Granted Patent B2

US 12,622,439 · App. 17/452,711 · Granted May 12, 2026

Inventors: Owen J. McGarel (Naperville, IL); Myron D. Nicholson (Lemont, IL); Chris L. Williams (Knoxville, TN)

Assignee: Viskase Companies, Inc.

A22C13/00A22C2013/0096

Abstract

Claims (35)

1 . An edible cellulosic casing, comprising:

cellulose; and

at least one modifier comprising at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide, the at least one modifier substantially evenly distributed with the cellulose throughout a casing material of the edible cellulosic casing,

the casing material having a heterogeneous material structure in which the cellulose and the at least one modifier comprising the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide provide distinguishable phases from one another in the heterogeneous material structure,

wherein the edible cellulosic casing comprises, by dry weight thereof:

the cellulose in a range from about 55 wt. % to about 75 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing;

the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide, of the at least one modifier, in a range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing;

at least one peptide, of the at least one modifier, in a range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing; and

at least one filler material in a range from about 0 wt. % to about 15 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing; and

wherein the edible cellulosic casing is free of aldehydes, methylols, epoxides, and enzymes.

2 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the cellulose comprises regenerated cellulose.

3 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the at least one polysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of starch, starch acetate, chitin, chitosan, pectin, carrageenan, konjac, xanthan gum, alginic acid, and alginate.

4 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide comprises carrageenan.

5 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the casing is in a seamless tube form or in a flat film form.

6 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , further comprising at least one adhesion promoter on a food-contact surface of the edible cellulosic casing.

7 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 6 , wherein the at least one adhesion promoter comprises at least one peptide.

8 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 6 , wherein the at least one adhesion promoter comprises at least one of starch or dextrin.

9 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the edible cellulosic casing is free of animal-derived components.

10 . A method for forming the edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , the method comprising:

forming a solution comprising the cellulose;

forming a modifier solution comprising, dissolved in the modifier solution, the at least one non-cellulose hydrophilic polysaccharide and the at least one peptide;

mixing the modifier solution into the solution comprising the cellulose to form a mixture; and

forming the casing material of claim 1 from the mixture.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:

forming the solution comprising the cellulose comprises forming a viscose solution comprising the cellulose;

forming the casing material comprises:

exposing the mixture to at least one acid to form a casing composition comprising a regenerated cellulose derived from the cellulose of the viscose solution; and

the method further comprises:

extruding the casing composition to form a seamless tube casing comprising the casing material; and

shirring the seamless tube casing while applying at least one adhesion promoter on a food-contact surface of the seamless tube casing.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:

forming the solution comprising the cellulose comprises dissolving natural cellulose in at least one of N-methyl-morpholine-N-oxide (NMMO), an ionic liquid (IL), or a deep eutectic solvent (DES); and

the method further comprises extruding the mixture to form an edible casing comprising the casing material, the cellulose of the casing material being derived from the natural cellulose.

13 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the at least one peptide in the range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing comprises at least one oligopeptide in the range from about 10 wt. % to about 35 wt. % of the edible cellulosic casing.

14 . The edible cellulosic casing of claim 1 , wherein the heterogeneous material structure comprises cellulose-rich regions and modifier-rich regions that are microscopically distinguishable from one another.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (95)