Tate & Lyle, Inc.

Tate & Lyle Public Limited Company

Brita C Goodacre

Alan Smithson

Dipak P Shukla

Andrew G Pembroke

John R Bateman

A sweetener comprises hollow spheroids or part spheroids of microcrystalline sucrose, generally bound to crystals of sucrose, and preferably containing one or more high intensity sweeteners such as sucralose. The sweetener is prepared by spray drying a sucrose syrup with simultaneous injection of an inert pressurized gas and, generally, contacting the sprayed syrup during the spray drying step and/or after completion of said step, with crystals of sucrose, and preferably by incorporating a high intensity sweetener in the syrup or in the agglomeration step.

Sweetener composition

A continuous process for the crystallization of fructose from an aqueous fructose syrup containing at least 90% by weight fructose on a dry solids basis, in which the syrup at a total solids content of at least 95% by weight is rapidly and thoroughly mixed with seed, at a temperature of 55.degree.-75.degree. e.g for up to 2.5 minutes; is then deposited onto a surface where it is allowed to crystallize under quiescent conditions at a temperature of about 50.degree.-70.degree., until a solid cake is formed; and is the comminuted to provide a free-flowing granular product which can be further dried. The process provides a particulate product in the form of crystals in a glossy matrix, in which 95% of the crystals have a particle size of less than 20 microns, the overall degree of crystallinity is greater than 70%, the bulk density is less than 0.65 and which is completely free of organic solvent residues. Other food ingredients may be added simultaneously with the seed.

Sugar process

Solid fructose, typically with a bulk density of less than 0.65 g/ml and in the form of particles of agglomerated microcrystals of anhydrous fructose in which all the crystals have a maximum dimension of less than 50 microns, can be produced by dispersing a high Brix fructose syrup at very high shear in an alcoholic medium, the alcoholic medium being one in which fructose is 1 to 10 wt % soluble at the temperature at which the syrup is dispersed in the alcoholic medium.

Growing community of inventors

Sonning, United Kingdom

Brita C Goodacre