Amorphous chewing gum bulk material
View Patent ↗A bulk material suitable for use in a chewing gum contains at least about 40 wt. % dry basis sorbitol, at least about 7 wt. % dry basis other than sorbitol, and no more than about 10 wt. % water, wherein the bulk material is amorphous and remains amorphous with shear. A chewing gum, comprising: a) a gum base; b) a flavor; and c) a bulk material contains at least 40 wt. % dry basis sorbitol, at least 7 wt. % dry basis polyol other than sorbitol and no more than 10 wt. % water.
1. A bulk material suitable for use in a chewing gum consisting of:
a) at least 65 wt. % dry basis solids sorbitol;
b) about 5-20 wt. % dry basis solids maltitol;
c) no more than 2 wt. % dry basis solids glycerin; and
d) no more than 10 wt. % water;
wherein the bulk material has a glass transition temperature between 30-80° C. as measured by differential scanning calorimetry.
2. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material is amorphous.
3. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material has a Tg of 40-70° C. as measure by differential scanning calorimetry.
4. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material has a Tg of 45-60° C. as measured by differential scanning calorimetry.
5. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material comprises not more than 6 wt. % water.
6. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material comprises a refractive index of 1.3-1.8 at 20° C.
7. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material comprises a refractive index of 1.5-1.6 at 20° C.
8. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material comprises no more than 0.5 wt. % dry basis solids glycerin.
9. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material will not crystallize in less than 10 hours when stored at not less than 70° C.
10. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material has a viscosity of 10,000 cps-15,000 cps at 140° F.
11. The bulk material of claim 1 , wherein the bulk material has a viscosity of 30,000 cps-50,000 cps at 130° F.
12. A chewing gum, comprising:
a) a gum base;
b) a flavor; and
c) a bulk material of claim 1 .
13. The chewing gum of claim 12 , wherein the bulk material has a Tg of 45-60° C., a refractive index of 1.5-1.6 at 20° C., and a viscosity of 10,000-15,000 cps at 140° F.
14. A method of producing the chewing gum of claim 12 , comprising the steps of: mixing the bulk material with the gum base; wherein the difference in the temperature between the bulk material and gum base is less than 30° C. at the time of mixing.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the temperature of the bulk material is not greater than 60° C.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the bulk material has a glass transition temperature lower than the gum base temperature.
17. A method of making the bulk material of claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
a) supplying a starting material consisting of at least 65 wt. % dry basis solids sorbitol, 5-20 wt. % dry basis solids maltitol, not more than 2 wt. % dry basis solids glycerin, and at least 25 wt. % water to an evaporator;
b) reducing the water content of the mixture to no greater than 10 wt. % water by evaporation; and
c) reducing the evaporated mixture temperature from about 75-90° C. to about 35-65° C. in such a way as to not crystallize the sorbitol or maltitol.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the evaporation is conducted under vacuum.
19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the evaporation and/or temperature reduction is conducted using a Plate Heat Exchanger.
20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the evaporation and/or temperature reduction is conducted using a Tube-in-Tube evaporator.