Composite frozen confectionery product

Abstract

Disclosed is a frozen confectionery product comprising a frozen confection composition and a filling of an emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase, wherein the aqueous phase is dispersed throughout the lipid phase in the form of droplets and wherein the aqueous phase comprises at least 70% by weight of the aqueous phase of a sweetener mixture that is non- crystalline at -18°C.

Description

COMPOSITE FROZEN CONFECTIONERY PRODUCTField of the InventionThe present invention relates to frozen confectionery products comprising a filing of an emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase.Background of the InventionIt is well-known to incorporate inclusions, such as pieces of chocolate, fruit, nut, biscuit, toffee etc. into frozen confections such as ice cream. The composite product provided by incorporating such inclusions is intended to create interest for consumers by the contrast in taste and texture between the frozen confection and the inclusion. Unfortunately, the very low temperature of domestic freezers means that often the inclusions have very hard, brittle textures. Such textures may give little contrast to the texture of the frozen confection if the frozen confection itself is hard and brittle. Moreover, the range of textures available in ambient confections, especially chewy textures, such as is exhibited, for example, by ambient toffee, is difficult to replicate in frozen conditions.The present inventors have recognized a need for frozen confectionery products with inclusions that can have modified texture and especially that can have textures similar to ambient confectionery. The inventors have found that such a need can be met by providing inclusions created from particular emulsions of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase.Emulsions of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase have been suggested previously for use with frozen confectionery products, often to simulate the hard, brittle texture of chocolate.WO 97 / 02754 A1 (LODERS CROKLAAN B V) discloses frozen or chilled confectionery products, in particular ice-creams, comprising a fat-continuous or bicontinuous or duplex fatemulsion comprising 5-50 wt percent fat, 5-60 wt percent water, 5-80 wt percent thickener, sweetener and / or humectant, the emulsion being present as a coating layer, a barrier layer or as an inclusion. The products are said to have a unique taste performance.EP 0 958 747 A1 (DOVEUROPE S A) discloses a method for the preparation of a chocolate formulation in which the formulation has a moisture content of from 2 percent to 20 percent, comprising the step of admixing a sugar syrup to a chocolate fat phase. The formulation is said to be used to produce microbiologically stable, edible confectionery compositions. Thecompositions or formulations are said to be suitable to be used for coating ice-cream confections.WO 00 / 59313 A1 (SOCIETE DES PRODUITS NESTLE S A) discloses a water-containing chocolate composition which is an admixture of chocolate and of a water-in-oil emulsion which includes a vegetable oil and milk fat. By weight based upon the composition weight, the water is present in an amount of from 10 percent to 30 percent, fat substances are present in an amount of from 35 percent to 45 percent and carbohydrates are present in an amount of from 30 percent to 40 percent. The composition is said to be particularly suitable for being combined with an ice confectionery composition as a coating upon or as an inclusion in the ice confectionery composition to provide a composite composition.WO 2016 / 106282 A1 (CARGILL INC) discloses a stable emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase wherein non-fatty cocoa solids and / or non-fatty milk solids are present in the lipid phase. Also disclosed is an ice cream product which can be an ice cream comprising the emulsion as particulate filling and an ice cream on a stick coated by the emulsion.WO 2016 / 145185 A1 (CARGILL INC) disclose stable water-in-oil emulsions for reduced fat food products such as confectionery, spreads, and bakery goods.WO 2017 / 075008 A1 (CARGILL INC) discloses a stable emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase wherein non-fatty cocoa solids and / or non-fatty milk solids are present in the lipid phase. The emulsion may be used in food products, including as inclusions in stracciatella-type or "chocolate-chip" scoopable ice cream products, as coatings for ice-cream products provided on a stick, or as coatings and / or fillings for cones for ice cream products.None of the above disclosures address the issue of providing fillings with texture different from that of chocolate, such as a chewy texture.Summary of the InventionIn a first aspect, the present invention provides a frozen confectionery product comprising a frozen confection composition and a filling of an emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase, wherein the aqueous phase is dispersed throughout the lipid phase in the form of droplets and wherein the aqueous phase comprises at least 70% by weight of the aqueous phase of a sweetener mixture that is non-crystalline at -18°C.In a further aspect, the present invention provides a process for manufacturing the frozen confectionery product of any embodiment of the first aspect, wherein the process comprises combining the frozen confection composition with the emulsion.Detailed Description of the InventionThe present invention relates to a composite frozen confectionery product comprising a frozen confection composition and a filling of an emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase, wherein the aqueous phase is dispersed throughout the lipid phase in the form of droplets and wherein the aqueous phase comprises at least 70% by weight of the aqueous phase of a sweetener mixture that is non-crystalline at -18°C.EmulsionThe term “emulsion” as used herein refers to an emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase, i.e. a water-in-oil type emulsion. The aqueous phase is the dispersed phase of the emulsion and the lipid phase is the continuous phase of the emulsion.The aqueous phase of the emulsion will preferably be present in an amount of at least 10 wt%, more preferably at least 20 wt%, even more preferably at least 30 wt%, and most preferably at least 40 wt%, based on the total weight of the emulsion. The aqueous phase of the emulsion will preferably be present in an amount of at most 70 wt%, more preferably at most 65 wt%, even more preferably at most 60 wt%, and most preferably at most 57 wt%, based on the total weight of the emulsion. The lipid phase will preferably be present in an amount of 30 to 90 wt%, more preferably 35 to 80 wt%, even more preferably from 40 to 70 wt%, and most preferably from 43 to 60 wt%, based on the total weight of the emulsion. For example, the emulsion will comprise approximately 55% by weight aqueous phase and 45% by weight lipid phase. The emulsion may also comprise one or more additional ingredients such as emulsifiers, stabilising agents, flavouring agents and particulates, such as nuts, seeds and the like.Suitable emulsifiers include polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR), lecithin, sugar esters, emulsifying waxes, polyglycerol fatty acid esters, polysorbates, sorban tristearates (STSs), monoglycerides, diglycerides and any possible combinations of two or more thereof. Preferably, the emulsifier will comprise or consist of PGPR, lecithin or a mixture thereof. Most preferably the emulsifier will comprise or consist of lecithin. Emulsifiers will preferably bepresent in an amount of 0.1 to 5 wt%, more preferably 0.2 to 3 wt%, even more preferably 0.4 to 2 wt%, and most preferably 0.5 to 1.5 wt%, based on the total weight of the emulsion.Suitable stabilising agents include hydrocolloids, proteins, and fibres. Advantageously, the stabilising agent may comprise one or more fibres, such as citrus peel and / or citrus pulp fibres. Stabilising agents, if used, will preferably be present in an amount of 0.5 to 10 wt%, more preferably 0.5 to 3 wt% for hydrocolloids and fibres, and 5 to 10 wt% for proteins, based on the total weight of the emulsion.Other ingredients may include, for example, nuts, nut bits, seeds, seed bits, puffed rice, wheat or corn flakes, biscuit, biscuit pieces, fruit, fruit pieces, and other typical food particulates well known to the skilled person.The emulsion may be prepared by any suitable means but a preferred method is described in WO 2017 / 075008 A1 (which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety) and especially paragraphs

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[0053] thereof except that the lipid phase and aqueous phase are as defined herein below.Lipid phaseThe lipid phase of the emulsion may comprise lipids in liquid form, crystalline (i.e., solid) form or a mixture thereof. The solid fat content of the lipids can suitably be determined using the method described in Animal and vegetable fats and oils -- Determination of solid fat content by pulsed NMR -- Part 1: Direct method - ISO 8292-1:2008.The lipid phase may comprise lipids in crystalline form. For example, the lipid phase may have a solid fat content at 5°C (Ns) of greater than 30% and preferably from 50 to 100% by weight of the lipid phase. Fats providing lipids in crystalline form are preferably selected from one or more of: cocoa butter, modified cocoa butter or cocoa butter fractions, cocoa butter alternatives (such as cocoa butter equivalents, cocoa butter substitutes or cocoa butter replacers), anhydrous milk fat, coconut oil and mixtures of two or more thereof. Cocoa butter alternatives may include, for instance, hydrogenated and non-hydrogenated vegetable fats such as palm or coconut oil, interesterified palm or coconut oil, and palm or coconut oil fractions. A suitable modified cocoa butter could include, for example, an interesterified cocoa butter and / or a cocoa butter fraction (e.g. fractionated cocoa butter stearins, whether produced from natural cocoabutter or interesterified cocoa butter). Preferably, the lipid phase comprises one or more of cocoa butter (preferably unmodified), coconut oil, and milk fat.The present inventors have found that confectionery-like textures, and especially low firmness and slow melting texture, can be achieved if the lipid phase comprises substantial amounts of liquid fat. For example, the lipid phase may have a solid fat content at 5°C (Ns) of less than 30% and more preferably from 0.5 to 20% by weight of the lipid phase. Oils providing lipids in liquid form are preferably selected from one or more of: sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, linseed oil, nut oil (such as peanut oil and / or walnut oil) and olive oil. Preferably, the lipid phase comprises at least 30% by weight of the lipid phase of one or more of sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, linseed oil and olive oil, more preferably from 40 to 100%, and most preferably from 45 to 75%. Some amount of solid fat is advantageous in the lipid phase to increase handleability of the emulsion.The lipid phase may also comprise non-fatty solids. These will preferably be dispersed throughout the lipid phase. They will preferably be selected from the group consisting of non- fatty cocoa solids, non-fatty milk solids and mixtures thereof. They may be present in an amount of from 5 to 40 wt%, from 5 to 35 wt%, from 5 to 17 wt%, preferably from 6 to 15 wt%, more preferably from 7 to 15 wt%, even more preferably from 7.5 to 12 wt%, yet even more preferably from 8.5 to 12 wt% based on the total weight of the emulsion.The term “non-fatty cocoa solids” as used herein refers to the non-fatty components of the cocoa nib. For the purposes of the present invention, they may include full fat, low fat or defatted cocoa powder or mixtures thereof. The cocoa solids may also be provided in the form of cocoa liquor although this will already be considered a mixture of cocoa solids and lipid.Similarly, non-fatty milk solids are any milk solids apart from milk fat. They may be provided in the form of full fat, low fat or defatted milk powder, concentrated milk or hydrated milk powder.The lipid phase may comprise one or more additional ingredients dispersed therein. They may include, for instance, whey proteins and / or soy milk proteins, flavouring agents (such as vanilla or vanillin), and, possibly, sweeteners. Preferably, however, the sweetener will principally be provided in the aqueous phase.Aqueous phaseThe aqueous phase is formed from an aqueous composition dispersed throughout the lipid phase in the form of droplets. The aqueous composition comprises water and a sweetener mixture to impart sweetness to the emulsion and to prevent the aqueous phase freezing at - 18°C. The sweetener mixture is selected such that that it does not crystallize at -18°C.By ensuring that the water in the aqueous phase does not freeze and that the sweetener mixture does not crystallize, the aqueous phase remains liquid at -18°C. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the present inventors believe that by ensuring the aqueous phase is in the liquid state, the droplets of aqueous phase tend to coalesce on eating and coat mouth parts similar to e.g. caramel or toffee, thus giving non-chocolate-like confectionery texture to the emulsion.To prevent water in the aqueous phase from freezing, the aqueous phase comprises at least 70% by weight of the aqueous phase of the sweetener mixture. Preferably the aqueous phase comprises at least 72% by weight of the aqueous phase of the sweetener mixture, more preferably at least 74%, even more preferably at least 75%, more preferably still at least 76% and most preferably from 78 to 85% by weight of the aqueous phase of the sweetener mixture.Preferred sweeteners for use in the sweetener mixture are saccharides and / or polyols. Intense sweeteners are less preferred owing to the high amount of sweetener mixture needed in the aqueous phase to prevent the water from freezing. Especially preferred saccharides are monosaccharides, disaccharides and / or oligosaccharides containing from three to ten monosaccharide units joined in glycosidic linkage. Saccharides may be present in substantially purified or refined form or as part of juices, extracts, syrups (such as invert syrup, corn syrup, glucose syrup, and / or honey) and the like. Especially preferred polyols are erythritol, arabitol, glycerol, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, lactitol and / or maltitol.To ensure none of the sweeteners in the sweetener mixture crystalize, it is preferred that the sweetener mixture comprises no more than 60% by weight of the sweetener mixture of a single sweetener compound.Preferred sweetener mixtures are those that comprise at least 20% by weight of the sweetener mixture of a first sweetener compound and at least 20% by weight of the sweetener mixture of a second sweetener compound. Examples of such sweetener mixtures include those from invertsyrup (approximately 50 wt% of each of glucose and fructose by weight of the sweeteners in the syrup), honey (typically comprising at least 30 wt% of each of glucose and fructose by weight of the sweeteners in the honey) and corn syrups with a dextrose equivalent (DE) of less than 70%.Where sweetener mixtures comprising oligosaccharides are employed, it is preferred that the amount of oligosaccharide is limited as it has been found that high molecular weight sweetener mixtures may limit the propensity of the emulsion to display chewy texture. In particular it is preferred that the number average molecular weight <M>nof the sweetener mixture is less than 600 g mol’1, more preferably less than 500 g mol-1and most preferably from 100 to 400 g mol-1.The number average molecular weight <M>nof a sweetener mixture can be calculated using Equation 1 below, where Wj is the mass of species i, M, is the molar mass of species i and N, is the number of moles of species i of molar mass M\.(Equation 1)The number average molecular weight <M>nof corn syrups can be calculated from their DE using Equation 2 below.<Mn> = 18016DE (Equation 2)In order to ensure that the aqueous phase remains in the liquid state at -18°C, it is preferred that the aqueous phase is substantially free from gelling agent. The term “substantially free from gelling agent” as used herein means that the aqueous phase comprises insufficient gelling agent to prevent the aqueous phase from being free flowing at -18°C. This typically means that the aqueous phase comprises less than 0.5 wt% gelling gent by weight of the aqueous phase, more preferably less than 0.2 wt%, more preferably still less than 0.1 wt% and most preferably from 0 to 0.01 wt%. Examples of hydrocolloid gelling agents include pectin, alginate and carrageenan. Examples of protein gelling agents include gelatin, casein, soy protein isolate, whey protein concentrate or whey protein isolate, and albumin.In addition to the sweetener mixture, the aqueous composition may comprise other ingredients such as flavouring agents, and / or nutraceuticals (such antioxidants, vitamins, and / or minerals).Frozen Confectionery ProductThe present invention provides a frozen confectionery product comprising a composite of a frozen confection composition and an emulsion as defined above. A frozen confectionery product, for the purpose of the present invention, is one that is chilled to and stored at a temperature below 0°C, preferably at a temperature between -40°C and 0°C, more preferably between -30°C and -4°C, more preferably between -20°C and -10°C, even more preferably between -20°C and -15°C. Advantageously, it will be one that is consumed in its frozen state.Unlike the emulsion, the frozen confection composition will typically be a water-continuous composition. By “water continuous composition” means a composition that has a continuous aqueous phase and, where any lipids are present in the composition, they are dispersed (e.g. as droplets) in the aqueous phase. Preferably the frozen confection composition is selected from the group consisting of water ice, milk-ice, ice cream, frozen yoghurt, frozen custard, sorbet, gelato and mixtures thereof. Ice cream may be selected from the group consisting of dairy ice cream, non-dairy ice cream and mixtures thereof. Preferably the frozen confection comprises ice cream, frozen yoghurt or mixtures thereof. The frozen confection may be prepared, for example, according to methods provided in the ‘The Science of Ice Cream’, C. Clarke, RSC 2004, chapters 3, 4 and 8; and ‘Ice Cream’ 5th Ed., Marshall and Arbuckle, 1996, Chapman & Hall, New York. N.Y., in particular chapters 11, 12 and 22.The frozen confection composition may be aerated or unaerated. Aerated frozen compositions have an overrun of more than 20%, preferably more than 50%, more preferably more than 75%. Preferably the frozen composition has an overrun of less than 200%, more preferably less than 150%, most preferably less than 120%. Overrun is defined by Equation 3 below and is measured at atmospheric pressure. density of mix - density of frozen confection overrun % = -; ;- x100 density of frozen confection(Equation 3)The emulsion is present as a filling in the frozen confection composition. As used herein “filling” is meant to encompass not only inclusions (i.e. particulate filling dispersed throughout thefrozen confection composition, e.g. in the form of chunks, chips, or flakes), but also one or more continuous fillings or layers (e.g. as in a variegate). The amount of the filling present in the frozen confectionery product is preferably at least 2% by weight of the frozen confectionery product, more preferably at least 5 wt%. Preferably the amount of filling is less than 30 wt%, more preferably less than 20 wt% by total weight of the frozen confectionery product.To allow for visual contrast, the filling is preferably present as one or more regions in the frozen confectionery product with a maximum length in any direction of at least 1 mm, more preferably at least 2 mm and most preferably at least 3 mm. Preferably the regions have a maximum length of no more than 20 mm, more preferably no more than 10 mm, since inclusions of this size are generally preferred by consumers.Any method known in the art can be used to include the emulsion of the present invention as a filing in the frozen confectionery product. For example, the emulsion may be mixed into the frozen confection composition in particulate form, and / or it may be injected into the frozen confection composition and / or it may be co-extruded with the frozen confection composition. The emulsion may be combined with the frozen composition by means of an inclusion feeder which doses the particles of emulsion into the frozen composition e.g. with a rotating paddle element. The frozen composition should be sufficiently soft I flowable to blend in the emulsion particles, i.e. it will typically be partially frozen at a temperature of -2°C or below, typically around -5°C. The emulsion is preferably at a temperature of about -0.5°C or below when combined with the frozen composition. Preferably the emulsion is at a temperature of no lower than -10°C, so that they do not cool the frozen composition down so much that it becomes stiff and difficult to process further, e.g. to extrude.After dosing the emusion into the frozen confection composition, the frozen confectionery product may be further frozen (hardened), subjected to further process steps (e.g. dipping I coating), packaged and stored. The frozen confectionery products are typically single serving products e.g. 50-200 mL, preferably 70-150 mL in size. They may consist of a receptacle, which may be edible (e.g. a wafer or chocolate cone) or inedible (e.g. a tub). Alternatively, they may be stick products, for example produced by extruding the product into moulds.Thus, by way of example, the emulsions of the present invention may be used as fillings for icecream products provided on a stick (such as are sold under the Magnum® brand), or fillings in ice cream of cone-type products (such as are sold under the Cornetto® brand).As used herein the term “comprising” encompasses the terms “consisting essentially of’ and “consisting of”. Where the term “comprising” is used, the listed steps or options need not be exhaustive. Except in the examples and comparative experiments, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers are to be understood as modified by the word “about”. As used herein, the indefinite article “a” or “an” and its corresponding definite article “the” means at least one, or one or more, unless specified otherwise.Unless otherwise specified, numerical ranges expressed in the format "from x to y" are understood to include x and y. In specifying any range of values or amounts, any particular upper value or amount can be associated with any particular lower value or amount. All percentages and ratios contained herein are calculated by weight unless otherwise indicated.The various features of the present invention referred to in individual sections above apply, as appropriate, to other sections mutatis mutandis. Consequently features specified for the frozen confectionery product may be combined with features specified for the process and vice versa.The following examples are intended to illustrate the invention and are not intended to limit the invention to those examples perse.ExamplesExample 1This example demonstrates the textures of various emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase at -18°C.Sample PreparationThe equipment used for emulsification is a Silverson™, type L4R mixer. The operating temperature of the water bath and screen of the mixer was set at 50°C. The list of ingredients for several emulsions tested are provided in Samples 1 - 6 of Table 1 , below.TABLE 1For Sample 1 , standard deodorised cocoa butter (from Cargill, Inc) was heated to 40°C, and liquidized in the mixer set to 1000 RPM, to form a lipid phase. For sample 5, the cocoa butter was replaced by coconut oil subjected to the same liquidation process. For samples 2, 3, 4 and 6, the cocoa butter was replaced with sunflower oil.In a recipient, the sweetener and water (if any) was heated up to 80°C to form the aqueous phase. The emulsifier was then mixed into the aqueous phase.The aqueous phase was added to the above lipid phase (addition time 1 minute) in the mixer and blended under high shear, at 5000RPM for 1 minute to form a pre-emulsion. Mixing under high shear was continued for 5 minutes. Any additional ingredients were then heated to 40 °C and then added to the pre-emulsion and mixed for about 1 minute at low shear (e.g. 100RPM) either by hand or using a suitable stirrer.The emulsions were then cooled and stored at -18°C until sensory testing.Sensory MethodologyThree attributes were selected to be representative of ambient (non-chocolate) confectionery, namely:- Firmness,- Chewiness, and- Rate of Melt.Three experienced tasters selected and assessed a range of commercial ambient confectionery products to determine which demonstrated extremes of the three attributes and used these to construct a scale for each attribute. Each scale ranged from -3, for the products with the lowest chewiness, firmness or rate of melt to +3 for the products with the highest. Nine tasters were then trained using the aforementioned scale and ambient products.The test samples (Samples 1 to 6) were served one at a time at -18°C to each taster and scores for the three attributes recorded electronically.ResultsThe mean values of each of the three attributes measured are reported in Table 2.TABLE 2Sample 1 is an emulsion made according to the teaching of WO 2016 / 106282 A1 to have a snappy chocolate texture. The sensory results in Table 2 indeed show that this sample has high firmness, low chewiness and a high rate of melt. The aqueous phase of Sample 1 comprises a single sweetener (i.e. , sucrose), at levels which would crystallize at -18°C.Unlike Sample 1 , Samples 2 to 6 have aqueous phases comprising sweetener mixtures which remain uncrystallized at -18°C. All of these samples were chewier than Sample 1. Without wishing to be bound by theory, the present inventors believe that this is caused by an increased propensity of the droplets of aqueous phase to coalesce on eating and coat mouth parts similarto e.g. caramel or toffee. The least chewy of Samples 2 to 6 is sample 6, perhaps indicating that the higher molecular weight sweetener mixture in the aqueous phase of this sample retards coalescence.Firmness appears to be most closely correlated with crystallinity (i.e. presence of hard fat) in the lipid phase of the emulsions. The emulsions with high levels of liquid oil (Samples 2, 3, 4 and 6) had lower firmness than those with lipid phases mainly composed of hard fats (Samples 1 and 5).Samples 2 to 6 all had a lower rate of melt than Sample 1, which may be linked to the coalescence and mouth coating of the droplets of aqueous phase as mentioned above. This was the case even with samples that had a high level of liquid oil (Samples 2, 3, 4 and 6).Example 2A composite frozen confectionery product is produced as follows. The frozen emulsion of Sample 3 of Example 1 is broken into particles of typical size of about 10 x 10 x 10 mm. The particles are taken to a temperature of -2°C and introduced into a vane-style feeder (Hoyer FF4000) which mixes them into standard ice cream mixes exiting a scraped surface heat exchanger at a temperature of -5°C. The resulting composite frozen confectionery product is then hardened in a blast-freezer and stored at -18°C until consumption.

Claims

Claims1. A frozen confectionery product comprising a frozen confection composition and a filling of an emulsion of an aqueous phase in a lipid phase, wherein the aqueous phase is dispersed throughout the lipid phase in the form of droplets and wherein the aqueous phase comprises at least 70% by weight of the aqueous phase of a sweetener mixture that is non-crystalline at -18°C.

2. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in claim 1 wherein the filling is in the form of inclusions and / or variegate.

3. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in claim 2 wherein the filling is in the form of inclusions.

4. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the aqueous phase of the emulsion comprises at least 72%, preferably at least 74%, more preferably still at least 76% and most preferably from 78 to 85% by weight of the aqueous phase of the sweetener mixture.

5. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sweetener mixture comprises at least 20% by weight of the sweetener mixture of a first sweetener compound and at least 20% by weight of the sweetener mixture of a second sweetener compound.

6. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in claim 5 wherein the sweetener mixture is from one or more of invert syrup, honey and corn syrups with a dextrose equivalent (DE) of less than 70%.

7. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the number average molecular weight <M>nof the sweetener mixture is less than600 g mol’1.

8. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the aqueous phase of the emulsion is substantially free from gelling agent.

9. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the lipid phase of the emulsion has a solid fat content at 5°C of greater than 30% by weight of the lipid phase.

10. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein the lipid phase of the emulsion has a solid fat content at 5°C of less than 30% by weight of the lipid phase.

11. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the emulsion comprises the aqueous phase in an amount of from 40 to 70% by weight of the emulsion.

12. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the emulsion comprises an emulsifier selected from polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR), lecithin and mixtures thereof.

13. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the emulsion comprises an emulsifier in an amount of from 0.1 to 5% by weight of the emulsion.

14. The frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the frozen confection composition is one or more of water ice, milk-ice, ice cream, frozen yoghurt, frozen custard, sorbet, and gelato.

15. A process for manufacturing the frozen confectionery product as claimed in any one of the preceding claims comprising combining the frozen confection composition with the emulsion.

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