Mars, Incorporated

David Barker

Keith Buckley

Stephen A Ariss

John C Measures

A frozen food product which is readily penetratable by thawing water and capable of rapid rehydration comprising a frozen food or mixture of foods having a moisture content which has been adjusted to below that which the food or mixture normally has when ready for consumption. The product contains both frozen and unfrozen water and an added water soluble salt or salts sufficient to maintain unfrozen water in the product. Any individual salt may be present in an amount of up to 4% by weight of the frozen product but the total salt content when more than one salt is present should not exceed 10% by weight of the frozen product. After salt addition the food product is subjected to freezing temperatures to obtain a food product containing both frozen and unfrozen water.

Frozen food product and process for preparing

A process for reducing a fishy smell in a packaged food product containing a fishy ingredient wherein a non-toxic reducing agent in a fishy odor reducing amount is mixed with other ingredients including fish material, to produce a food product, the product is sealed in a container and subjected to heat sterilization within the sealed container.

Method of reducing fishy odor of packaged fish product

The invention relates to food products and provides novel foods for animals, especially pets. In particular the invention relates to coherent elastic semi-moist food products which are stabilized against bacterial growth by the inclusion of humectants at reduced water activity. The products include subdivided protein material bound together with a gel formed by a polysaccharide gelling agent containing monosaccharide units other than (including in addition to) glucose residues and preferably having free or esterified acidic substituent groups. A preferred example of such a gelling agent is a mixture of xanthan and carob gums. Quantities of gelling agent in the range 0.2 to 5% are preferred and the moisture content should be from about 30% to 70%, the humectant concentration of about 5% to about 40% by weight, the pH between about 3.5 and about 7.5, and the water activity (Aw) below 0.95 or below 8.5 depending on the acidity of the product. The invention allows for the preparation of meat-like products for animals having an elastic coherent structure with a high gel strength from the less attractive varieties or cuts of meats or offals.

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Barrow-on-Soar, United Kingdom

David Barker