CA1186548A - Method for applying sugarless coating to chewing gum and confections - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure An improved method is provided for applying a sugarless coating containing sorbitol to chewing gum pieces, confections, as well as medicinals in the form of pills or tablets, which method includes use of a single coating syrup containing sorbitol and/or other non-sugar sweetener, an adhesion or binder component, such as gum arabic, a filler-anti-stick component, such as calcium carbonate, and a dispersing agent, such as titanium dioxide.

Description

0 8 a z COATING TO CHEWTNG GUM AND CONEECTIONS
_ The present invention relates to an lmproved method for applylng a sugarless coating containing 5 sorbitol in crystalline ~orm, to a chewing gum, confection, and medicinals and therapeu-tics in the forms of pills or tablets, and to any of the above comestibles containing such a sugarless coating.
Candy-coated chewing gums have long been a lO favorite among young and old alike. The candy coatings generally employed are sugar-based and thus are not used as coatings for sugarless gums. The sugar-based coatings may be applied to chewiny gum employing procedures such as described in U. S. Patents Nos. 3,554,767 to Daum et al, 15 2,304,245 to Ekert, 2,460,698 to Lindhe and 3,208,405 to Beer.
U. S. Patent No. 4,127,677 to Fronczkowski et al discloses a xylitol coated chewing gum containing rom 95 to 99.5% xylitol which may be used as a coating 20 for su~arless gums. However, for various reasons, xylitol containing chewing gums have not received satisfactory consumer acceptance.
Sorbitol, long used as a plasticizer and sweetener, has been suggested as a substitute for sugar in forming 25 sugarless candy coatings for sugarless chewing gums.
Unfortunately, however, it has been found that when sorbitol is applied in an aaueous coating solution to chewing gum centers, the sorbitol does not recrystallize to form a thin crystalline coat. Moreover, the chewing 3O gum centers subjected to the sorbitol chewing step stick to one another forming undesirable clumps.

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1 Accordingly, a need exists in the market place for a sugarless coating, preferably free of xylitol, based on the use of sorbitol.
U. S. Patent No. 4,238,510 discloses a method 5 for forming a sugarless candy coating, preferably includi.ng crystalline sorbitol, on chewing gums, confections, and generally in the preparation of candy coated pills, tablets and other solid shapes, which method overcomes the problems associated with the application of sorbitol-containing . 10 coatings to produce a uniform sugarless coating, with good appearance, and flavor release and having bite-through and chew properties of a soft crystal. The technique employed for forming a sugarless coating on a solid shape to be coated (hereinafter referred to as centers) 15 includes the steps of applying to the centers a first coating syrup which contains a sweetener such as sorbitol and/or other non-sugar sweetener, for example, mannitol or hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, an adhesion or binder component and a film-forming component, to thereby coat 20 the centers with the first coating syrup, and then applying a dusting mix to the centers coated with the first coating syrup, the dusting mix including one or more sweeteners, such as employed in the first coating syrup, in powdered form, and a moisture absorbing component, such as manni-tol, 25 an anti-sticking component such as calcium carbonate and a dispersing agent such as titanium dioxide, and then preferably applying a second coating syrup to smooth out the coating of the centers and provide a shine there-to, which second coating syrup generally includes ingredients

3 similar to that present in the dusting mix but dispersed in water.

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1 ` The above technique has proved to be an excel.lent method, albeit, it usually requires two different types of coating syrups to produce the desired coating. Accordingly, a sugarless coating technique wherein only a single coating 5 syrup is employed woul.d be a tremendous advance over afore-mentioned prior art as well as over t:he above-described U.S. Patent 4,238,510.
The present invention relates to a method for preparing a sugarless coated comestible, which comprises 10 the steps of applying to center portions of said comestible coating syrup comprising an aqueous solu-tion of normally sweet hygroscopic material, a binder, an anti-sticking compound, and a dispersing agent and applying to said so-treated cen-ter portions a coating dusting mix comprising 15 said normally sweet hygroscopic material in dry form, at least a portion of said dry hygroscopic material being absorbed on the coating syrup applied to said center portions to form a coating on said center. In accordance with the present invention, an improved so-called "one-step"
20 or "one syrup" method is provided for forming a sugarless coating on a solid shape to be coated (hereinafter referred to as centers) and includes the steps of applying to the centers a coating which contains a swee-tener such as sorbitol and/or other non-sugar sweetener, for example, 25 mannitol or hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, an adhesion or binder component and a film-forming component, and anti-sticking (or filler) component, and a dispensing agent, to thereby coat the centers with the coating syrup, and then applying a dusting mix to the centers coated with the coating 3 syrup, the dusting mix including one or more sweeteners, such as employed in the coating syrup, in powdered form, and a noisture absorbing component, an anti-sticking component and a dispersing agent.

1 The steps of appl~ing the coating syrup and dusting mi~ will be repeated, as many -times as necessary, to build up a desired coating weight and thickness on the centers.
In carrying out the me-thod of the inven-tion, coating syrup will be formed as an aqueous sol~-tion of the a) sweetener (or bulking agent), b) adhesion or binder componen-t, c) an anti-sticking (filler) component, and d) a dispersing agent.
The sweetener (or bulking ayent) (a) may be present in an amount within the range of from about 30% to about 70%, preferably from about 40 to about 60% by weight of the coating syrup;
the binder (b) may be present in an amount within 15 the range of from about 5 to about 30~, preferably from about 10 to about 25% by weight of the coating syrup; the anti-sticking (filler) agent (c) may be present in an amount within the range of from about 3 to about 15 and preferably from about 5 to about 10 by weigllt of the coating syrupi and the dispersing agent d) may be present in an amount of within the range of Erom about 2 to about 12%, and preferably from about 3 to about 7% by weight of the coating syrup. The coating syrup will also contain from about 20 to about 70%, and preferably from about 25 to about 65% water.
The coating syrup functions as a wet base layer to which later-deposited dry sweetener or bul]iing a~ent (presen-t in the dusting mi~) may 3 adhere or be absorbed on to form the desired coating.

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1 ~xamples of sweeteners or bul~ing agents suitable for use in the coatinc3 syrup may comprise substantially any known sugarless swee-tener such as any of the sugar alcohols such as sorbitol, 5 ~ylitol, m~nnitol, and combina-tions -thereof, with sorbitol l,eing preferred, a~s well as mal-titol, isomaltitol, hydrogen-tated starch hydrolysates such as those disclosed in Reissue Patent No. 26,959 as well as various hydrogenated glucose syrups 10 and/or powders which contain sorbitol, hydrogenated disaccharides, tri- to he~a-hydrogentated saccharides, and hydrogenated higher polysaccharides and the modified starch hydrolysates disclosed in U.S.
Patent No. 3,556,811 to Smith.
The hydrogenated glucose syrups and/or powders may be produced by cataly-tic hydrogenation of standard glucose syrups (acid and/or en7.yme converted) to the point where all the glucose end groups of the saccharides are reduced to alcohols, that is, 20 dc~trose to sorbitol. In the case of hydrogenated ~lucose syrups, the total solids contents will range from about 72 to about 8090 which solids are made of from about 4 to about 20o sorbitol, from about 20 to about 65% hydrogenated disaccharides 25 (that is, maltitol), from about 15 to about 45%
tri- to heptahydrogenated saccharides, and from about 10 to about 35% hydrogenated saccharides higher than hepta.

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1 Other sweeteners or bulkiny agents suitable for use in the eoating syrup include, but are not limited to free saceharin aeid, sodium, ealcium and ammonium saccharin, cyclamate salts, dihydro-5 chalcones, ylycyrrhi~in, L-asparty]--L-phenylalanine methyl ester and mixtures thereof.
The adhesion component or binder employed in the coating syrup aids in ini-tially binding the sweetener to the comes-tible being coated.
10 Examples of binders suitable for use herein include gum arabic, xanthan g-um, gum tragacanth, tapioca dextrin, or modified food stareh, with g~lm arabie being preferred.
The moisture absorbing cornpound suitable for 15 use herein includes mannitol, or dicalcium phosphate with mannitol being preferred especially when sorbitol is employed as the sweetener.
~ xamples of the anti-stieking eornpound whieh may also funetion as a filler employed in the 20 eoatitlc3 syrup as well as the dustiny mi~ inelude ealeium earbona-te, tale, or magnesium trisilieate, with ealeium earbonate being preferred.
Examples of the dispersing agent whieh may be employed in the eoating syrup as well as the dusting 25 agent include titanium dioxide, talc or other anti-stick eompounds set out above, with titanium dioxide being preferred.

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1 ~n optional but important component of the coating syrup is the filrn-forming agent which enables the depositiorl of a subs-tantially uniforrn layer of the sweetener on the comestibLe beincl 5 coated. Examples of film-forming agents suitable for use herein include gelatin, methyl cellulose, hydroxypropvl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, hydroxy~
èthyl cellulose, and/or carboxymethyl cellulose.
The dusting mix comprises a dry powder mixture lO containing a) sweetener (or bulking agent) similar to (and preferably the same as) that employed in the coating syrup, b) moisture absorbing component, c) anti-sticking (or filler) component, and d) dispersing agent. Components b), c) and d) are 15 emplo~ed in a weight ratio to sweetener a) of within the range of from about 5 to about 30 b):l, from about 2 to about 20 c):1, and from about 0 to about 5 d):l. Thus, the sweetener a) will be employed in an aMount within the range o:E from about 20 ~10 to about 90~-, and prefercibly from about 6n to about 85~o by weight of the dusting mix, the moisture aosorbing component b) will be employed in an amount within the range of from about 5 to about 30%, and preferably from about 8 to about 20% by weight 25 of the dusting mix, the anti-sticking component c) will be employed in an amount within -the range of from about 2 to about 20%, and preferably from about 5 to about 15~o by weight of the dusting mix, and the dispersing agent will be employed in an 3O amount within the range of from about 2 to about 12~-~, and preferably from about 4 to about 9% by ~7eight o~ the dusting mix.

1 As indica-ted, the sweetener (bulkiny agent) present ln the dusting mix may include any of those employed in the coating svrup and set out above.
The preferred sweetener present in the dusting mix will be sorbitol.
In preferred embodiments, the weiqht xatio of the solids present in the coatiny syrup to the dust-ing mix will range from about 5:1 to about 20:1.
Generally, a single deposition of each of the - 10 coating syrup and the dusting mix may not be suffi-cient to provide the desired amount or thickness of coating deposited on the comestible. ~ccordingly, it usually will be necessary to apply second, third or more coats of each of the coating syrup 15 and dusting mix in order to build up the weight and thickness of the coating to desired levels.
~lowever, before applying subsequellt layers of first coating syrup, the previously applied layers of coating syrup are allowed -to dry, Eor example, by ~0 gently flowing air at a temperature of from about 68 to about 88F and having a relative humidity of from about 20 to about 40% and flowing at a volume (36" pan) of from about 400 to about 500 cfm.
For example, in coating chewing gum, the applica-25 tions of coating syrup and dusting mix are continueduntil the average gum piece weight reaches about 90% of the required coated weight. Thus, if the coating is to comprise about 35~ by weight of the coated chewing c3um table-t, application of 10 to 12 30 coats of coating syrup and 7 to 9 coats of dusting mix may be required. The last three coats should preferably be coating syrup by itself, without dusting mix.

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1 It will be appreciated that the nurnber of applications requried will also vary depending upon the amount of solids present in the coating syrup, the amount of dusting mix employed, and 5 the type of comestible to be coated.
After a sufficient amount of coating has been applied to the pieces of comestible -to be coated, the coating on the pieces will be smooth and polished and otherwise finished without the 10 need for applying a second coating syrup or finishing syrup.
Flavoring in the form of liquid flavor may be added with the coating syrup, while spray dried flavors may be added with the dusting mix. The 15 flavoring will preferably be applied after an initial coating syrup-dusting mix has been applied.
In the case where the comestible to be coated is chewing gum, flavoring may be added to the clwn base. The flavoring in the gu~ center 20 will be present in an amount wi-thin the range of from about 0.5 to about 1.5%, and preferably from about 0.7 to about 1.2~ by weight of the gum center.
The flavoring in the coating will be present in an amount within the range of from about 0.5 to 25 about 5% and preferably from about 1.25 to about

4% by weight of the coating. Such flavoring may comprise oils derived from plants, leaves, flowers, fruit, etc. Representative flavor oils of this type include citrus oils such as lemon oil, orange 3 oil, lime oil, grapefruit oil, fruit essences such as apple essence, pear essence, peach essence, strawberry essence, aprico-t essence, raspberry 1 essence, cherry essence, plum essence, pineapple essence, as well as the following essential oils:
peppermint oil, spearmint oil, mixtures of pepper-mint oil and spearmint oil, clove oil, bay oil,

5 anise oil, eucalyptus oil, thyme oil, cedar leaf oil, cinnamon oil, oil of nutmeg, oil of sage, oil of bitter almonds, cassia oil, and methyl-salicylate (oil of wintergreen). Various syn-thetic flavors, such as mixed fruit, may also be 10 incorporated in the chewing gum of the invention with or without conventional preservatives.
Sweeteners suitbale for use herein which may be present in the gum center and~or coating may comprise natural or synthetic sugar substitutes.
Where employed, the synthetic sweeteners may be present in the chewing gum cen-ter in an amount within the range of from about 0.04 to about 2Qo and preEerably Erom about 0.4 to about 0.8Q by weight oE the chewing gum. Examples of ~ synthetic sweetell~rs suitable Eor use herein include free saccharin acid, sodium, calcium or ammonium saccharin, cyclamate sal-ts, dihydro-chalcones, ~lycyrrhizic acid and salts, L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester, the sodium or potassium 25 salt of 3,4-dihydro-6-methyl-1,2,3-oxathiazine-4-one-2,2-dio~ide(~cesulfone-K), and mixtures thereof.
Where employed, natural sugars and/or natural sugar substitutes may be present in the chewiny gum center in an amount within the range oE from about 3 0.05 to about 90~, and preferably from about 10 to about 85- by weight of the chewing gum. Such natural sweeteners suitable for use herein include suyar alcohols, sucll as, sorbitol, xylitol, manni-tol, isomaltltol, or maltitol. If desired, suyars such as sucrose, or dextrose may also be employed.
The gum base will be present in an amount within the range of from about 10 to about ~0%, and preferably from about 15 to about 45% by weight.
In yeneral, -the gum base is prepared by heating and blending various ingredients, such as - 10 natural gums, synthetic resins, waxes, plasticizers, etc., in a manner well known in the art. Typical examples of the ingredients found in a chewing gum base are masticatory substances of synthetic origin such as styrene-butadiene copolymer, isobutylene-15 isoprene copol~ler, polyisobutylene, polye-thylene, petroleum wax, polyvinyl acetate, as well as masticatory substances oE natural origin such as rubber latex soli~s, chicle, crown gum, nispero, rosidinha, jelutong, pendare, perillo, niger gutta, 20 tunu, etc. The elastomer or mastica-tory substance will be employed in an amount within the range of about 5 to about 15%, preferably from about 8 to about 12%, and optimally from about 9 to about 11%
by weight of the gum base composition.
The gum base may also include solvents, detackifiers, waxes, softening agents, lubricants, fillers, emulsifiers, colorants, antioxidants.
and/or texturizers, bul~ing agents and other conventiollal ingredien-ts as will be apparent to 3 those skilled in the art. Examples of typical gum bases suitable for use herein are disclosed in 1;. S. Patent Nos. 3,052,552 and 2,197~719.

1 As indicated, in addition to chewing gum, the comestible to be coated may include any edible solid, such as candies, including hard candies and pressed candies, jelly beans, peanuts, other 5confections, as well as pills, tablets or other solid dosage forms for medicinal or therapeutic use.
A preferred coating, in accordance with the present invention, for a sugarless chewing gum lowill have the following composition.
Parts by weigh-t Ingredient of coatinq -Sorbitol 45 to 90 Mannitol 2 to 25 15 Gum arabic 0.25 to 3 Calcium carbonate2 to 20 Titanium dioxide0.1 to 5 3o -]-3-1 The followin~J Examples represent preferred emhodiments of the ~resent invention.

Examples 1 to 3 Sugarless-coated sugarless chewing gums having center or core portions as shown in Table I
and coatings as shown in Table II below are prepared as follows.

CompositiQn of Gum Cen-ter or Core (present in all chewinc~ c~um Examples) Parts by l~eic~ht 15 Ingredient Gum base 24 Sorbitol-powder 49 Sorbitol liquid (68-70o sorbitQl) 25 Yel];in 0.5 20 Flavor 2 TABLE II
Composition of Various Coatin~ Mixtures Required for Fol~ing Coatinq on Gum Centers of Table I
Parts by Wei~ht Example No. 1 2 3 Coating Syrup Gum arahic solution ('18o) 18 20 24 Gelatin solution (20o) 0 30 15 Sorbitol liquid (68-70o) 55 50 60 llydrogenated starch hydrolysate -- 30 10 TABI,E II ~cont.) -Example No. 1 2 3 Coat a ~Syrur~ (cont.) Mannitol 7 6 5 Calcium carbona-te l~owder 7 8 5 Titanium dioxide powder 5 4 6 Hot water (160 F) 911 13 Color (as needed) Dustina ~lix . . _ Sorbitol (crystalline p~der) 70 70 70 k~anni-tol owder 15 15 15 Calcium carbonate powder 7.5 10 5 Titanium dioxide powder 7.5 5 10 The chewing gum centers are prepared as 15 folloWs:
Gum base is melted and maintained at a temperature within the range of 150 -175 F.
Softener is added and then -the solid suc~ar alcohols are added slowly with stirring. Thereafter, liquid 2Q flavor is added and the mixture is stirred until homogeneous. Sugar alcohols are slowly added and then artificial and/or natural sweetener (where employed).
Where spray dried ~lavors are employed, they 25 are added with the artificial sweeteners.
The above mixture is stirred until homo-geneous, cooled, rolled and scored and individual pieces or pillows are produced.
The coating mixture is prepared by mixing 3 the various ingredients, under heating if necessary, to form a well-mixed suspension.

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1 The dusting mix is prepared by simply mixing the various inyredients and until a substantially homogeneous mi,-:ture is i-ormed.
The gum cen-ters to be coated are placed 5 in a standard revolving coatiny pan. The gurr pieces are dedusted using cool dry air. The coating syrup mixed and warmed to a temperature of 120F is applied to the gum pieces. After about 2-3 minutes, the ciusting mix is applied 10 to the gum pieces coated with -the coating syrup.
The gum pieces are allowed to cool for 2 minutes to absorb the dusting mix. rnhe gum pieces are then dried by contact with gently flowing air at a temperature of about 78F, and having a relative 15 humidity of about 30O and at a volume of air (361' pan) of about 450 cfm, for 2 minutes.
The above coating steps are repeated until the weicJht of an average gum piece reaches about 90r~ of the required coated weight. For example, 20 if the required coated weight is 35r~0 1 7 to 10 applications of -the dusting mix are needed (the last 3 applications are of other coating syrup without the dusting rnix) to reach an average piece weight of 1. 5 g.
The so-coated gum pieces may then be polished and otherwise finished employing conventional means 3o 1 to produce sorbitol coated sugarless chewing gum having a soft chew witn good sweetness and flavor release properties.

5- E m~les ~ and 5 Sugarless coated sugarless candy, having a center or core portion as shown in Table III
below and a coating as shown in Table II of Example 1, is prepared employing the following 10 procedure.

TABLE III
Composition of Candy Center Amount 15 Ingredient (Parts by Weight) ilydrogellated starch hydrolysate syrup (78 solids, including

6~ sorbitol and 50~ mannitol) 97 Sorbitol syrup 2 20 Malic acid Cherry Flavor 0.25 Color 0-4 The hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and ~5 sorbitol syrups are fed into the top of a mixing kettle and are cooled under constant slow agitation to 330-335 F. The coloring agent is added at 280-300F. The mix is dropped at 25" ~Ig and held under vacuum for 10 minutes. The hot mix is then 30 transferred to a mixing table where malic acid arld flavor are added with mixing. The candy mix is allowed to cool to 160-1700F and is tabletted.
The coating is applied as described in Examples 1 to 3 to produce a pleasant tasting 35sugarless coated sugarless candy.

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3- In a manner similar to tha-t described in Examples 1 to 5 any type pill or tablet or other solid shape may be coated with a sugarless coating in accordance with the presen-t invention, ~0 3o

Claims (11)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A method for preparing a sugarless coated comestible, which comprises the steps of applying to center portions of said comestible coating syrup comprising an aqueous solution of normally sweet hygroscopic material, a binder, an anti-sticking compound, and a dispersing agent and applying to said so-treated center portions a coating dusting mix comprising said normally sweet hygroscopic material in dry form, at least a portion of said dry hygro-scopic material being absorbed on the coating syrup applied to said center portions to form a coating on said center portions.

2. A method according to Claim 1 wherein the comestible is a chewing gum or candy, the coating syrup being applied comprising an aqueous solution of from about 30 to about 70% by weight of a normally sweet non-sugar hygroscopic material, selected from mannitol, maltitol, isomaltitol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and mixtures thereof, from about 5 to about 30% by weight of a binder, from about 3 to about 15% by weight of an anti-sticking compound, and from about 2 to about 12% by weight of a dispersing agent.

3. The method of Claim 1 or 2 wherein said steps of applying said coating syrup and then applying coating dusting mix are repeated, as necessary, to build up a coating of desired thickness on the center portions.

4. The method of Claim 3 further including the step of applying said coating syrup as the last 2 to 4 coats to said center portions previously coated with said coating syrup and said coating dusting mix, said lastly applied coating syrup comprising said normally sweet hygroscopic material and serving to smooth out and providing a shine to the coating of said normally sweet hvgroscopic material previously applied to said center portions.

5. The method of Claim 1,2 or4, wherein said coating dusting mix contains a moisture absorbing agent, an anti-sticking agent, and a dispersing agent.

6. The method of Claim 1, 2 or 4 wherein said coating syrup comprises liquid sorbitol, gum arabic solution, calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide and mannitol, and said coating dusting mix comprises sorbitol powder, mannitol powder, calcium carbonate and titanium dioxide.

7. The method of Claim 1, 2 or 4, wherein said center portion is sugarless chewing gum or candy.

8. The method of Claim 1, 2 or 4, wherein said coating syrup further includes a film-forming agent which comprises gelatin, methyl cellulose, hydroxy-propyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, and/or carboxymethyl cellulose.

9. The method of Claim 1, 2 or 4, wherein said binder for imparting cohesivity to the coating ingredients is gum arabic, xanthan gum, gum tragacanth, tapioca dextrin, or modified food starch.

10. The method of Claim 1, 2 or 4 wherein said anti-sticking agent is calcium carbonate, talc, or magnesium trisilicate.

11. The method of Claim 1 or 2 wherein said center portion is chewing gum and said coating applied is comprised of sorbitol as said hygroscopic material, gum arabic as a binder, calcium carbonate as an anti-sticking-diluent compound, titanium dioxide as a dispersing agent and mannitol as a moisture absorbing agent.