Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.

Nabisco, Inc.

Carolyn Louise Wilhelm

Louise Slade

Michael S Otterburn

Michael M Chrysam

James B Taylor

Gilbert A Leveille

Diane Louise Gannon

Edward Douglas Howey

Tim Michael Adrianson

Patricia Ann Mozeke

Thomas M Richar

Harold Ira Levine

A process is provided for making reduced fat, low fat or no-fat graham-based crackers and flour for the production thereof. The process for making the flour includes providing whole wheat berries having a moisture content of from about 15% by weight to about 20% by weight, radiating the berries with infrared (IR) energy, optionally maintaining the berries at an elevated temperature of from about 80&deg; C. to about 110&deg; C. for a period of time up to about one hour, and cooling, drying and comminuting the treated berries. The moisture content of the berries can be adjusted by moistening or tempering the berries prior to treatment with IR energy. The moisture content, optional tempering conditions, amount of irradiated IR energy, the elevated temperature, and the various treatment periods are sufficient to inactivate lipase and lipoxygenase in the berries yet insufficient to gelatinize more than about 20% of the starch in the berries. The graham flour has excellent shelf-life stability, and can be used to obtain machinable doughs on a mass production, continuous basis. Baked goods made from the flour have a surprisingly crunchy texture.

Method of stabilizing graham flour, and cracker produced from said flour

High linolenic edible oils such as soybean oil and canola are stabilized by blending the oils with rice bran oil in amounts effective to render the oils stable to oxidation. Preferred embodiments employ from about 0.5% to about 10%, more narrowly from about 2% to about 5%, by weight rice bran oil specially processed to retain unsaponifiable matter. In one embodiment, physically refined rice bran oil is used. The natural stabilized oil is especially useful as a spray oil for crackers, nuts, chips, and other snack products.

Rice bran oil antioxidant

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Hackettstown, NJ, United States of America

Carolyn Louise Wilhelm