Confectionery products for instant optical teeth whitening

Abstract

A confectionery product for instant optical teeth whitening is disclosed, comprising artificial and / or natural dyes and characterized in that it can produce an immediate whitening effect after a very short contact time with the teeth.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a confectionery product for instant optical tooth whitening comprising or consisting of a rapidly dissolving base containing at least one blue dye. Prior art

[0002] Optical tooth whitening products using a combination of dyes in the spectrum between violet and bluish violet are known. When applied, the products cause teeth to reflect whiter light than the teeth naturally reflect (US6030222).

[0003] The use of said dyes or mixtures thereof is also known in the field of confectionery products in general and chewing gum in particular, as described in US 2006 / 0104922, as well as other food products.

[0004] US2006 / 0104922 describes the use of dyes having a peak absorption wavelength of 480 to 660 nm. The food described in US2006 / 0104922 must preferably remain in contact with the teeth for as long as possible to exert the desired whitening effect. The chewing gum is designed to gradually release the dye during chewing. However, the prior art does not report any preferred confectionery product formulations, nor any quantification of the effects that said formulations may have.

[0005] Formulations containing dyes may have an undesirable staining effect, for example on the tongue. The prior art does not identify blue dyes that do not stain the tongue or only minimally stain the tongue while still remaining effective in terms of immediate optical whitening.

[0006] Description of the invention

[0007] It has now been found that optical whitening of teeth can be achieved without prolonged consumption of food products by using confectionery products containing suitable dyes formulated so that the dyes are rapidly available following rapid dissolution of the product, unlike methods reported in the prior art.

[0008] In particular, instant optical teeth whitening can be obtained by consuming a confectionery product comprising or consisting of a rapidly dissolving base containing at least one blue dye selected from E131, E132, E133 and spirulina.

[0009] Suitable formulations include fast dissolving tablets or chewing gum with a candy coating layer containing the dye. Other formulations include chewing gum with other fast dissolving layers, such as fast dissolving candies or fondants.

[0010] "Fast dissolving" means a time of less than 5 minutes, preferably less than 4 minutes. For example, a fast dissolving confectionery product may dissolve in 3-4 minutes or less than 30 seconds.

[0011] Dyes suitable for the purpose of the present invention include Patented Blue V, indigotine, Brilliant Blue FCF and Spirulina. Patented Blue V, indigotine and Brilliant Blue FCF are identified as E131, E132 and E133 respectively by the European Food Additive Code System. The dyes indigo (E132) and spirulina are preferred, the latter having an intensity index of 1400 ± 140 for chewing gum, or 135-165 for tablets.

[0012] Spirulina is a natural dye derived from seaweed and is standardized to the values ​​listed in the intensity index (staining intensity). Preferably, a reducing sugar-free carrier in solid form is used, such as maltodextrin, starch or gum arabic, because they are able to increase the staining intensity of Spirulina to more than 1000, and in a particularly preferred manner to more than 1200.

[0013] If Spirulina is used in a confectionery coating for chewing gum, it is preferred to use Spirulina with a strength index of 1400 ± 140 in an amount ranging from 0.1 to 100 mg per piece of chewing gum. Even more preferred amounts are from 0.4 to 20 mg, in particular from 0.6 to 5 mg.

[0014] In the case of chewing gum with a confectionery coating, the amount of E132, E131 or E133 dye present in the coating layer is generally in the range of 0.15 mg to 0.85 mg. In particular, the matrix is ​​a confectionery coating containing a range of 0.15 to 0.85 mg of dye E132, E131 or E133, or a range of 0.1 to 100 mg of spirulina dye with an intensity index of 1400 ± 140.

[0015] The confectionery coating preferably comprises one or more polyols selected from the group consisting of xylitol, isomalt, maltitol, sorbitol and erythritol.

[0016] In the case of fast dissolving tablets, the content of Spirulina is usually between 0.1 and 10 mg and is characterized by a strength index of 135-165.

[0017] The confectionery product according to the invention can be obtained by conventional methods, such as those reported in Richard W. Hartel et al., Confectionery Science and Technology (Springer International Publishing G-, Switzerland), Chapter 7 - Compressed tablets and lozenges, pages 189-210. For example, fast dissolving tablets can be obtained by direct compression of powders consisting of polyols, flavoring agents, sweeteners, lubricants and other conventional excipients.

[0018] A method has been discovered that can quantify the effect of optical whitening by applying it to food products for the first time to test the beneficial effects of specific formulations.

[0019] The strength of spirulina has also been found that some dyes have an immediate optical whitening effect without visibly staining the tongue.

[0020] "Optical whitening" refers to depositing a minimal amount of dye on the teeth, making the color of the teeth perceived as whiter overall.

[0021] An index called WIO has been developed to assess the degree of tooth whiteness. The index is calculated according to the equation published by Luo et al., Development of a whiteness index for dentistry, Journal of dentistry 37s (2009) e21-e26. By measuring the colorimetric parameters before and after application according to the invention, AWIO can be calculated. The higher the AWIO, the better the optical whitening effect.

[0022] "Immediately" refers to an effect recorded a few minutes after consumption of the product according to the invention, for example 2.5, 5 or 10 minutes after chewing or consuming a single piece of confectionery. Said time is much shorter than the time usually used to test the effect of non-optical type whitening toothpastes, which usually reaches 6 weeks (ADA - Tooth Stain Removal Products - January 2019).

[0023] The confectionery product according to the invention has the advantage of a more intense and faster whitening effect than the formulation described in US 2006 / 0104922. In addition, the confectionery product according to the invention does not cause undesirable staining of the consumer's tongue. The use of the dye indigo or E132 makes the final product particularly stable against discoloration caused by exposure of the packaged product to light. In fact, confectionery products are often offered to the public in packaging that features a "window" consisting of a transparent packaging part that enables the consumer to see the product inside.

[0024] On the one hand, transparent windows allow the product to be seen and be more attractive to consumers, on the other hand, they expose the product to light and this exposure can cause the product's pigmentation to break down, resulting in fading of the dye. This can have the exact opposite effect of using a transparent window, as the color of the product in the package may fade, especially in an uneven manner, making it unattractive and giving the impression of an old, worn or even defective product. This will directly affect the probability that a consumer will decide to buy the product after viewing it.

[0025] Loss of color can also reduce the efficacy of the optical whitening effect.

[0026] The above beneficial effects are confirmed in the following experiments.

[0027] Example 1 - Comparison between chewing gum formulations that differed only in whether the dye was located in the coating or core of the product The chewing gums tested were characterized as "Formula 1" with respect to the core and "Formula 2" with respect to the coating:

[0028] Recipe 1

[0029]

[0030]

[0031] Recipe 2

[0032] Element ％ Isomalt 96.00 Maltodextrin 1.00 Sucrose esters 0.30 Aspartame 0.20 Acesulfame 0.20 Flavoring 2.20 Carnauba wax 0.10 total 100.00

[0033] The dyes listed in Table 1 below were added to the core or coating of the chewing gum thus formed in the amounts indicated:

[0034]

[0035] The whitening effect on the test participants was measured using the VitaEasyshade Advance 4.0 instrument. The six test participants chewed 1 piece of gum for 5 minutes in the case of Examples 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9, and chewed 2 pieces of gum for 10 minutes in the case of Examples 6 and 7.

[0036] Each measurement was performed three times on the anterior teeth to give the colorimetric parameters according to the CIELAB system, which were then combined according to the equations published by Luo et al. (“Development of a whiteness index for dentistry”, Journal of Dentistry 37s (2009) e21-e26) to determine the average whiteness index (WIO) before and after chewing, and thus its change ΔWIO.

[0037] The results are listed in Table 2 below.

[0038] Table 2

[0039] sample ΔWIO Experiment 3 - Placebo Gum 0.09 Experiment 4-Chewing Gum E131 Core 1.44 Experiment 8-Chewing Gum E133 Core 1.37 Experiment 6-Chewing Gum E132 Core 2.40 Experiment 5 - Coating of chewing gum E131 4.45 Experiment 9 - Coating of chewing gum E133 6.34 Experiment 7 - Coating of chewing gum E132 3.60

[0040] Example 2 - Whitening effect of fast dissolving tablets

[0041] Tablets with a complete dissolution time of less than 5 minutes were evaluated having the following composition:

[0042] Element ％ Sorbitol 97.44 Flavoring 1.6 Aspartame 0.15 Sucralose 0.15 Acesulfame 0.15 Neotame 0.01 Magnesium Stearate 0.5 total 100.00

[0043] 0.21 mg of dye E131 was added to the formulation, weighing 699.79 mg.

[0044] The ΔWIO index, measured as reported in Example 1, reaches 3.65, comparable to the WIO index obtained by eating a chewing gum in which the dye is located in the coating and much higher than the WIO index measured for the reference chewing gum in which the dye is inserted only in the core.

[0045] Example 3 - Tongue Staining Assessment

[0046] Tongue staining was assessed through a test in which participants were asked to chew various product samples, as listed below:

[0047]

[0048] The chewing gum samples containing Spirulina were prepared as follows:

[0049]

[0050] The samples were chewed for different time intervals, and at the end of each chewing interval the tongue of the participant was photographed, the photographs were compared, and the assessor calculated the degree of tongue staining on the following scale:

[0051] 0 = no staining.

[0052] 1 = Part of the tongue is lightly stained, especially only at the edges or in the center.

[0053] 2 = 1 / 3 to 2 / 3 of the tongue slightly stained.

[0054] 3 = Part of the tongue is clearly stained, especially only at the edges or in the center.

[0055] 4 = 1 / 3 to 2 / 3 of the tongue visibly stained.

[0056] The results of chewing the test samples at the time intervals specified above are listed in Table 3 below, for a cycle characterized by chewing the dragee for 15 seconds followed by a 5 minute pause. The time intervals were:

[0057] Time 1 = Before chewing:

[0058] Time 2 = Immediately after chewing the first dragee

[0059] Time 3 = after completing 4 cycles (chewing 4 dragees, one for each cycle), and before chewing the fifth cycle dragee.

[0060] Time 4 = immediately after chewing the fifth dragee for 15 seconds.

[0061] Table 3

[0062]

[0063] The experiment was repeated with a cycle characterized by chewing the dragee for 2 minutes followed by a 5 minute pause. The time intervals were as described above. The results are listed in Table 4 below.

[0064] Table 4

[0065]

[0066] Example 4 - Light Stability

[0067] The stability of fading due to exposure to light was evaluated using a SuntestXLS+ instrument manufactured by Atlas, which simulates exposure to sunlight for periods of 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.

[0068] The samples used for testing are as follows:

[0069]

[0070] The measurement is performed according to the CIELAB colorimetric model, where colors are identified by three values, "L" (lightness) and two color ranges, "a" and "b", from green to red and from blue to yellow, respectively, with values ​​from -120 to +120.

[0071] The color change of the samples was calculated by measuring the parameter ΔE. The results are listed in Table 5 below, which shows that the examples containing E132 exhibited the smallest color change compared to the examples containing E131 and E133:

[0072] Table 5

[0073]

[0074]

Claims

1. A confectionery product in the form of chewing gum, wherein the confectionery coating is a fast dissolving matrix, wherein the at least one blue dye contained in the confectionery product is contained in the fast dissolving matrix and is selected from E132 and Spirulina with an intensity index of 1400±140, wherein the content of E132 is 0.15 to 0.85 mg per chewing gum, and the content of Spirulina is 0.6 to 5 mg per chewing gum.

2. A confectionery product according to claim 1, wherein said dye is said Spirulina.

3. A confectionery product according to claim 1, wherein the dye is E132.

4. A confectionery product according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the fast dissolving matrix dissolves in less than 5 minutes.

5. Confectionery product according to any one of claims 1 to 3, for use in optical teeth whitening.

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