Food composition comprising gas bubbles

1. Food composition comprising a lipid-in-water emulsion wherein gas is dispersed in the lipid in the form of a foam, and the foam comprises gas bubbles having triglyceride crystals at their gas-lipid interface.

2. A food composition according to claim 1 wherein the triglyceride crystals occupy at least 50% of the surface area of the gas bubbles.

3. A food composition according to claim 1 wherein, at temperatures above 10° C., the bulk lipid does not contain a rigid network.

4. A food composition according to claim 1 wherein the lipid comprises one or more higher melting-point fats and one or more lower melting-point fats and wherein the melting-point of the lowest melting higher melting-point fat is at least 10° C. above that of the melting point of the highest melting lower melting-point fat and wherein the lower melting-point fats are present at a level of greater than 50 wt. % of the total lipid.

5. A food composition according to claim 4 wherein the one or more higher melting-point fats are selected from the group consisting of cocoa butter, shea butter, illipe butter, sal fat, kokum butter, mango kernel fat, palm kernel oil, palm oil, coconut oil, milk fat, high stearic sunflower oil and hydrogenation products, inter-esterification products, fractions and combinations of these; and the one or more lower melting-point fats are selected from the group comprising sunflower oil, coconut oil, safflower oil, rapeseed oil, olive oil and combinations and fractions of these.

6. A food composition according to claim 1 wherein the aqueous phase of the lipid-in-water emulsion is not foamed.

7. A food composition according to claim 1 wherein the food composition is selected from the group consisting of a sauce, a soup, a spread, a confectionery filling and a beverage.

8. A food composition according to claim 1 wherein the food composition has a saturated fatty acid content of less than 70 wt. % of the total fatty acid content.

9. Process for forming a food composition, the process comprising the steps of:

providing a first composition comprising triglycerides and having a lipid continuous phase;

controlling the temperature of the first composition such that the composition comprises triglyceride crystals and has a solid lipid content between 0.1 and 20%;

aerating the first composition to form a foam;

providing a second composition having an aqueous continuous phase and comprising an emulsifier; and

mixing the first and second compositions to form a lipid-in-water emulsion having gas dispersed in the lipid in the form of a foam.

10. A process according to claim 9 wherein the first composition is initially at a temperature at which it contains less than 0.1% solid lipid.

11. A process according to claim 9 wherein the aeration of the first composition comprises mechanical agitation.

12. A process according to claim 9 wherein the first composition, on a total lipid basis, comprises between 70 and 95% of lower melting-point fats having a highest melting point below 10° C., and between 5 and 30% of higher melting-point fats having a lowest melting point above 30° C.

13. A process according to claim 9 wherein the temperature of the first composition is controlled to between 0 and 25° C. before aeration.

14. A process according to claim 9 wherein a further lipid-containing composition is mixed with the foamed first composition before it is mixed with the second composition.

15. A process according to claim 9 further comprising adding additional food ingredients.