Hard Candy Composition

The present invention relates to a hard candy composition which contains as principal ingredients 10-90% by weight of a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and 90-10% by weight of at least one polymer of glucose or maltose. The present candy composition is a sugarless, and in a preferred form of the invention is low-calorie and/or non-cariogenic.

Because many people consume large amounts of sweet, high-calorie candies, there is an increasing need to produce a candy composition which is sweet tasting but contains no sugar. There is also a need for candies which are also low in calories. Since typical candy compositions lead to the formation of cavities, there is also a need to produce a candy composition which is non-cariogenic.

There have recently been developed several sugar substitutes which can be used in a candy composition. Of particular note are hydrogenated starch hydrolysates which can be used as a substitute for sucrose in candy and other sugar-containing foods. Typical examples of such hydrogenated starch hydrolysates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,279,931 and 4,271,197 and references cited therein.

Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates have two major drawbacks which inhibit their use in the making of sugarless, low-calorie candy compositions, especially a hard candy composition.

More specifically, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates typically have a caloric content of approximately 4 calories per gram. The amount of calories per gram far exceeds the maximum calories defined by the Food and Drug Administration as a "reduced calorie" food, which is at least 1/3 less calories. A reduced calorie product containing hydrogenated starch hydrolysates would therefore have no more than 2.67 calories/gram.

The second drawback associated with hydrogenated starch hydrolysates is that they are relatively unstable under high temperature (e.g., 80.degree. F. or higher) and high humidity conditions. In other words, candies containing hydrogenated starch hydrolysates have a tendency to cold flow when subjected to these conditions.

To overcome this problem, candies containing hydrogenated starch hydrolysates must be packaged under carefully controlled conditions. For example, candies containing hydrogenated starch hydrolysates must be wrapped so as to keep the moisture content in the candies to less than a maximum of about 1% by weight, preferably less than 0.5% by weight. This requires that the candy composition units be packaged immediately after cooking while still warm, preferably in an air-conditioned environment. The candy must also be packaged in a moisture-proof container. All of these procedures add to the time and cost of preparing the candy composition.

Applicant has discovered that the combination of a polymer of glucose or maltose in a specified amount and a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate as the principal ingredients results in a candy composition which is stable under conditions of high temperature and high humidity. The present hard candy composition eliminates the packaging and storage problems associated with known compositions.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,568 discloses a process for preparing non-digestible food additives which comprises heating a mixture of a starch hydrolysate with an edible acid having a moisture content of less than 5% by weight. The resulting product may be combined with a number of additives including a modified polydextrose.

These references do not teach or suggest the combination of a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and a polymer of a glucose or maltose (e.g., polydextrose) in the specified amounts according to the present invention. There is no suggestion in these references of how to overcome the problem of cold flow of hard candy when exposed to high temperature and high humidity containing hydrogenated starch hydrolysates nor of applicant's discovery that the use of polymers of glucose and maltose overcomes the problem.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a hard candy composition which is sugar-free and stable under high temperature and high humidity conditions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a hard candy composition which is sugar-free and low in calories and which eliminates many of the time-consuming, high-cost packaging procedures associated with previous candy compositions containing hydrogenated starch hydrolysates.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hard candy composition which is also non-cariogenic.

The present invention is directed to a hard candy composition which contains as principal ingredients, 10-90% by weight of a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and 90-10% by weight of at least one polymer of glucose or maltose. In a preferred form of the invention, both the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and the polymer of glucose or maltose are present in amounts of between 45 and 55% by weight.

The preferred hydrogenated starch hydrolysates which may be used in the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,931, and Acta Odontotogica Scand. Vol. 32 #4, pp. 230-253 (1974). Hydrogenated starch hydrolysates are obtained by the partial hydrolysis of starch (e.g., potato starch) to obtain the hydrolysate which is then hydrogenated, typically under high temperature and high pressure conditions. Methods of making hydrogenated starch hydrolysates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,931 incorporated herein by reference.

The hydrogenated starch hydrolysate typically contains a mixture of several components. For example, such products are usually composed of a minor amount of free D-Sorbitol as well as hydrogenated disaccharides, oligosaccharides containing between 2 and 6 glucose units and polysaccharides which contain more than 6 glucose units. The preferred hydrogenated starch hydrolysates contain 4-14% of sorbitol, 45-60% by weight of hydrogenated disaccharides, no more than 3% by weight of hydrogenated polysaccharides having a degree of polymerization of at least 20 and the balance constituting a mixture of hydrogenated polysaccharides having a degree of polymerization of 3 to 20.

In accordance with the present invention, the most preferred hydrogenated starch hydrolysate comprises 6-8% by weight of D-Sorbitol, 50-55% by weight of hydrogenated disaccharides, 20-25% by weight of hydrogenated tri to hexasaccharides and from 15-20% by weight of hydrogenated polysaccharides having a degree of polymerization greater than hexasaccharides. A product having this composition is manufactured by Roquette Freres under the trademark LYCASIN. Lycasin is particularly suited because it is noncariogenic (see Acta. Ondototogica Scand. Vol. 32 #4, pp. 230-235 (1974)).

The present hard candy composition also includes from 90-10% by weight of a polymer made up of glucose or maltose monomer units. Such compounds have no sweetness and have a caloric content of about 1 calorie per gram. Applicant has determined that such polymers, when used in the present hard candy composition, stabilize the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate so that cold flow does not occur under high temperature and high humidity conditions. Because such polymers have a caloric content of only 1 calorie per gram, they have the additional advantage of lowering the overall caloric content of the composition. In a preferred form of the invention, the amount of each of the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and the polymer is 45-55% by weight, and the caloric content of the present candy composition meets the requirements of a reduced calorie food.

Suitable polymers of glucose or maltose as used in the present invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,766,165 and 3,876,794 incorporated herein by reference. Suitable methods of preparing such polymers are also disclosed in these references.

These polymers include polymers which are water-soluble, randomly bonded condensation polymers of dextrose, and are commonly used as bulking agents as, for example, Polydextrose manufactured by Pfizer, Inc.

The present hard candy composition may also contain at least one edible acid. Such acids are known in the art and are routinely used when preparing a candy composition having a fruit flavor. Examples of such acids include citric acid, isocitric acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, succinic acid, adipic acid, malic acid and tartaric acid. Citric acid is especially preferred.

Other additives which may be employed in the present composition include flavorings, colorings, and salt which are known in the art for use in candy compositions.

The following example is directed to an embodiment of the present invention and is submitted for illustrative purposes only. The example is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention set forth in the claims forming a part of the present application.

A fruit flavor (cherry) hard candy composition was prepared using the following ingredients:

Lycasin.RTM. is a product manufactured by Roquette Freres, Inc. and Polydextrose is a product manufactured by Pfizer, Inc. The red coloring cube used in this example is manufactured by H. Hohnstamm, Inc. The Lycasin.RTM. and Polydextrose were placed in a cooking vessel and heated to 310.degree. F. at a vacuum of 29 in. The resulting product was removed from the cooker and allowed to cool to 250.degree. F. The citric acid, flavoring and coloring, were added to the cooled product. The resulting product was then placed on a cold slab and mixed to thereby evenly distribute the citric acid, coloring and flavoring, followed by further cooling of the mixed product. The resulting cooled product was then fed through a lollypop hard candy forming machine manufactured by Latini Diepop, Chicago, Ill.

The resulting lollypops containing the composition of the present invention were stored at 100.degree. F. at a relative humidity of 80% without packaging for 30 days. The lollypops remained hard and there was no evidence of cold flow.