a
volume-average particle size of from 0.001 to 20 ml, the
majority of the particles having a thermal transition
temperature of at least -15C and more preferred of at
least -12C. In practice particle sizes in the range from
0.1 to 1 ml are being preferred. For tropical countries
and other areas where a stable storage temperature can not
be guaranteed ~nd power cut offs are not unusual a thermal
transition temperature of -10C or higher is preferred.
I
A higher thermal transition temperature is achieved by
altering the formulation to give a higher average molecular
weight. For example conventional sweeteners such as
sucrose and dextrose are replaced by corn syrups to achieve
this purpose. Also the lactose content in any milk solids
used may be lowered or even be absent. Maltodextrin can
also be used.
Determination of the thermal transition temperature is
carried out by differential scanning calorimetry. About 10
mg of solution is sealed in a pan. An empty pan is used as
a rererence and the pans are crash-cooled and then ~larmed
again at a rate of 5C per minute. The thermal transition
.

2 1 3 ~ 1 2 ~ n
WO93/~1779 PCT/GB93/00841
temperature is seen as a change in the heat capacity before
the ice melting curve. This change may be a step or a
peak. There may be other small changes prior to this but
the thermal transition is defined as the last change before
the ice melting/dissolving curve.
The use of higher molecular weight materials causes the
water to solidify as an amorphous solid. This has
negligible diffusion and is thus relatively stable. This
stability allows preparation of stable particulate frozen
confections.
The shapes of the particles of the product according to
this invention can be various for example globular or
roughly globular, pillow shaped, rod shaped etc.
These particles can be loosely flowable in the final
product to be eaten separately or any desired number
simultaneously but can also be sintered together by
moistening with a cementing fluid material which is
afterwards solidified by lowering its temperature.
The invention will be explained in the following non-
- limiting examples wherein some embodiments are described.
Parts and percentages are referring to weights.
Exam~le 1
A mix of msnf 2.5~
coconut fat 3.5%
GMS (emulsifier) 0.45%
maltodextrin 6DE 20
aspartame~ 0.07%
water up to 00%
was allowed to drop as small drops on a stainless steelt ~
surface cooled by liquid nitrogen. The round pillow shaped t

~ VO9 /2 77 2134L2~ ~;
3 1 9 PCT~GB93/00841
particles had an average volume of 0.2 ml. After scraping
the particles off the cold surface they were stored in a
domestic freezer at -10C for 14 days and showed no
shrinkage or sintering. Determination of the thermal
transition temperature of -10.4C.
Example 2 (control)
A similar mixture as used in Example 1 but containing:
10% msnf
3.5~ cocon~t fat
0.45% GMS
11% sucrose
6% maltodextrin 63DE
up to 100% water
was frozen to particles and stored under the conditions of
Example 1. This composition resulted in a thermal
transition temperature of -31.9C.
After storage a shrinkage of about 30% by volume was noted
and the particles had sintered together to a mass.
25 ExamPle 3
.
maltodextrin 6DE 20%
citric acid 0.2%
~ flavour 0.1
colour 0.1%
aspartame 0.07%
water up to 100%
This water ice mixture was put into a trough into which a
spiked wheel was dipping, taking up small amounts of
liquid. On falling off the pointed spikes the resulting
drops were dropped into liquid nitrogen and collected

2 1 3 ~ 1 2 1 A
W093/~1779 Pf /GB93/00841
therefrom after solidifying to globular particles of about
0.1 ml volume each. This formulation had a thermal
transition temperature of -12.5C. s;
5 After storage for 3 months in a domestic *** freezer no
appreciable shrinkage was noted, and the particles were
free-flowing.
Example 4
The particles in Example 3 were made into ice lollies.
These were made by slightly melting the outside of the
particles by stirring them in a small container at room
temperature and adding a little water. The particles were
then packed into lolly moulds, a stick was inserted and the
product was refrozen by placing into a low-temperature
bath. The frozen product was removed from the mould by
warming the outside. The lolly comprising sintered
particles gave a novel attractive appearance, could be i
easily nibbled off and was stable in storage for long
periods.