GB2520954A

GB2520954A - Jelly confectionery manufacture

Info

Publication number: GB2520954A
Application number: GB1321392.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Manfred Kilger
Original assignee: Intercontinental Great Brands LLC
Current assignee: Intercontinental Great Brands LLC
Priority date: 2013-12-04
Filing date: 2013-12-04
Publication date: 2015-06-10
Also published as: WO2015082994A1; GB201321392D0

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a jelly confectionery comprising the steps of preparing a jelly confectionery composition comprising a bulk sweetener and a gelling agent (hydrocolloid, starch), depositing the jelly confectionery composition in a mould and dielectric cooking the jelly confectionery composition. The dielectric cooking is selected from microwave or RF cooking.

Description

I

Jelly Confectionery Manufacture

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to methods of manufacturing jelly confectionery, and jelly confectionery corn positions.

BackQround to the invention Jelly confectionery is a broad expression used to refer to a class of confectionery made from a bulk sweetener such as sugar, glucose, sugar substitute or a mixture thereof, and a gelling system, typically a hydrocolloid gelling system, which imparts setting properties on the confection. Typical hydrocolloids include pectin, gelatine, gum arabic, starch and combinations IS thereof.

Jelly confectionery is typically prepared by cooking the ingredients (commonly with the exception of acids, colour and flavours) to the required temperature or the required solids content, cooling the hot, cooked, composition to a deposition temperature, adding any heat sensitive ingredients such as acid, colour and flavour, depositing the jelly confectionery into a mould and cooling and stoving the moulded product. In known processes, it is necessary to premix the ingredients of the liquid jelly confectionery composition, and cook those ingredients before passing the cooked, hot jelly confectionery composition to a suitable depositor, for subsequent deposition into a mould, followed by cooling and stoving.

Stoving (otherwise known as conditioning) is generally necessary in known processes due to the fact that the cooked jelly composition must be of a low enough solids content, and be of a low enough viscosity for deposition into moulds, without blocking or otherwise reducing the effectiveness of the depositing equipment. For example, depositing the cooked jelly composition at a too high viscosity leads to the formation of an undesirable tail on the confectionery pieces. Such tails detract from the visual appeal of the product to the consumer. The tails can also separate from the confectionery pieces during later processing, creating waste and causing further processing problems and contaminating the moulding starch. Un-cooked jelly compositions have a significantly lower viscosity than cooked jelly compositions, due to the formation of a gel matrix after cooking. As the deposited, cooked jelly confectionery composition contains a relatively large quantity of moisture, it must then be stoved at a temperature above ambient for up to a number of days or even weeks, in order to reduce the moisture content and increase the solids content of the jelly confectionery to the desired amount. It would therefore be desirable to be able to produce jelly confectioneries without the use of a stoving step, and without having to cook the liquid jelly confectionery composition before deposition into moulds.

Known methods of mitigating or eliminating a stoving step include the use of ultrasonics to reduce the viscosity of the cooked, liquid jelly IS confectionery composition before or during deposition into moulds. These techniques, introduce expensive apparatus in the form of sonicators, and add further complexity to the jelly confectionery manufacturing processes.

It would therefore be advantageous to be able to manufacture jelly confectionery in which cooking takes place after depositing the composition into a mould, and in which the liquid jelly confectionery composition may be cooked to a desired final solids content which reduces or eliminates stoving.

There is also an interest in the confectionery industry to develop more cost effective methods of manufacturing jelly confectioneries, which also reduce time and resources needed, equipment space and energy needs.

Summary of the invention

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a jelly confectionery, the method comprising the steps of: a) preparing a jelly confectionery composition comprising a bulk sweetener and a gelling agent; b) depositing the jelly confectionery composition in a mould; and c) dielectric cooking the jelly confectionery composition.

The use of dielectric cooking in situ in a mould enables jelly confectionery compositions which have relatively high solid contents to be deposited and cooked, thus providing a significant economic benefit to manufacturers, as stoving cycles can be reduced or even eliminated.

The jelly confectionery composition prepared in step a) may be a liquid jelly confectionery composition. By "liquid" we include any jelly confectionery composition that flows.

In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a jelly confectionery composition produced by the manufacturing methods of the invention.

Stoving refers to the stage of drying (otherwise referred to as cooling and conditioning) during which time the liquid jelly confectionery composition solidifies. This typically takes place in a drying room with controlled temperature and humidity conditions, and can be an expensive process step in terms of both capital and operating costs as well as time resources.

Reduction in stoving cycle time of at least 40% has been achieved with use of the methods of the invention, compared to conventional methods of cooking jelly confectionery compositions in batches, followed by deposition into moulds. Stoving can be completely eliminated when the solids content of the jelly confectionery composition is sufficiently high, such as above 80%, or can be significantly reduced if a more conventional final solids content of 70 - 80% is desired.

A stoving cycle time refers to the time taken for a jelly confectionery composition, manufactured according to the invention, to dry. A shorter cycle time reduces the energy input required to achieve drying, and frees up a drying room for further product to be dried. The reduction or elimination of product stoving cycle time can result in greater throughput and therefore reduce capital expense and time resources. There may also be an energy saving from depositing at higher solids due to the reduced amount of moisture that needs to be removed to reach final product solids, and hence a reduction in operating costs.

Other advantages that may be achieved using the methods described for this invention include fine control of starch cooking, lower viscosity depositing of the jelly compositions, and greater recipe flexibility over prior art methods.

Detailed description of the invention

The term "jelly confectionery" is used broadly to refer to those confectioneries known as jellies, gummys, jubes, pastilles, gelatines and similar. Jelly confectionery is made with bulk sweetener which may be a sugar-based sweetener, a sugarless sweetener or a mixture thereof, and a gelling agent. The gelling agent imparts setting properties on the confectionery.

Sugar-based bulk sweeteners generally include saccharides. Suitable IS sugar sweeteners include monosaccharides, di-saccharides and poly-saccharides such as but not limited to, sucrose (sugar) , dextrose, maltose, dextrin, xylose, ribose, glucose, mannose, galactose, fructose (levulose) lactose, invert sugar, fructooligosaccharide syrups, partially hydrolyzed starch, corn syrup solids, such as high fructose corn syrup, and mixtures thereof. In some embodiments the bulk sweetener comprises sucrose and glucose.

According to one embodiment a combination of sugar and glucose is used. The relative amounts by weight of sugar and glucose may be between 20:80 and 80:20, such as between 40:60 and 60:40.

Suitable sugarless bulk sweetening agents include sugar alcohols (or polyols) such as, but not limited to, sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, galactitol, maltitol, hydrogenated isomaltulose (isomalt), lactitol, erythritol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, and mixtures thereof.

In some embodiments, the amount of bulk sweetener in the jelly confectionery composition prior to cooking is at least 30%, 35% or 40% by weight. In some embodiments the amount of bulk sweetener in the jelly confectionery composition may be no more than 95%, 90%, 85% or 80% by weight. In some embodiments the amount of bulk sweetener is between 45% to 95% by weight, or between 55% to 90%, by weight of the jelly confectionery composition.

The jelly confectionery compositions of the invention include a gelling agent. The gelling agent may be a hydrocolloid. In some embodiments the gelling agent comprises starch, which is a useful gelling agent for microwave heating. In some embodiments the confectionery composition may include further gelling agents in addition to the starch gelling agent such as further hydrocolloid gelling agents for example. Suitable additional hydrocolloid gelling agents include pectin, agar-agar, gelatin, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, carageenan, gum arabic and combinations thereof. In some embodiments the liquid jelly confectionery composition may comprise a combination of gelling agents, such as a combination of gelatin and starch.

The amount of gelling agent in some embodiments is at least 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.5% or 1% by weight. In some embodiments the amount of gelling IS agent is no more than 20%, 18%, 15%, 13% or 10% by weight, of the jelly confectionery composition at deposition. In some embodiments the amount of gelling agent is suitably between 1% and 13% by weight of the jelly confectionery composition at deposition, and in some embodiments may be between 2% and 10%.

The starch gelling agent may be a cereal-based starch such as rice, wheat, maize, oat, barley or corn starch; a vegetable based starch, such as potato, cassava, sweet potato, or pea starch; bean-based starch such as fava, lentil, mung or chickpea starch; fruit based starch such as banana or breadfruit starch; starches from acorn, arrowroot, arracacha, barley, buckwheat, canna, colacasia, katakuri, kudzu, malanga, millet, sago, sorghum, rye, taso, chestnut, water chestnut, or the like for example; modified starch such as dextrin, acid-treated starch, alkaline treated starch, oxidized starch, monostarch phosphate, distarch phosphate, starch acetate, hydroxypropyl starch, and the like; or any mixture of the aforementioned starches.

The starch gelling agent may be those supplied from Roquette and C arg ill.

The gelling agent(s) may be pie-mixed with water pnor to being combined with the bulk sweetener. The bulk sweetener and gelling agent(s) may be combined with water in a batching tank which measures in the required quantities of ingredients.

The jelly confectionery composition may further comprise other ingredients such as acid, flavour, colour, high intensity sweetener, flavour modulators, flavour potentiators, coolants, warming agents, fruit juice concentrate, mouth moisteners, humectants, oral care agents, medicaments, botanicals, health-promotion agents and so forth. These ingredients may be added to the jelly confectionery composition in the batching tank, or they may be pie-mixed with the bulk sweetener, the starch gelling agent or any of the additional gelling agents of the composition, when present.

Colours suitable for use in jelly confectionery compositions include any of the commercially available food grade colours, pigments or visual effect IS agents known in the art. Suitable colours are available from CHR Hansen, Tate & Lyle, Merck, Sensient Technologies, Quest or Givaudan. Colours may be natural and/or artificial, water soluble and/or oil soluble. Colour is used broadly to refer to ingredients that provide a colour effect, or any other applied visual effect such as shine, shimmer or sparkle. "Colour pigment" is used to refer to the specific use of a colour agent that provides colour only and not another visual effect. Some agents provide a visual effect other than just colour. Examples of pigments that provide shine, shimmer, sparkle, luminescence, or a pearl-effect are those pigments available under the trade marks Candurin, Colorona, Timiron, Dichrona, Biron, Xirona, Iriodin, Colourstream and Xirallic ranges from Merck. Candurin and Colorona are notable examples. Another agent that can be used to give a visual effect different to that provided by a standard colour pigment is microencapsulated flavour beads. Such beads appear to be coloured particles and can be distributed in the liquid jelly confectionery composition to provide a speckled colour effect, in addition to the flavour effect that they provide.

The colour can be selected to be appropriate for a given flavour, but colours that do not reflect the flavour may also be used. The amount of colour should be appropriate to achieve the desired depth of colour. Suitable colours include yellow, orange, red, green, purple, peach, pink, black, violet, brown, silver, blue, gold, bronze, copper, pink and combinations thereof. Silver, gold and other metallic effect colours can be provided in the form of satin, silk or brilliant shines, and glitter effects.

Flavours suitable for use in jelly compositions include any of the commercially available food grade flavours known in the art, available from suppliers to the food industry such as Sensient Technologies, Firnienich, Givaudan, Essential Flavours and Ingredients, Selesia/Orica, Kerry Ingredients, International Flavours and Fragrances and Quest International.

Suitable flavours include natural, artificial and nature-identical flavours, water soluble and oil soluble flavours. The choice of flavour is generally based on the desired flavour for the product, and the amount is generally based on the intensity of the flavour itself (natural flavours tend to be less strong per unit IS volume or weight), and the desired strength of flavour in the product. Suitable flavours include fruit flavours, floral and herbal flavours, tea-based flavours, mints, chocolate, vanilla, aniseed and so forth. Suitable flavours include apricot, aniseed, apple, banana, blackcurrant, chrysanthemum, elderflower, feijoa, guava, grapefruit, green tea, honeydew, kiwi, lavender, lemon, lemon balm, lime, lychee, mandarin, orange, passionfruit, peach, pear, pineapple, raspberry, strawberry, vanilla, watermelon, white tea and so forth.

Suitable high-intesity sweeteners include, but are not limited to: a) water-soluble sweetening agents such as dihydrochalcones, monellin, steviosides and stevia derived compounds such as but not limited to rebaudiocide A, iso-mogroside V and the like, lo han quo and lo han quo derived compounds, glycyrrhizin, dihydroflavenol, and sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, erythritol, and L-aminodicarboxylic acid aminoalkenoic acid ester amides, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,834, which disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, and mixtures thereof; b) water-soluble artificial sweeteners such as soluble saccharin salts, i.e., sodium or calcium saccharin salts, cyclamate salts, the sodium, ammonium or calcium salt of 3,4-dihydro-6-methyl-l, 2, 3-oxathiazine-4- one-2 2-dioxide, the potassium salt of 3, 4-dihydro-6-methyl-l, 2, 3-oxathiazine-4-one-2, 2-dioxide (Acesulfame-K) , the free acid form of saccharin, and mixtures thereof; c) dipeptide based sweeteners, such as L-aspartic acid derived sweeteners, such as L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester (Aspartame), N-[N-(3,3-dimethylbutyl) -L-[alpha]-aspartyl] -L-phenylalanine 1-methyl ester (Neotame), and materials described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,492,131, L-alphaaspartyl-N-(2,2,4, 4 -tetramethyl-3-thietanyl) -D-alaninamide hydrate (Alitame), methyl esters of L-aspartyl-L- phenylglycerine and L-aspartyl-L-2, 5-dihydrophenyl-glycine, L-aspartyl- 2, 5-dihydro-L-phenylalanine L-aspartyl-L-(1-cyclohexen) -alanine, and mixtures thereof; d) water-soluble sweeteners derived from naturally occurring water-IS soluble sweeteners, such as chlorinated derivatives of ordinary sugar (sucrose), e.g. chlorodeoxysugar derivatives such as derivatives of chlorodeoxysucrose or chlorodeoxygalactosucrose, known, for example, under the product designation of Sucralose or Splenda(tm) examples of chlorodeoxysucrose and chlorodeoxygalactosucrose derivatives include but are not limited to: 1-chlorol -deoxysucrose; 4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl-alpha-D-fructofuranoside, or 4-chloro-4-deoxygalactosucrose; 4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D--galactopyranosyl -1 -chloro-1 -deoxy-beta-D-fructo-f uranoside, or 4, 1' -dichloro-4, 1' -dideoxygalactosucrose,-1', 6' -dichlorol, 6' - dideoxysucrose; 4-chloro-4-deoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl-1, 6- dichloro-l, 6-dideoxy-beta-D-fructofuranoside, or 4, 1', 6' -trichloro- 4, 1', 6' -trideoxygalactosucrose; 4, 6-dichloro-4, 6-dideoxy-alpha-D-galactopyranosyl-6-chloro-6-deoxy-beta-D-fruetofuranosid e, or 4, 6, 6' -trichloro-4, 6, 6'-trideoxygalactosucrose; 6,1', 6' -trichloro-6, 1', 6' - trideoxysucrose; 4, 6-dichloro-4, 6-dideoxy-alpha-D-galacto-pyranosyl- 1, 6-dichloro-l, 6-dideox y-beta-D-fructofuranoside, or 4, 6, 1', 6 - tetrachloro4, 6, 1', 6' -tetradeoxygalacto-sucrose; and 4, 6, 1', 6' -tetradeoxy-sucrose, and mixtures thereof; e) protein based sweeteners such as miraculin, extracts and derivatives of extracts of Synseplum dulcificum, mabinlin, curculin, monellin, brazzein, pentadin, extracts and derivatives of extracts of Pentadiplandra brazzeana, thaumatin, thaumaoccous danielli (Thaumatin I and II) and talin; f) the sweetener monatin (2 -hydroxy-2-(indol-3-ylmethyl) -4-aminoglutaric acid) and its derivatives or isomers; and g) the sweetener Lo han guo (sometimes also referred to as "Lo han kuo").

The intense sweetening agents may be used in many distinct physical forms well-known in the art to provide an initial burst of sweetness and/or a IS prolonged sensation of sweetness. Without being limited thereto, such physical forms include free forms, spray dried forms, powdered forms, beaded forms, encapsulated forms, and mixtures thereof. In one embodiment, the sweetener is a high intensity sweetener such as aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium (e.g. Ace-K or acesulfame-K).

In some jelly confectionery compositions it is desirable to include one or more ingredients having a health-related function, such as oral care agents, medicaments, botanicals and other health-promotion agents.

Examples include green tea extract, calcium-containing compounds for oral care, analgesics, antibacterial agents, cough suppressants and herb or botanical extracts (such as green tea extract). These ingredients may be in the liquid jelly confectionery composition forming the casing.

The bulk sweetener, gelling agent(s), and optional ingredients may be combined with water in a batching tank or mixing tank which measures in the required quantities of ingredients. In some embodiments, all of the ingredients of the jelly confectionery composition are mixed together and subsequently deposited into moulds. Where pectin is included as a hydrocolloid gelling agent, then this may be mixed in the required amount with sugar, water and acid, and other ingredients are added in the required quantities following cooking of this preliminary pectin solution.

In some embodiments the jelly confectionery composition is heated during mixing in the mixing or batching tank, and may be heated to around 50 °C, 55 °C, 60 °C or above. The exact heating temperature will be determined by the ingredients in the composition, but a temperature of around 60 °C ensures that starch-based gelling agents are homogeneously mixed.

Alternatively or additionally the heating step may comprise an in-line heating device such as a plate heat exchanger.

The batching tank may contain a sonicator for applying ultrasound frequency vibrational energy to the liquid jelly confectionery composition in this location. The sonicator may additionally, or alternatively, be located in the other positions.

From the batching tank, the jelly confectionery composition, or a IS combination of some of the ingredients for forming the jelly confectionery composition, may be transferred to a depositor, which may be of any suitable type. Heating may be effected by an in-line heating device such as a shell-and-tube heating device, a plate heat exchanger, heating in the mixing tank, a combination of these processes or otherwise.

The jelly confectionery composition may be deposited in one or more moulds, which may be starch moulds, plastic moulds (such as polypropylene), silicone moulds, or moulds constructed of other suitable material, or any combination thereof. Suitable mould materials will be obvious to those skilled in the art of dielectric heating, and must have properties that permit their use in dielectric heating. In some embodiments the mould is selected from a starch mould and a silicon mould.

If a starch mould is used then the starch material of the mould should be selected so that its gelatinisation temperature is above that effected by microwave cooking of the liquid jelly confectionery composition.

The moulds may comprise mould trays which comprise a plurality of individual product depressions, into which the liquid jelly confectionery composition is deposited to form the shape of the product.

The mould or each depression in the mould may be any desired shape, and in some embodiments may be independently selected from a geometric shape (such as a disc, hemisphere, sphere, cube, cuboid or the like), a fruit shape, animal shape, item shape or character shape.

The dielectric cooking may comprise microwave cooking or RE (radio frequency) cooking.

Microwave cooking may be performed at a frequency in the range of MHz-S GHz, 2-4GHz (s-band), or in some preferred embodiments at around 2-3 GHz, such as 2.45 GHz. RE cooking may be performed at a frequency in the range of 10-50 MHz, and in some preferred embodiments around 20-30 MHz, such as 27 MHz.

The dielectric cooking may be carried out using any suitable apparatus, such as a microwave or RF tunnel, for example. The microwave may have a power rating of at least 250 W, 300 W, 400 W, 500 W or 600 W and the RF IS apparatus may have a power rating of at least 250 W, 300 W, 400 W, 500W or 600 W. In some embodiments, especially for manufacture of products in large volumes, the power rating of the microwave or RF apparatus may be at least 1 kW, 1.25 kW or 1.5 kW for example, or cooking may be performed in series using a plurality of individual apparatus each having a power rating less than 1kW but the total power rating of all of the apparatus being at least 1 kW. The power of the dielectric apparatus may be adjustable, so that a suitable power may be selected by a user, depending on the ingredients of the liquid jelly confectionery composition, the desired final solids content of the coated jelly confectionery composition, the volumes to be heated and the required temperature of cooking.

In some embodiments the liquid jelly confectionery composition is cooked to a maximum surface temperature of no more than 180 °C, 140 °C, °C, 90 °C, 85 OQ or 80 °C. In some embodiments the liquid jelly confectionery composition is cooked for a period of time sufficient to reach the desired surface temperature. The liquid jelly confectionery composition may be cooked until the composition starts to boil, or for no more than 90, 60, 30, 20 or 10 seconds after the composition starts to boil. The heating of the liquid jelly confectionery may be performed under pressures greater than ambient. Heating under pressure may permit higher temperatures to be used, without detriment to the final confectionery composition, and may minimise/control the level of boiling during heating in order to reduce the amount of bubbles present in the product.

Cooking may remove up to 25%, 20%, 15% or 10% moisture from the jelly confectionery composition.

In some embodiments the hot, cooked jelly composition may be subjected to one or more stoving cycles, which may comprise maintaining the composition at a temperature above ambient, such as at least 30 °C, 35 °C or °C, for at least 2 hrs, 4 hrs, 8 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs, 48 hrs or longer, for example. In some embodiments stoving is not required and the cooked composition may be cooled to ambient temperature immediately after depositing.

IS Following cooking, the solids content may be in the range of about 70%-95%, 70%-92%, 70%-90%, 70%-85%, 71%-82%, such as 73%-78%, or 78%-82% solids. In some embodiments the solids content may be between 80%-95%, or 80%-90%.

The hot, cooked jelly confectionery composition may then be cooled to ambient temperature or any desired temperature. The cooling may be effected by leaving the cooked composition to stand, by an equivalent heat exchanger, a vacuum vessel or otherwise.

The scale of manufacture of the jelly confectionery composition may be lab-scale, pilot-plant scale or commercial scale. Commercial scale operations are particularly suited to the method of manufacture. This applies particularly to the depositor. Commercial scale depositors are a significant component of equipment on which the method is performed. In these depositors, batches of liquid jelly confectionery (at a temperature close to the depositing temperature) are fed into holding tanks (or hoppers) of the depositor which hold the liquid jelly confectionery, from which the liquid is drawn on to be pumped through the depositing head. The batches of liquid jelly confectionery fed into the holding tanks can be between 10 kg to 2,000 kg, in size for example, such as between 50 kg -200 kg, 50 kg -300 kg, 100 kg -300 kg, 100 kg -400 kg, 100 kg -200 kg, 200 kg -400 kg, 300 kg - 400 kg, 300 kg -500 kg, 300 kg -600 kg, 400 kg -600 kg, 400 kg -700 kg, 500 kg -700 kg, 500 kg -800 kg, 600 kg-BOO kg, 500 kg-i 000 kg, 1000 kg -1500 kg, or 1000 kg-2000 kg.

Example 1

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of

example.

A jelly premix (74.5°Brix at 25 °C) as set out in Table 1 below was produced in a mixing vessel heated to around 60 DC.

The homogeneous (visual inspection) premix was dosed into a starch mould on a porcelain plate. The plate was transferred into a household IS microwave (Siemens HF12MS4O) and heated at 600 W in intervals of 20 seconds until boiling was observed by water vapour bubbles raising to the surface. The surface temperature of the premix in the starch bed was monitored by the means of an infrared thermometer. The results of the visual inspection and surface temperature monitoring are shown in Table 2.

After 80 seconds, the plate was removed from the microwave oven and cooled down to room temperature by placing it on a lab bench for 2 hours with no stoving. Thereafter it was possible to remove the set jelly from the starch mould.

Table 1

Ingredient Amount INVERTSUGAR 11 KG RAW WATER 4KG CORNSYRUP 6KG THIN BOILING STARCH (BULK) 5 KG SUGAR -FINE GRANULAR (BULK) 18 KG 44KG TOTAL 44 KG Water loss on cooking -6 KG TOTAL COOKED WEIGHT 34 KG Table 1: Composition of jelly confectionery

Table 2

____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

Time of microwave treatment © 600W Surface Temperature of the jelly premix o 25°C sec -32 °C (depending on mould, variation sec -40 °C sec -50 CC -first indication of bubbles rising to the surface sec -65 CC -bubbles sec -75 0C-bubbles Table 2: Time versus surface temperature of Jelly premix The resultant jelly confectionery compositions were found to have good sensory and textural characteristics and did not require stoving.

Example 2

A second jelly confectionery was prepared in accordance with the invention. A jelly pre-mix was prepared in the same manner as for Example 1, with the following changes: a) The pre-mix was mixed in a heating vessel at 55 °C; b) The thin boilng starch was replaced by a thin boiling starch: gelatin mix in a 45:55 ratio starch: gelatin; and c) The homogeneous (visual inspection) premix was dosed into a silicon mould transferred into a household microwave (Siemens HF12M540) and heated at 90 W in intervals until boiling was observed by water vapour bubbles raising to the surface. The surface temperature of the premix in the starch bed was monitored by the means of an infrared thermometer. After a treatment of 4 minutes the mould was removed from the microwave oven and cooled down to room temperature by placing it in a lab bench for two (2) hours. Thereafter it was possible to remove the set jelly form the silicon mould.

The results of the visual inspection and surface temperature monitoring are shown in Table 3 below:

Table 3

Time of microwave treatment @ 90 Surface Temperature of the jelly W premix 0 -25°C sec -45 °C (depending on mould, variation +1-10 °C) sec 65 °C -first indication of bubbles rising to the surface 6osec -85°C sec -105°C -bubbles l2Osec -105°C-bubbles lSOsec -110°C-bubbles 24Osec -110°C-bubbles Table 3: Time versus surface temperature of Jelly premix The resultant jelly confections were found to have good sensory and textural characteristics and did not require stoving. The pre-mix did not turn into a clear solution even after an additional 60 seconds of microwave heating.

It will be understood to persons skilled in the art of the invention that many modifications may be made to the embodiments and examples without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A method of manufacturing a jelly confectionery, the method comprising the steps of; a) preparing a jelly confectionery composition comprising a bulk sweetener and a gelling agent; b) depositing the jelly confectionery composition in a mould; and c) dielectric cooking the jelly confectionery composition.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the gelling agent is a hydrocolloid.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the gelling agent comprises starch.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the jelly confectionery composition includes one or more further gelling agents in addition to starch.

IS
5. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the amount of gelling agent is between 0.1% weight and 20% weight of the jelly confectionery composition.
6. A method as claimed in any proceeding claim wherein the gelling agent is premixed with water prior to being combined with the bulk sweetener.
7. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the jelly confectionery composition comprises one or more ingredients selected from an acid, flavour, colour, high intensity sweetener, flavour modulator, flavour potentiator, coolant, warming agent, fruit juice concentrate, mouth moistener, humectant, oral care agent, medicament, botanical, health-promotion agent and any combination thereof.
8. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein all of the ingredients of the final jelly confectionery composition are mixed together and deposited into the mould.
9. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the jelly confectionery composition is heated during mixing to at least 50 °C.
10. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the mould is selected from a starch mould, plastics mould, silicone mould or any combination thereof.
11. A method as claimed in claim 10 wherein the starch mould comprises starch material which has a gelatinisation temperature above that effected by dielectric cooking of the jelly confectionery composition.
12. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the dielectric cooking is selected from microwave cooking and RE cooking.
13. A method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the microwave cooking is performed at a frequency range of between 100 MHz-5 GHz.
14. A method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the RE cooking is performed at a frequency range of between 10-50 MHz.
15. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the jelly confectionery composition is cooked during dielectric heating to a maximum IS surface temperature of no more than 180 °C.
16. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the jelly confectionery composition is cooked until the composition starts to boil, or for no more than 90 seconds after the composition starts to boil.
17. A method as claimed in any proceeding claim wherein the final solids content of the cooked jelly confectionery composition is in the range of about 70% to about 95%.
18. A jelly confectionery composition manufactured by the method of any preceding claim.