ACTIVELY RELEASED FOOD ADDITIVES
The present disclosure provides systems and methods for actively releasing food additives to deliver aromatic compounds to consumers during food or drink consumption. The food additives may be contained within an encapsulation layer. The encapsulation layer may be configured to release the food additives in response to being exposed to energy provided by an activation source proximate to the food additives. The activation source may be incorporated into, or connected with, an eating utensil or an oral implant. The activation source can be manually controlled by a consumer, can be controlled based on conditions near the food additives, or can be programmed with a release schedule that defines how and when food additives are to be released.
1 . A food additive comprising:
at least one additive agent; and
an encapsulation layer surrounding the at least one additive agent,
wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the at least one additive agent upon exposure to energy provided by an activation source proximate to the food additive.
2 . The food additive of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulation layer comprises a reactive liposphere.
3 . (canceled)
4 . The food additive of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulation layer comprises an acoustically reactive liposphere.
5 .- 22 . (canceled)
23 . The food additive of claim 1 , wherein the at least one additive agent is further configured to satiate a consumer when released.
24 . The food additive of claim 1 , wherein the at least one food additive agent is stored in the encapsulation layer at an elevated pressure.
25 .- 55 . (canceled)
56 . The food additive of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulation layer has an acoustic resonance that matches an ultrasonic frequency emitted by the activation source.
57 . (canceled)
58 . The food additive of claim 1 , wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the at least one additive agent in response to the activation source emitting energy at a particular frequency value.
59 .- 64 . (canceled)
65 . The food additive of claim 1 , further comprising a secondary layer disposed within the encapsulation layer.
66 . The food additive of claim 65 , wherein the secondary layer is configured to release the at least one additive agent at a point in time after being released from the encapsulation layer.
67 . (canceled)
68 . The food additive of claim 65 , wherein the secondary layer is configured to release the at least one additive agent upon exposure to particular conditions within a consumer's mouth.
69 .- 82 . (canceled)
83 . The food additive of claim 65 , wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the secondary layer in response to the activation source emitting energy at a first frequency value and the secondary layer is configured to release the at least one additive agent in response to the activation source emitting energy at a second frequency value different from the first frequency value.
84 .- 86 . (canceled)
87 . The food additive of claim 1 , wherein the at least one additive agent comprises a plurality of additive agents.
88 . (canceled)
89 . The food additive of claim 87 , wherein each of the plurality of additive agents is configured to be released by the activation source at a respective associated frequency value.
90 .- 107 . (canceled)
108 . A food product comprising:
a food portion; and
at least one additive surrounded by an encapsulation layer, wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the at least one additive upon exposure to energy provided by an activation source proximate to the at least one additive.
109 .- 112 . (canceled)
113 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the at least one additive is uniformly mixed in the food product.
114 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the at least one additive is concentrated at a particular location in the food product.
115 .- 120 . (canceled)
121 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the encapsulation layer comprises a reactive liposome.
122 . (canceled)
123 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the encapsulation layer comprises an acoustically reactive liposome.
124 .- 125 . (canceled)
126 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the activation source comprises an ultrasonic source.
127 .- 142 . (canceled)
143 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the at least one additive is further configured to be incorporated into the food product during processing.
144 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the at least one additive is further configured to be incorporated into the food product during packaging.
145 .- 174 . (canceled)
175 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the at least one additive in response to the activation source emitting energy at a particular frequency.
176 .- 177 . (canceled)
178 . The food product of claim 108 , wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the at least one additive in response to the activation source emitting energy at a frequency within a plurality of frequency ranges.
179 .- 181 . (canceled)
182 . The food product of claim 108 , further comprising a secondary layer disposed within the encapsulation layer.
183 .- 199 . (canceled)
200 . The food product of claim 182 , wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the secondary layer in response to the activation source emitting energy at a first frequency and the secondary layer is configured to release the at least one additive in response to the activation source emitting energy at a second frequency different from the first frequency.
201 . (canceled)
202 . The food product of claim 182 , wherein the encapsulation layer is configured to release the secondary layer in response to the activation source emitting energy at a first intensity value and the secondary layer is configured to release the at least one additive in response to the activation source emitting energy at a second intensity value different from the first intensity value.
203 .- 224 . (canceled)
225 . A method comprising:
adding at least one additive to a food product,
wherein the at least one additive is surrounded by an encapsulation layer and is configured to be released from encapsulation upon exposure to energy provided by an activation source proximate to the at least one additive.
226 .- 248 . (canceled)
249 . The method of claim 225 , wherein adding at least one additive to a food product comprises incorporating the at least one additive into the food product during processing.
250 . The method of claim 225 , wherein adding at least one additive to a food product comprises incorporating the at least one additive into the food product during packaging.
251 .- 255 . (canceled)
256 . The method of claim 225 , wherein the at least one additive is further configured to be delivered via an orthonasal pathway of a consumer when released.
257 . The method of claim 225 , wherein the at least one additive is further configured to be delivered via a retronasal pathway of a consumer when released.
258 .- 266 . (canceled)
267 . The method of claim 225 , further comprising releasing the at least one additive based on a release schedule.
268 . The method of claim 267 , wherein the release schedule comprises a first release schedule for a first additive and a second release schedule for a second additive.
269 . The method of claim 268 , wherein the first additive is surrounded by a first encapsulation layer and the second additive is surrounded by a second encapsulation layer.
270 .- 271 . (canceled)
272 . The method of claim 267 , wherein the release schedule comprises a time interval between releasing a first additive and a second additive.
273 . The method of claim 267 , wherein the release schedule comprises an order for releasing a first additive and a second additive.
274 . The method of claim 267 , wherein the release schedule comprises an amount of a first additive and a second additive to release.
275 .- 331 . (canceled)
332 . A kit comprising:
a food additive surrounded by an encapsulation layer; and
an activation source, wherein the food additive is configured to be released from encapsulation upon exposure to energy provided by the activation source when proximate to the food additive.
333 .- 357 . (canceled)
358 . The kit of claim 332 , wherein the food additive is further configured to be incorporated into a food product before a preparation process.
359 . (canceled)
360 . The kit of claim 332 , wherein the food additive is further configured to be incorporated into a food product before a cooking process.
361 . (canceled)
362 . The kit of claim 332 , wherein the food additive is further configured to be incorporated into a food product as a seasoning.
363 .- 423 . (canceled)
424 . The kit of claim 332 , further comprising an identification tag.
425 .- 427 . (canceled)
428 . The kit of claim 424 , wherein the encapsulation layer comprises the identification tag.
429 . The kit of claim 428 , wherein the identification tag is configured for use in detecting the food additive prior to release from the encapsulation layer.
430 . The kit of claim 424 , wherein the food additive comprises the identification tag.
431 . The kit of claim 430 , wherein the identification tag is configured for use in detecting the food additive after release from the encapsulation layer.
432 . The kit of claim 332 , further comprising a release schedule.
433 . The kit of claim 432 , wherein the release schedule is printed on a container for holding the food additive.
434 . The kit of claim 432 , further comprising a pointer to a downloadable version of the release schedule.
435 .- 437 . (canceled)
438 . The kit of claim 432 , wherein the release schedule is stored on electronic media.
439 . The kit of claim 332 , wherein the activation source is coupled with an eating utensil.
440 . The kit of claim 332 , wherein the activation source is coupled with an oral implant.