Amorphous particles for reducing sugar in food
The present invention relates to amorphous particles comprising sugar and a bulking agent, having a closed porosity of lower than 20%. Further aspects of the invention relate to a food product comprising the amorphous particles; a process of making the amorphous particles and a fat based confectionery product containing them; and the use of the amorphous particles as bulk sugar replacers in food products such as fat based confectionery products for example, chocolate.
1. Amorphous particles comprising sugar and a bulking agent, wherein the amorphous particles have a closed porosity of less than 20% and a D90 particle size of greater than 45 microns, wherein lower than 25% of the amorphous particles have a particle size of less than 10 microns.
2. The amorphous particles according to claim 1 in which the closed porosity is between 2.5% and 18%.
3. The amorphous particles according to claim 1 in which the D90 particle size of the amorphous particles is above 50 microns.
4. The amorphous particles according to claim 1 , wherein the amorphous particles have one continuous phase.
5. The amorphous particles according to claim 1 , wherein the amorphous particles contain no more than 10% by weight of crystalline content.
6. The amorphous particles according to claim 1 in which the amorphous amount of particles have a closed porosity of less than 10%.
7. The amorphous particles according to claim 1 in which the amorphous particles comprise sucrose and skimmed milk, wherein the sucrose is present at a level of at least 30%, and the ratio of sucrose to skimmed milk is between 0.5 to 1 and 2.5 to 1 on a dry weight basis.
8. A food product comprising amorphous particles comprising sugar and a bulking agent, wherein the amorphous particles have a closed porosity of less than 20% and a D90 particle size of greater than 45 microns, wherein lower than 25% of the amorphous particles have a particle size of less than 10 microns.
9. The food product according to claim 8 wherein the food product is a fat based confectionery product.
10. A process of making amorphous particles comprising sugar and a bulking agent, wherein the amorphous particles have a closed porosity of less than 20% and a D90 particle size of greater than 45 microns, the method comprising:
subjecting a mixture comprising the sugar and the bulking agent to a pressure of 200 to 300 bar; and
spraying and drying the mixture to form the amorphous particles, wherein lower than 25% of the amorphous particles have a particle size of less than 10 microns.
11. The process according to claim 10 wherein the drying is spray-drying.
12. The process according to claim 10 wherein no gas is added during the process.
13. The process according to claim 10 , wherein the pressure to which the mixture is subjected is 215 to 275 bar.
14. The amorphous particles according to claim 1 , wherein the amorphous particles have a D50 particle size between 20 and 120 microns, and/or a D10 particle size between 5 and 50 microns.