Coated chewing gum, a method for preparation thereof and the use of one or more active substance(s) in solid form

1. A coated chewing gum comprising a core of chewing gum and a coating, wherein said coating comprises one or more coating materials and one or more flavor(s), said flavor(s) being in the form of a powder when applied to the coating and at least one flavor is a natural vegetable flavoring agent comprising intact cells of a dried fruit or herb.

2. A method of preparing a coated chewing gum, the method comprising the following steps:

1) providing a core of chewing gum, a coating suspension, and at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent in the form of a dry powder, where said natural vegetable flavoring agent is a powder of a dried fruit or a dried herb,

2) applying the coating suspension onto the core of chewing gum,

3) applying, in one or more increment(s), said at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent onto the coated cores of chewing gum resulting from step 2) said agent being and remaining in the form of a powder throughout said applying step, and optionally repeating steps 2) and 3).

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent has a water content of less than 75% by weight.

4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the water content of the at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent is less than 15% by weight.

5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent was extracted from one or more vegetables each selected from the group consisting of a coconut, a grape fruit, an orange, a lime, a lemon, a mandarin, a pineapple, a strawberry, a raspberry, a mango, a passion fruit, a kiwi, an apple, a pear, a peach, an apricot, a cherry, a grape, a banana, a cranberry, a blueberry, a black currant, a red currant, a gooseberry, a lingonberry, thyme, a basil, a valerian, a fennel, a parsley, a camomile, a tarragon, a lavender, a dill, a cumin, a bergamot, a sage, an aloe vera, a spearmint, a peppermint, and an eucalyptus.

6. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the natural vegetable flavoring agent has been freeze-dried.

7. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent is in the form of a powder, said powder comprising a particle having a particle size of at most 3 mm, calculated as the longest dimension of the particle.

8. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said powder consists essentially of particles having a particle size from 3 μm to 2 mm, calculated as the longest dimension of the particle.

9. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent comprises seed from a fruit.

10. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one natural vegetable flavoring agent also provides the gum formulation with natural color.

11. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the coating furthermore comprises a flavor selected from the group consisting of peppermint, periwinkle, eucalyptus, spearmint, anethol, menthol, powdered anise, orange, lemon, mango, pineapple, lime, strawberry, cherry, black currant, blueberry, raspberry, wild berry, cranberry, apple, pear, banana, prune, and plum flavor.

12. The method of claim 2 , wherein the coating furthermore comprises an active substance selected from the group consisting of a high potency sweetener and an acid.

13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein said active substance is in the form of a powder when applied to the coating.

14. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the acid is selected from the group consisting of a citric acid, a malic acid, a tartaric acid, a lactic acid, and an ascorbic acid.

15. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the high potency sweetener is selected from the group consisting of aspartame, acesulfame K, saccharin, cyclamate, neohesiridine, thaumatin, glycyrrhizin, monellin, sucrolase, and alitame.

16. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the coating furthermore comprises at least one functional substance, each selected from the group consisting of vitamins, cooling agents and flavor enhancers.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein the at least one functional substance is in the form of a powder when applied to the coating.

18. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the active substance is in an encapsulated form when applied to the coating.

19. The method according to claim 18 , wherein the encapsulated active substance is encapsulated in one or more material(s) each selected from the group consisting of fatty substances, waxes, gelatine, gum arabic, starch, cellulose, cellulose derivatives, shellac, polyvinyl acetate, polyethylene, casein, zein, B cyclodextrine, silica, and yeast cells.

20. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the coating furthermore comprises one or more active substances(s), incorporated into the coating while in liquid form, each of said one or more active substance(s) being selected from the group consisting of a flavor, a high potency sweetener and an acid.

21. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the coating furthermore comprises at least one salt.

22. The method according to claim 21 , wherein each salt is selected from the group consisting of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, ammonium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and carbamide.

23. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the coating suspension comprises an aqueous solution, said aqueous solution comprising a component selected from the group consisting of a sugar, a sugar alcohol, an artificial sweetener or a mixture thereof.

24. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the coating suspension comprises an aqueous solution of one or more constituent(s) selected from the group consisting of saccharose, dextrose, sorbitol, xylitol, tagatose, mannitol, maltitol, isomalt, aspartame, acesulfame K, saccharine, cyclamate, taline, and neohespiridine.

25. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the coating suspension is applied in 2 to 90 increments.

26. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the flavoring agent is applied to the coating in 1 to 10 increment(s) between the dosages of the coating suspension.

27. The method of claim 2 wherein, during step 3), the natural vegetable flavoring agent is embedded, in the coating, in solid form.