Food composition comprising desferrichrysin

1. A non-beverage food composition comprising desferrichrysin, iron, phenolic chromophore compounds and culinary fruit selected from the group consisting of blackcurrant, cranberry, elderberry, red currant, boysenberry, grape, cherry, orange, lemon, lime, mandarin, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, papaya , passion fruit, kiwifruit, guava, fig, date, apple, plum, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, apricot, pear, banana, quince, wolfberry and mixtures thereof.

2. The non-beverage food composition according to claim 1 wherein the desferrichrysin is in the form of ferrichrysin, being complexed with iron.

3. The non-beverage food composition according to claim 1 wherein the phenolic chromophore compounds are selected from the group consisting of curcumin; carminic acid; polyphenols; and mixtures thereof.

4. The non-beverage food composition according to claim 1 wherein the ΔEab* value of the food composition is less than 3 after a heat treatment of 2 minutes at 105° C.

5. The non-beverage food composition according to claim 1 wherein the phenolic chromophore compounds comprise anthocyanins.

6. The non-beverage food composition according to claim 1 wherein the food composition is red in color.

7. The non-beverage food composition according to claim 1 wherein the food composition comprises yoghurt.

8. A method for preventing color change in an iron fortified food product comprising a culinary fruit selected from the group consisting of blackcurrant, cranberry, elderberry, red currant, boysenberry, grape, cherry, orange, lemon, lime, mandarin, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, papaya , passion fruit, kiwifruit, guava, fig, date, apple, plum, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, apricot, pear, banana, quince, wolfberry and mixtures thereof, the method comprising adding desferrichrysin to the iron fortified food product.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the color change over the product's shelf-life is prevented.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the color change during heat treatment of the product is prevented.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the desferrichrysin is in the form of ferrichrysin, being complexed with iron.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the iron fortified food product comprises anthocyanins.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein the iron fortified food product is a fruit purée or fruit yoghurt.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein the iron fortified food product is selected from the group consisting of a biscuit; cake; pastry product; a cereal bar; a breakfast cereal; an ice cream product; a dessert; a prepared meal; a nutritional supplement and a pet food product.

15. A process for fortifying a food product with iron, the process comprising:

preparing a non-beverage food product containing culinary fruit selected from the group consisting of blackcurrant, cranberry, elderberry, red currant, boysenberry, grape, cherry, orange, lemon, lime, mandarin, tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, papaya , passion fruit, kiwifruit, guava, fig, date, apple, plum, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, apricot, pear, banana, quince, wolfberry and mixtures thereof; and

adding ferrichrysin to the non-beverage food product.

16. The process of claim 15 , wherein the non-beverage food product comprises the iron in an amount of at least 5 ppm.

17. The process of claim 15 , wherein the ferrichrysin is at least 100 ppm of the non-beverage food product.

18. The process of claim 15 , wherein the culinary fruit is 5 to 99.985 wt. % of the non-beverage food product.

19. The process of claim 15 further comprising adding phenolic chromophore compounds selected from the group consisting of curcumin, carminic acid, polyphenols, and mixtures thereof to the non-beverage food product separately from the culinary fruit.

20. The process of claim 19 wherein the phenolic chromophore compounds are between 0.0005 and 5 wt. % of the non-beverage food product.