Soft Chewy Confection With HMO Sugar Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Soft chew confections face challenges in reducing the use of regular sugar while maintaining texture and taste, as they often rely on high sugar content for these properties, which can lead to health issues like weight gain and gastrointestinal symptoms.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) in specific amounts within the formulation, along with humectants, wetting agents, edible oils, and binders, allows for a significant reduction in regular sugar content without compromising texture or taste, achieving a water moisture content of less than 8 wt-% and a typical hardness of 1.2 kg to 4.0 kg.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If high percentage of regular sugar or sugar alcohols is used in soft chew formulation, then good taste and texture are achieved, but health issues arise including weight gain, diabetes risk, cellular aging, dental issues, and gastrointestinal symptoms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the soft chew formulation by replacing regular sugar and sugar alcohols with HMOs at specific concentrations (0.1-50 wt-%). This parameter change allows the formulation to maintain desirable taste and texture properties while eliminating the harmful health effects associated with traditional sweeteners.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite formulation by combining HMOs with humectants, wetting agents, oils, and binders in specific proportions. This composite material approach enables the soft chew to achieve both health benefits and sensory quality that neither traditional sugar-based formulations nor HMOs alone could provide.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If regular sugar usage is reduced in soft chew formulation, then health benefits are improved, but texture and taste properties deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the formulation parameters by introducing HMOs at optimized concentrations (0.1-50 wt-%) and adjusting the levels of complementary ingredients such as humectants and binders. These parameter changes ensure that the soft chew maintains stable texture and taste properties even with significantly reduced regular sugar content (less than 30 wt-%).
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses HMOs as intermediary substances that can fulfill multiple functions: providing structural support for texture, contributing to taste profile, and enabling sugar reduction. The HMOs act as mediators between the conflicting requirements of health benefits and sensory quality.
3Quantity of substance
If HMO is added to soft chew formulation to reduce sugar, then regular sugar content decreases to less than 30 wt-%, but formulation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the multi-functionality of HMOs, which can serve as both the active health-promoting ingredient and a structural component affecting texture and taste. This universal role of HMOs simplifies the overall formulation strategy, as one ingredient addresses multiple requirements simultaneously, offsetting the apparent increase in complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a new formulation, which is a soft chewy confection for-mulation, which comprises at least one Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs).