Sweetener with imbedded high potency ingredients

Abstract

An enhanced sweetener made from granules of a carrier, such as sucrose, embedded with molecules of a high potency sweetener, such as stevia extract. The process for making the enhanced sweetener involves dissolving the high potency sweetener in warmed water and mixing the resulting solution with the heated carrier. The resulting slurry is then dried, optionally under reduced pressure. The apparatus for producing the enhanced sweetener includes one or more heated agitators connected to a heated, airtight blender, which can be evacuated with a vacuum pump. The result is an enhanced sweetener with a homogenous distribution of high potency ingredients that retains the functionalities of sugar necessary for food preparation, improves the spreading of the sweetness throughout the food, and reduces aftertastes. Other high potency ingredients and carriers may also be used in the process.

Description

[0001]This application is a divisional, and claims the benefit of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14 / 497,865 filed on Sep. 26, 2014, which in turn claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62 / 012,142, filed on Jun. 6, 2014, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention generally relates to a granular, enhanced sweetener with imbedded, high potency ingredients. More specifically, it relates to sucrose imbedded with a high potency sweetener in a way that effectively increases the sweetness of the sugar without significantly compromising its chemical, physical and aesthetic properties that are important for its use as a food and drink ingredient.BACKGROUND[0003]Many people are using non-nutritive sweeteners as replacements for sugar in order to reduce their intake of calories. The replacement of sugar with a non-nutritive sweetener, however, removes the functionality of sugar that is essential ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The apparatus and manufacturing process disclosed herein make a concentrated, sugar-like sweetener that is typically 2-10 times sweeter than sugar. Small amounts of high potency sweeteners and optionally other ingredients are imbedded (or micro-encapsulated) in sugar as the carrier. Recipes that traditionally require sugar can be made using less sugar if the resulting, enhanced sweetener disclosed herein is used instead. The invention improves the taste of the enhanced sweetener by removing the bitterness that can be caused by high potency ingredients, which is achieved by thoroughly dispersing the high potency ingredients.

Problems solved by technology

The replacement of sugar with a non-nutritive sweetener, however, removes the functionality of sugar that is essential for many recipes.

Further, the replacement of sugar with a non-nutritive sweetener and carrier requires expensive ingredients.

However, this ingredient is many times more costly than sugar.

Formulators cannot freely substitute erythritol for sugar, because it prices the resulting food product out of the competitive range.

Another drawback with high potency sweeteners is that they are often not dispersed evenly.

When highly concentrated sweeteners are incorporated into a food recipe, it is difficult to mix them thoroughly and evenly.

Workplace safety and unacceptable production losses due to dust are also issues.

In particular, when utilizing high potency sweeteners in a powdered form, there is the problem with escaping dust coating the machinery and getting into operators' throats, causing irritation and potential workplace safety issues.

The loss of powdered sweetener in the form of dust can be costly, since it is so expensive.

Typically, such powdered sweeteners are the most expensive ingredients and can cost hundreds of dollars per kilogram.

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