CA2077389A1 - Composition and method of making yogurt and juice blended beverage - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A composition and method of manufacturing a substantially fat-free, Vitamin-C
enriched yogurt and juice blended beverage having a smooth, full-bodied mouth feel. The method involves culturing pasteurized skim milk to obtain an unflavored, non-fat yogurt and blending that with a liquid mixture of water, a pectin-based fat substitute (to help give the product a full-bodied texture), ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), and optionally citric acid. The resultant mixture is homogenized to give it a very smooth mouth feel, and then mixed with a consented juice flavoring to give the resulting beverage desirably 10% fruit juice and 100% of the U.S. RDA of Vitamin C in an 8 ounce serving, along with active yogurt cultures. Addition of the Vitamin C to the liquid mixture allows a substantial portion of it to survive pasteurization.

Description

207~3~

C~MPOSITION AND METHQD QF MAKINCJ
YO(:;URT AND JUIC~ BLENDED BEVE~RAGl~

FIELD OF '1 H~ INVENTION
The invention relates to a beverage, and a method of making the beverage, which comprises a blend of substantlally fat-free yogurt and natural fruit juices.
BA(:~KGROUND OF THE INVENl10~
Dairy products in general have long been considered to be nutritionally important to a well balanced diet. This is due, at least in part, to the presence of significant quantities of calcium and other important vitamins and minerals, some of which often are added during processing (such as the addition of Vitamins A and D to milk). Although people restricting their intake of fats may avoid whole milk and products made from butterfat, many non-fat dairy products, including non-fat yogurt, are widely available and have been well-received.
Yogurt itself is also well-liked due, at least in part, to its active culture content which is believed to have beneficial effects on the digestive system.
One aspect of dairy products that has not been significantly improved upon is their relatively low content of Vitamin C. Vitamin C, in addition to being among the more important nutr~ents for which U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA's) have been established, has long been believed to have a variety of health benefits. Most recently, ~077389 udies have suggested that, as an antioxidant, ~1itamin C may help prevent LDL cholesterol from oxidizing--this is believed to be the first step in the buildup of plaques in the arteries, leading to heart disease. Also, studies have suggested that Vitamin C may help counter the damaging e~fects of ~ree radicals which form in the body during metabolism, thereby increasing the body9s resistance to carcinogens.
While the exact degree of Vitamin C's health value is still under s~udy, nutritional experts generally agree that it is an essential companent in a balanced diet. As mentioned above, howeYer, dairy products in general, and yogurts specifically, are not panicularly high in Vitarnin C. For example, a typical 8 oz. serving of lowfat yogurt might contain 0% of the U.S. RDA for Vitarnin C.
Although Vitasnins A and D have long been added as nutritional supplements to milk and other dairy products, dairies have generally been unsuccessful in adding Vitamin C to milk products generally and yogurt specifically. This is due in part, at least, to the fact that the live yogurt cultures (typically a combination of lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus therrnophilus~ consume Vitannin C as a nutrient during the culturing process. Moreover, as Vitamin C is an oxygen scavenger, and milk is a quite foamy fluid (thereby leading to significant incorporation and dissolution of oxygen), typically during pasteurization of milk (e.g., high-temperature short-time (HTST) pasteurization) the combination of heat and oxygen ~and possibly other factors) tends to reduce or eliminate any significant levels of Vitamin C in the milk. Thus, fortification of milk and yogurt with Vitamin C has generally been unsuccessful.
Fruit juices have also long been recognized as being nutritionally valuable, and regularly include significant amounts of Vitamin C, either naturally or through fortification.
Juices tend to be lower in other vitamins and minerals, however, and in particular generally 2~7738~
ave no calcium content, let alone the live bacteria found in yogurt.
Efforts to combine dairy products and ~ruit juices, however, have not been very successful. The acidic nature of fruit juices (especially, for example, orange juice) is gene~ally incompatible with milk, causing it to curd, etc. Moreover, non-fat yogurts and the like tend not to have very much body--if mixed with fruit juice, the mouth feel is ~quite curdy, rough, and unpalatable.
SUMMARY OP T~i~ ~NTION
The invention relates to a substantially fat-free yogurt/juice blended beverage that has a smooth, full-bodied mouth feel, and to a method of manufacturing such beverage. The beverage itself comprises from about 35 % to about 40% by weight of a non-fat yogurt, from about 15% to about 20% by weight of a flavor concentrate (which preferably includes sufficient fruit juice concentrate to give the resultant beverage at least about 8-10% by weight fNit juice), from abuut 40% to about 45 % by weight water, from about 0.20 to about 0.25 %
by weight of a pectin-based fat substitute, and from about 0.03% to about 0.04% by weight ascorbic acid (Vitamin C).
The method of manufacturing the product involves first culturing pasteurized skim milk to forrn a substantially fat-free, unflavored yogurt.
The Vitamin C component should not be added to the uncultured yogurt base, as the yogurt cultures will metabolize it. Rather, following culturing9 a liquid mixture of water, Vitarnin C, citric acid (if desired, to enhance the flavor of the beverage) and a pectin-based fat substitute (which contributes to the full-bodied flavor and mouth feel) is prepared and msxed with the cultured yogurt. This liquid mixture should be pasteurized (preferably using HTSI~ before being mixed with the yogurt, to increase the shelf life of the product. It has been found that a suf~lcient quantity of the Vitamin C will suNive HTST pasteurization of 2~7738~

Lne water mixture, even though traditionally Vitamin C has not been successfully added to milk which must be pasteuri~ed.
After the liquid mixture has been added to the yogurt, the resulting mixture should be homogenized to substantially eliminate any lumps and curds which are commonly present in yogurt--this contributes to the smooth mouth feel which is so much more important in a heverage of this type than in traditional yogurt.
The method culminates in the mixture of about 40 to about 50 parts of the liquid mixture with about 15 to about 20 parts of a concentrated fruit juice flavoring (which could be pre-blended with the liquid mixture) and about 35 to about 40 parts of the yogurt to forrn the substantially fat-free, Vitamin C fortified beverage.
BEST MODE FQR CARRYING OUT THE INVEIYI ION
Except as set forth below, the process of manufacturing the unflavored yogurt of the invention follows conventional yogurt manufacturing techniques which are well known and need not be described in detail. Briefly, however, the process typically begins with raw milk--in the case of a non-fat yogurt, skim milk would be utilized. This milk may contain any combination of skirn milk, condensed milk, dry milk, grade A whey, and the like9 blended to provide the desired solids content. In a preferred embodiment, the yogurt is made from 100% skim milk, having only about 0.10% butter~at and about 8.8% SNF (serum solids nonfat).
This yogurt base is then pasteurized, typically by HTST (1750F for 25 seconds~ and placed in a sanitary culturing vat. The milk is then warmed to incubation temperature--e.g., about 104oF - 1060F, and the culture, usually a combination of lactobacillus bul~aricus and streptococcus thermophilus, is added. In applicants' preferred embodiment, Hansen's CH-3 culture (available from CHR Hansens) is used. The yogurt base is then cultured until the pH

~077389 drops to about 4.35-4.40 -- depending on actual temperatures and amount of culture added, this may take from about three to about fourteen hours, but typically is about 9 hours. Once the desired pH is reached, an agitator in the vat is turned on, and the yogur~ is ~ooled to a~out 400F.
While the yogurt is culturing, a liquid mixture is prepar~d. The mixture includes water (typically about 99%), Vitamin C (about 0.08-0.10%), optionally citric acid (for flavor enhancement--up to about 0.4~ typically) and a pectin-based fa~ substitu~e (about 0.5-0.6%~.
This mixture should be pasteurized prior to being added to the cultured yogurt, typically by HTST at 1750F for 25 seconds, and homogenized, typically at about 500-2~ psi, and preferably at 120~1500 psi.
After the liquid mixture is added to the cultured yogurt, the resultant mixture is homogenized to substantially eliminate any curds/lumps in the yogurt. Homogenization may be accomplished by any suitable means--in one preferred embodiment, homogenization is accomplished by pumping the mixture through a back pressure valve at an elevated pressure (e.g., 4~70 ps~). Alternately, other conventional homogenization equipment can be used.
Once the mixture is homogenized, the flavoring is added (although theoretically homogenation could be accomplished after adding the flavoring, often multiple flavors are manufactured and it i~ therefore more efficient to complete this step before addition of the flavoring~. The flavoring is thoroughly mixed, and the resultant beverage is then ready for packaging and sale.
No pasteurization of the yogurt occurs after culturing is initiated. Thus, the resulting beverage has active yogurt cultures (typically, e.g., about 200 million bacteria per gram immediately after packaging), which are believed to be beneficial to the digestive system.
Moreover, the Vitamin (: enrichment gives 100% of the U.S. RDA for Vitamin C, making ~773~
the beverage a healthful portion of an overall balanced diet.
The most pre~erred composition of the final beverage is indicated as follows, with desirable ranges being indicated for lhe various ingredients:
~ENT WEIGHT PERCE~T PREFERRl~D RA~E

Water 44.025% 4~50%
Yogurt 37.55 % 3~60%
Pectin 0.235 % 0.1-0.35 %
Citric Acid 0.155% ~0.3%
Ascorbic Acid 0.035% 0.02-0.05 Flavor Concentrate 18.00 ~ 10-25 100.~0 %
Thè flavoring used in the beverage preferably is a concentrated juice flavoring, having a sufficient quantity of concentrated juice so that the resultant beverage has at least about lQ% by weight juice. Suitable flavorings currently are available from Fantasy Flavors, Inc.
(Wheaton m.), such as product numbers 1940, 1944, 1945, and 1948 (respectively for orange, apple, peach and strawberry juice base). These juice bases contain both natural juice concentrates and other natural flavors, and preferably also include sweetener (such as sugar) for an overall good flavor (in one such flavoring, sugar is present in an amount of 57% by weight~. Optional other ingredients may be included in the flavoring for storage and handling, etc., reasons, such as preservatives, artificial colors, etc. Usually a certain amount of water--typically around 35%--will be added to the juice concentrate to give it desirable handling characteristics. For example, the flavorings identified above have soluble solids of about 65 +/- 2% (Brix reading by refractometer). The pH of such fl~vorings is often about 4. Flavors obviously can be adjusted by well known techniques to give the resultant 2~773~

beverage the desired taste.
The pectin-based fat substitute used in the invention provides a full-bodied mouth feel without the negative heal~h e~ects of using actual butterfat. One such pectin-based fat substitute that has given good results is MEXPECT~la RS 450, available from Grinsted Pr~ucts, Inc. (Industrial Ai~port, Kansas). This product is a high-me~hoxylated pec~in deAved from lime peels, having a pH in a 4% solution of about 3.4-4.2. It is supplied in powder form with par~cle size of less than 60 mesh (ASTM). It contains no fat or Vitarnin Using the ratios of ingredients given above, viscosity of the resultant product typically is in the range of about lS-lS seconds (using a #2 Za}m cup at 400F), and preferably is about 15.4-lS.9 seconds.

Y~urt was manufactured using 100% skim milk (pasteurized) hav;ng 0.10% butter~at and 8.80% SNF. T}le yogurt was cultured with Har.sen's CH-3 culture, a~ 1040F-1060F
until the pH fell to 4.35-4.40. At this point, cooling was commenced to halt the culturing.
The final pH after cooling to 40OF was completed was 4.25-4.30.
During culturing of the yogurt, a liquid solution was prepared. This solution had 1he following composition:

2077~
I~iREDENT VVEIG~r PERCE~
Water 99.04%

Pectin RS-450 ~.53 %
(Grinsted~
Citric Acid 0.35 %
Ascorbic Acid Q Q~
10~.00%
Total solids of Uhis solution were about 0.93%, with a pH of about 3Ø This solution was then pasteurized using HTST, with a substantial portion of the ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) surviving the pasteurization (about 8Q%).
The pasteurized solution was then added to the yogurt at a ratio of 45. 8% yogur~ and 54.2% liquid solution. The resultant mixture had a total solids of 4.58% and a pH of about 3.~Ø
Flavor concentrate from Fantasy Flavors was then added in a ratio of 82% yogurt and 18% flavor, the resultant mixture being thoroughly blended and having ~e following final composition:
INGREDIENT WEIGHT PERCENT
Water 44.025 %
Yogur~ 37 55 !~i Pectin 0.235 %
Citric Acid 0.155%
Ascorbic Acid 0.035 %
Flavor Concentrate 18.00 %
100.00 %

20773~9 The composition of the flavor concentrate is such that the finished product has 10%
fruit juice. Total solids are about 15.45%, fat is only 0.04% (making the product substantially non-fat, and allowing it to be labeled under ~7.D.A. (N.L.E.A.) regulations as Unon-fat''. The pH is about 3.85-3.95, and viscosity (using a #2 Zahn cup at 400F) is about 15~4-15 9 seconds. The product has a smooth and full-bodied mouth feel, and a refreshing taste.
While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, it should be understood that valious changes, adaptations and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (7)

1. A method of manufacturing a substantially fat-free, Vitamin C fortified yogurt and juice blended beverage having a smooth, full-bodied mouth feel, comprising the steps of:
culturing pasteurized skim milk to form a substantially fat-free, unflavored yogurt;
homogenizing the unflavored yogurt to substantially eliminate lumps and curds;
preparing a liquid mixture of water, a pectin-based fat substitute, citric acid and a sufficient amount of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) to provide 100% of the U.S. R.D.A. of Vitamin C in an 8 ounce serving of the resultant beverage;
pasteurizing the liquid mixture containing the Vitamin C before mixing it with the yogurt; and blending together from about 40 to about 50 parts by weight of the liquid mixture, from about 10 to about 25 parts by weight of concentrated juice flavoring, and from about 30 to about 60 parts by weight of the yogurt to form the substantially fat-free, Vitamin C
fortified beverage.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the homogenizing step is conducted after the unflavored yogurt and the liquid mixture have been blended, but before the flavoring has been added.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the juice flavoring includes about 35% by weight water.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid mixture is pasteurized by HTST.

5. A substantially non-fat yogurt/juice blended beverage having a smooth, full-bodied mouth feel comprising:
from about 30% to about 60% by weight non-fat yogurt which has been homogenized to substantially eliminate lumps and curds;
from about 10% to about 25% by weight flavor concentrate including sufficient fruit juice concentrate to give the resultant beverage at least about 8% by weight fruit juice;
from about 40% to about 50% by weight water;
from about 0% to about 0.3% by weight of a pectin-based tat substitute; and from about 0.02% to about 0.05% by weight ascorbic acid (Vitamin C).

6. The beverage of claim 5 wherein the pectin-based fat substitute includes pectin derived from cittrus peels.

7. The beverage of claim 5 wherein the beverage has a viscosity of about 15-16 seconds as measured with a #2 Zahn cup at 40°F.