Food slice consisting of two or more food items, and processes for making and packaging same

Abstract

Packaged food portions, such as food slices, consisting of two or more food items, such as peanut butter and jelly, and processes for making them. The food portion is provided with sufficient viscosity and textural properties to enable its formation into a cohesive mass which can be extruded while maintaining the individual identity and organoleptic attributes of each food item within the food portion. The food portion may be shaped into a slice or other configuration prior to or during its encasing within a flexible packaging material. Product formulations which provide for minimal moisture migration between the different food items within the food portion and for optimum product stability, as well as processes and methods for providing and processing these formulations, are also disclosed.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present patent document is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 609,016 filed Jun. 30, 2000, which applications is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND [0002] The invention generally relates to a food slice and processes for making and packaging it. More specifically, the invention provides a food slice consisting of two or more food items, such as nut butter and jelly, and a method for making and packaging the food slice. [0003] The food industry has seen a large number of new products over the last few decades. Many of these products take traditional foods and place them in a variety of package formations. The package formation may facilitate convenient storage and handling, ease of use and application, or portability and portion control. [0004] Attempts have been made, for example, to develop food products and packaging configurations that combine foods that are customarily combined and consumed by the consumer. Examples include peanut ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0045] A unique feature of the combined food items of the present invention is the cohesive nature of the formed products. Unlike some prior art products which rely upon jars or containers for handling and support, the cohesive nature of the slice product of the present invention allows it to be handled both within and without the flexible packaging material. Thus, the wrapper can be removed and the product held, manipulated, eaten or applied elsewhere using only the fingers, and without the product disintegrating or deteriorating in an unusable or unsightly manner.

[0046] In general, useful jelly formulations for the present invention may be prepared from combinations of juice, juice concentrate, sugar, corn syrup, pectin, gelatin, carrageenan and Konjac flour. Additional sugars such as fructose, glucose, and high fructose corn syrup have been found useful. Vegetable oil may be used to help in release from the packaging film and to reduce foaming during cooking. Starch may also be used to form a gel to provide a stiffer body, also aiding in release of the food product from the film. Some types of pectin and carrageenan are more effective in extrusion performance than others.

[0047] Gelatin forms excellent finished product gels but has a tendency to discolor with reducing sugars over time. Gelatin has the characteristic of remaining fluid at high temperatures. Very slow gel formation is then observed as the temperature decreases. Gel formation is often independent of other gelling agents, making it useful in a two-stage gelling system in which a primary gel is followed by a secondary gel. Functionally, gelatin is particularly useful for slice formation, possessing properties of flexibility, elasticity, and clarity.

[0048] Peanut butter is a combination of roasted and ground peanuts, sweetener, and stabilizers. Peanut flours are the portion of ground peanuts after part of the oil has been removed. Salt is added for flavor, although it must be of a fine grind or it may have a gritty mouthfeel, particularly in a low moisture product. It has been found that peanut butter combined with peanut flour has a body and texture sufficiently firm for extrusion into slices. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when peanut butter is combined with high-moisture jelly, the addition of sugar syrup such as high fructose corn syrup is used to reduce water migration from the jelly to the peanut butter.

Problems solved by technology

The typical problem experienced was that as concentrations of a carbohydrate sweetener were increased to build body and thickness, and to lower water activity, the finished product gel tended to be sticky with poor gel formation, even with increased levels of gums.

Even mild agitation of the peanut butter and corn syrup mixture caused separation of oil from the product, leaving a solid residue too thick to pump.

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