Artificial Eye Formation in Cheese via CO2 Sublimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in consistently forming eyes in cheese products, as natural eye formation requires weeks, is limited to specific cheese types, and is hindered by high salt levels and heat treatments, while process cheeses cannot form eyes due to these conditions.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of artificial eyes or voids formed by combining solidified or gaseous carbon dioxide with a visco-elastic food mass, allowing for rapid formation of eye voids in various cheese and food products, including pasteurized and process cheeses, without the need for gas-forming cultures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If eye-forming bacteria are used to create natural eyes in cheese, then eyes form in the cheese, but the process takes several weeks or more and requires specific temperature and salt level constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of eye formation from biological (bacterial fermentation) to physical/chemical (direct CO2 injection or chemical reaction). This allows eyes to form in a matter of hours rather than weeks, as the CO2 is introduced directly into the cheese matrix without requiring bacterial growth and fermentation processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the biological system (eye-forming bacteria) with a mechanical/chemical system (direct CO2 injection or chemical reactions that produce CO2). This substitution eliminates the need for bacterial cultivation, temperature control for bacterial growth, and extended aging time, while still achieving the desired eye formation in the cheese.
2Reliability
If high salt levels are added to cheese, then flavor and preservation are improved, but eye-forming bacteria cannot grow and produce carbon dioxide
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the eye formation process from the biological domain and places it in the physical/chemical domain. By using direct CO2 injection or chemical reactions independent of bacterial activity, the process removes the dependency on bacterial growth conditions, allowing high salt levels to be used for flavor and preservation without compromising eye formation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanism of CO2 generation from biological (bacterial metabolism) to physical/chemical (direct injection or chemical reaction). This parameter change decouples eye formation from bacterial growth requirements, enabling the use of high salt levels that would otherwise inhibit bacterial activity while still achieving consistent eye formation.
3Productivity
If cheese is subjected to high temperatures, then processing efficiency is improved, but eye-forming bacteria are destroyed and cannot produce carbon dioxide
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the temperature-sensitive biological system with a heat-resistant physical/chemical system. By using direct CO2 injection or heat-stable chemical reactions, the process can withstand high temperatures used in cheese processing without destroying the eye-forming mechanism, thereby maintaining both processing efficiency and eye formation quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the eye formation mechanism from biological (temperature-sensitive bacterial activity) to physical/chemical (heat-resistant CO2 injection or reactions). This allows the cheese to be subjected to high temperatures for efficient processing while the eye formation process remains intact, as it no longer depends on living bacteria that would be destroyed by heat.
4Productivity
If process cheese manufacturing methods are used, then production efficiency is improved, but eyes cannot form due to heat treatments and emulsifier levels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the CO2 generation step from the biological process and introduces it as a separate physical/chemical step in the process cheese manufacturing. This allows the use of standard process cheese methods (heat treatments, emulsifiers) for high productivity while adding a dedicated CO2 introduction step that is independent of these conditions, ensuring eye formation occurs despite the harsh processing environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the eye formation mechanism to be independent of the process cheese manufacturing parameters (heat, emulsifiers). By using direct CO2 injection or heat-stable chemical reactions, the process can tolerate the high temperatures and chemical additives used in process cheese manufacturing while still achieving consistent eye formation, thereby combining high productivity with quality eye formation.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enables the rapid production of cheese products with eye voids in a matter of hours, allowing for elevated temperatures and eliminating the need for aging time, thereby reducing inventory costs and increasing throughput, while providing a safe and palatable cheese product with enhanced flavor.
Implementation Method 1
combining solidified carbon dioxide with the visco-elastic mass. As the solidified carbon dioxide sublimes into carbon dioxide gas, the carbon dioxide gas expands and causes eye voids to be defined or formed within the visco-elastic mass
Data Source
AI summary
Food products including artificial eyes or eye voids interspersed throughout the product are provided by forming a visco-elastic mass of the food product and combining pieces of solidified carbon dioxide with the visco-elastic mass. The solidified carbon dioxide sublimes throughout the visco-elastic mass and forms carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas expands and forms eye voids nearly instantaneously and the fully formed eye voids are provided in the food product in a matter of hours. In addition, gaseous carbon dioxide stored under pressure, such as through encapsulation or in a pressurized vessel, is combined with a visco-elastic mass and the released carbon dioxide gas expands and forms eye voids defined within the visco-elastic mass.