JPH0420574B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a novel low calorie chewing gum that utilizes polydextrose as the only soluble filler.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Due to efforts by dentists to discourage the use of cane sugar-containing confections, sugar-free confections, especially sugar-free chewing gum, have become desirable foods. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a food additive application to Pfizer Inc. for the use of polydextrose in certain food categories. In particular, polydextrose has been approved for use in chewing gum as well as numerous other applications. Dextrose is a low calorie bulking, body or texturing agent that provides less than 1 calorie per gram. It is useful in replacing sugar, and in particular acts as a substitute for the bulking effects of sugar, imparting consistency and texture to foods. However, polydextrose does not normally have the sweetening properties of sugar. Therefore, polydextrose is not a sweetener and is not a substitute for saccharin.

The manufacturer of polydextrose, Pfizer Inc., has shown the formulation of polydextrose chewing gum in promotional media advertising polydextrose's various food applications. However,
Pfizer's technology was only able to utilize polydextrose to replace about 50% of the sorbitol (or sugar alcohol) commonly found in conventional sugar alcohol gum formulations. The use of polydextrose as the only soluble filler in sugar-free gums was considered an elusive goal as it would be too sticky and difficult to process. In order to produce polydextrose gum, it was considered necessary to incorporate significant amounts of sugar and/or sugar alcohols to obtain good processing parameters and to obtain good organoleptic properties.

One object of the present invention is to produce a low calorie chewing gum with good texture and processing properties that is produced using polydextrose as the only filler. Furthermore, since polydextrose is not a sweetening agent, by replacing all of the sugar or sugar alcohol with polydextrose, which is a bulking agent, chewing gum with a snack-type flavor and no sweetener added can be produced. Low calorie sweetened gums can also be made with aspartame or other low calorie intense sweeteners.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the production of novel sugar-free, low calorie chewing gums utilizing polydextrose as the only soluble filler. The present invention allows the production of gum without the use of sugar or sugar alcohols, which are normally present to provide bulk. These low calorie sugar-free gum products can be made by eliminating the aqueous components typically used in sugar gum (corn syrup) or sugar alcohol (sorbitol syrup) sugar-free gums.

Sugars and sugar alcohols are defined as fillers, and together they account for the majority of the composition. As used herein, the term "sugar" is meant to include sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup solids (substitutes thereof), etc., and mixtures thereof. Sugar alcohols, also known as polyols, include mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, galactitol, glycerin, erythritol, etc., and mixtures thereof.

Polydextrose is an edible ingredient further described in US Pat. No. 3,766,165 to Pfizer. Polydextrose is a water-soluble, irregularly linked condensation polymer of dextrose containing small amounts of bound sorbitol and citric acid. Pfizer offers two forms of polydextrose on the market. it is in solution
Powdered acid with a PH range of approximately 2.5-3.5 and 5-6
It is a neutralized 70% solution with a PH range of . The neutral form of polydextrose is a viscous, hygroscopic, sticky solution, similar to sugar syrup, and does not dry easily, or even when it dries, it solidifies into a sticky, hygroscopic mass. Although polydextrose in acidic powder form is easy to use, its acidic nature makes it undesirable for many food applications, including chewing gum formulations. The inventor has been able to make a sugar-free snack-type flavored chewing gum or an artificially sweetened chewing gum containing polydextrose as the only filler. The polydextrose used is a neutral form of polydextrose that has been previously spray-dried. Alternatively, artificially sweetened chewing gums with added grape, orange, lemon or cherry flavor can be made by using polydextrose in powdered acidic form. because,
This is because these flavors are compatible with acidic compositions.

The secret to obtaining a gum product of good quality and avoiding excessive stickiness during processing is to use a low moisture content dextrose powder (less than 5% moisture) as a starting material and to maintain a low moisture content during the entire processing step. The goal is to maintain Spray-dried, low-moisture, neutral polydextrose was prepared from neutral 70% solution polydextrose (Phizer Polydextrose Type N) to Whirljet Type 1/
Produced by using a 1TC nozzle and the following spray drying conditions.

Inlet air temperature 400〓 (204℃) Outlet air temperature 230〓 (110℃) Air flow rate, discharge 2800cfm Spray pressure 500psig Feedstock concentration 51.4% Feed temperature 133〓 (56℃) Processing rate 217 lbs (98Kg) Solids/hour Spray The dried powder had a bulk density of 0.66 g/cc and a water content of less than 1.5%.

The use of 100% polydextrose as a bulking agent results in a product with no added sugar, which is particularly desirable when sweetness is not desired in the final chewing gum product. Furthermore, sugar alcohols or polyols typically have about 4 calories per gram, whereas polydextrose has only 1 calorie per gram. Incorporation of polydextrose as the sole filler in the chewing gum of the present invention results in a chewing gum product having a caloric density of less than 1 calorie per gram.

According to the present invention, the sugar-free chewing gum composition comprises about 65-85% by weight of polydextrose;
Made from about 15-35% by weight of gum base, the balance of the chewing gum is made up of softeners, flavoring agents and colorants. Polydextrose is present in an amount of 65-80% by weight of the gum and the gum base is approximately
Preferably it is present in an amount of 20-30% by weight.

The moisture content of the final chewing gum product is approximately 1.0−5.0
% by weight, preferably 2.0%-3.0%. Gum bases that can be used in the present invention include natural or synthetic chewing substances, synthetic resins, waxes, fillers and emulsifiers.

Flavors and colorants can be added to the chewing gum compositions of the present invention if desired.
Flavoring agents include all natural oils, aromatic oils or duly approved synthetic flavoring oils and compounds. Flavors such as wintergreen, spearmint, honey, birch, anise, and fruit flavors have practical uses in many gum bases. The amount of flavoring agent is usually a matter of preference, but factors such as the type of flavor used, the type of base used, etc. should be considered. The flavoring material is in an amount of about 1% or less by weight of the total gum composition.

Plasticizers or softeners, such as lanolin, propylene glycol, glycerin, lecithin, etc., and mixtures thereof, can optionally be incorporated into the gum base to obtain the desired texture and consistency. Aspartame can be incorporated as an optional ingredient in the chewing gum composition of the present invention, and is contained in an amount of 0.1% or more, preferably 0.3-0.7% on a weight basis. Alternatively, the chewing gum compositions of the present invention contain 0.05%-0.3%, more preferably 0.075-0.2%, and most preferably 0.1% by weight.
Satucalin can be blended at a level of .

The invention is further illustrated by the following examples:
It is not limited to this.

Example 1 A low calorie sugar-free chewing gum was prepared as follows using polydextrose as the only soluble filler and with the addition of aspartame as an intense sweetener.

Low Calorie Spearmint Flavor Chewing Gum with Aspartame Ingredient Composition % Spray-dried Polydextrose, Type N (Neutral) 70.7 Gum Base 27.0 Spearmint Flavor 1.1 Lecithin 0.6 Aspartame (APM) 0.6 100.0 Method Pre-softened gum base and lecithin Mixer with steam jacket (Sigma mixer)
Two-thirds of the polydextrose, which had been added to the solution and mixed for 3 minutes at 45° C., was added and mixing continued for an additional 5 minutes. Separately, add the remaining 1/3 polydextrose and
APM was premixed and this was added to the mixer and mixing was continued for 1 minute. Flavors were incorporated and mixing continued for 3 minutes. The gum was removed from the mixer (final temperature 53°C) and then passed through sheeting rolls to a thickness of 0.0706-0.075 inches.

The sheet was tempered at 22F/RH55% for 24 hours, cut into staples, and packaged. Statsuku is 2.75
x 0.75 inch and weighed approximately 2.75 g each.

The calorie content for each 2.75g stick is:
It was approximately 2 calories based on the calorie content of 1 calorie per gram of polydextrose. The same amount of chewing gum sticks produced using sugar or sugar alcohol as the soluble filler would have approximately 7-8 calories.

Example 2 Chewing gum was produced using a mixture of 0.1% saccharin and 0.5% aspartame instead of 0.6% aspartame used as a chewing gum component in Example 1.

Example 3 A low calorie sweetener-free chewing gum with a snack-type flavor was produced using polydextrose as the sole filler. No strong sweeteners were included to provide a palatable sweetener-free base for the snack flavor.

Low Calorie Pizza Flavor Chewing Gum Ingredient Composition % Spray-dried Polydextrose, Type N (Neutral) 71.6 Gum Base 27.0 Lecithin 0.6 Pizza Flavor 0.8 100.0 The method used was the same as in Example 1 except that aspartame was added. The calorie content was the same as in Example 1.

Example 4 A low calorie chewing gum with a sour or acid type flavor was prepared using grape flavor and aspartame as the intense sweetener and polydextrose in the form of an acidic powder as the only soluble filler.

Low Calorie Grape Flavor Chewing Gum Ingredient Composition % Spray-dried Polydextrose (Powdered Acid Form) 70.5 Gum Base 27.0 Grape Flavor 1.3 Lecithin 0.6 Aspartame 0.6 100.0 The method was the same as in Example 1 and the calorie content was the same as in Example 1. It was hot.

Example 5 Chewing gum was produced using a mixture of 0.1% saccharin and 0.5% aspartame instead of 0.6% aspartame used as a chewing gum component in Example 4.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. 65-85% by weight of polydextrose having a water content of not more than 5% by weight and which has been spray-dried and has a calorific density of not more than 1 calorie per gram; and 15-35% by weight of a gum base. The water content is 1
- 5% by weight and further characterized in that it contains polydextrose as the only soluble filler. 2 Polydextrose 65-80%, gum base 20%
-30% and a water content of 2.0-3.0%. 3. The chewing gum according to claim 1 or 2, which does not contain sweeteners other than sugar. 4 Claim 1 or 2 further contains 0.1% or more aspartame on a weight basis
Chewing gum as described in section. 5. The chewing gum according to claim 4, wherein the content of aspartame is 0.3% to 0.7%. 6. Chewing gum according to claim 1 or 2, containing 0.05% to 0.3% saccharin on a weight basis. 7 Satukarin content is 0.075% by weight
-0.2% chewing gum according to claim 6.