WO1993015617A1

WO1993015617A1 - Low-fat edible pourable product and a process and a composition for preparing same

Info

Publication number: WO1993015617A1
Application number: PCT/DK1993/000053
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hans Peder Pedersen
Original assignee: Danish Crown Inc AS
Current assignee: Danish Crown Inc AS
Priority date: 1992-02-14
Filing date: 1993-02-12
Publication date: 1993-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 1994-08-14
Also published as: DK19592D0; AU3493693A; EP0625010A1; DE9217631U1

Abstract

An edible pourable product containing 5-50 wt% of an emulsified ingredient, 0.1-10 wt% of a stabilizing mixture comprising a dietary fiber ingredient and starch in a weight ratio which is in the range 1:99 to 9:1, and 45-94.9 wt% water which product has a fat content in the range of 0.5-10 wt%, a composition for preparing the product and a process for preparing the product.

Description

LOW-FAT EDIBLE POURABLE PRODUCT AND A PROCESS AND A COMPOSITION FOR PREPARING SAME

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to low-fat edible pourable 5 products and to a process and a composition for preparing such products.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

In the food consumer market an increasing demand for ready- made pourable products such as sauces, soups, salad dressings

10 or dips is noted. However, many of these products presently available have a fat content which is in the range of 10- 50 wt%, or even higher. With the generally increasing awareness amongst consumers to reduce intake of fat in the daily diet, a need exists to provide such products with a

15 reduced fat content.

One commonly desired feature of ready-made sauces, soups, salad dressing or dips is a degree of viscosity which confers to the products a desired creamy consistency whereby the products become conveniently pourable also at a temperature 20 in the range of 0-30°C and which, when the product is ingested, gives the consumer a sensory feeling of "richness" or "body" without any stickiness.

In order to obtain the above-mentioned viscosity charac¬ teristics, presently available pourable food products contain 25 conventional thickening and viscosity enhancing ingredients, ^' and fat which may typically be in the form of butter, margarine or dairy cream. As a typical example, a ready-made bearnaise sauce having a fat content of 20.0 wt% may comprise the following ingredients: water 59.7 wt%, margarine 30 24.2 wt%, dairy cream (13 wt% fat) 5.0 wt%, mixture of thickening agents 8.1 wt% and flavouring agents 1.4 wt%.

REPLACEMENTSHEET In WO 91/01091 a starch hydrolysate is disclosed having a molecular weight less than 10,000 which may be used as a fat replacement ingredient in food products including sauces and dressings. EP 229 938 discloses a dry, particulate creamer- thickener product comprising 5-45 wt% fat, 0-0.5 wt% of an emulsifying agent, 25-75 wt% hydrolysed starch, 20-60 wt% starch and 0.8 wt% water. This product may be used for preparing soups and sauces.

Several recipes for household preparation of sauces and soups with fat contents in the range of 1-10 wt% are available.

Typically, such recipes comprise cooked vegetable ingredients which, when blended in the sauce or soup, contribute to a creamy consistency. Furthermore, such household recipes typically comprise flour, dairy cream or sour cream.

Whereas the above cited prior art recipes comprise starch, starch derivatives or blended vegetable ingredients as the consistency enhancing ingredient, WO 91/15967 discloses i.a. low-fat stably emulsified sauce and dressing products containing in the aqueous phase 0.1-20 wt% dry matter of a vegetable ingredient comprising native dietary fiber which is less than 50% water-soluble, and native starch, in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:32 to 1:1.

The present invention provides low-fat pourable edible products including sauces, soups, dressings and dips in which the creamy, "rich" consistency associated with such products having a fat content higher than 10 wt% is brought about by the incorporation of an emulsified ingredient and a stabilizing mixture comprising a substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient, and starch. Such a product has, even at a fat content of e.g. 2 wt%, essentially the same creamy consistency, taste and eating qualities as a corresponding conventional product having a fat content of e.g. 20 wt% and importantly, it does not show the "sticki¬ ness" which is commonly observed in pourable products containing starch alone. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention provides an edible pourable product containing 5-50 wt% of an emulsified ingredient, 0.1-10 wt% of a stabilizing mixture comprising a substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient, and starch in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:99 to 9:1, and 45-94.9 wt% water, said edible product having a fat content which is in the range of 0.5-10 wt%.

In a further aspect, the invention relates to a process for preparing an edible pourable product comprising mixing (i) 5-50 wt% of an emulsified ingredient, (ii) 0.1-10 wt% of a stabilizing mixture comprising a substantially water- soluble dietary fiber ingredient and starch in a weight ratio which is in the range of 1:99 to 9:1 and (iii) 45-94.9 wt% water and, optionally (iv) further ingredients, to obtain the pourable edible product having a fat content which is in the range of 0.5-10 wt%.

In a still further aspect, the invention relates to a composition for preparing an edible pourable product as defined herein comprising all of the ingredients of the products, in which composition the water content is at the most 15 wt% and the amounts of the other ingredients are in¬ creased relative to the amounts in the product by a factor which is at least 1.4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As mentioned above, the present invention provides an edible pourable product containing 45-94.9 wt% of water and having a fat content which is in the range of 0.5-10 wt%. In the present context, the term "pourable" refers to a consistency of the product which, in the temperature range of 0-100°C, allows the immediate outflow of the product from a container without the use of tools.

Such a consistency is essentially provided by incorporating into the product a stabilizing mixture as previously defined, in an amount which, within the above temperature range, results in a viscosity as determined by use of a Brookfield™ Viscometer with a spindle No. 4 and at 30 rpm, which is in the range from 1,000 to 25,000 cPs, such as e.g. in the range of 5,000-20,000. When the viscosity is determined with the Brookfield™ Viscometer with a spindle No. 4 and at 1.5 rpm, the viscosity is typically in the range from 20,000 to 250,000 CPs.

As mentioned above, the pourable product according to the invention contains 5-50 wt% of an emulsified ingredient. A useful emulsified ingredient may be in the form of a water- in-fat emulsion comprising a continuous fat phase and a dispersed fat phase or the ingredient may be a fat-in-water emulsion. As used herein, the term "emulsified ingredient" denotes a naturally occurring emulsion of animal origin such as a milk-containing product or a naturally occurring emulsion of vegetable origin, or an emulsion which is prepared by mixing under emulsifying conditions an aqueous phase, a fat phase and at least one emulsifying agent.

In the present context, the term "fat" refers to edible lipid substances in a general sense, including natural or synthesized fats and oils consisting essentially of tri- glycerides, such as for example soybean oil; sunflower oil; corn oil; cottonseed oil; olive oil; palm oil; coconut oil or fat; animal fats including butter fat; fish oil or lard. Useful fat ingredients include fats and oils which are partially or completely hydrogenated, fractionated, interesterified or otherwise modified, as well as edible lipid materials having properties similar to triglycerideε, which materials are ingestible, such as polyol fatty acid polyesters. The emulsified ingredient comprises one or more emulsifying agent(s) . Naturally occurring emulsions contain substances which have emulsifying agent activity. Such naturally oc¬ curring emulsifiers may be proteins or lipids such as phospholipids. Conventional industrially used emulsifying agents include egg yolk or egg yolk lecithin, optionally in the form of pasteurized products. Other useful emulsifying agents, which may be used in the product according to the invention as the sole emulsifying agent or in combination with an egg yolk-containing emulsifying agent, include vegetable lecithin such as soybean lecithin, proteins such as for example milk proteins and edible oil-in-water emulsifying agents such as glycerol partial fatty acid esters including as examples glycerol monostearate or glycerol distearate or mixtures of such emulsifying agents.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the emulsified ingredient is an oil-in-water emulsion. Such an emulsion may be a naturally occurring emulsion or it may be an emulsion which is prepared by mixing under emulsifying conditions a fat phase, an aqueous phase and at least one emulsifying agent.

In the present context, a useful naturally occurring emulsion is a dairy product made from milk of a ruminant. Milk contains 3-10 wt% of butterfat in the form of globules which are dispersed in an aqueous phase containing i.a. milk protein, lactose and salts. This milk fat emulsion is stabilized naturally by the presence on the surface of the butterfat globules of emulsifying substances such as phos¬ pholipids and caseinates. Useful dairy products include dairy cream, acidified dairy cream (sour cream) , partially rehydrated dried milk and rehydrated dried dairy cream.

The fat content of such dairy products may vary according to the product type and consumer preferences. Thus, the fat content of dairy cream products including acidified products such as sour cream or "creme fraiche" may typically vary from 10 to 40 wt%.

The product according to the invention may advantageously contain an emulsified ingredient comprising a fat phase which is at least 10 wt% of the ingredient, preferably at least 15 wt% of the ingredient, more preferably at least 20 wt% and most preferably at least 25 wt% of the ingredient such as at least 30 wt%.

In further embodiments of the invention, the emulsified ingredient may be a water-in-oil emulsion such as e.g margarine, shortening, spreads or butter. Finally, the emulsified ingredient may be a mixture of an oil-in-water and a water-in-oil emulsion.

As defined hereinbefore, the product according to the present invention contains a stabilizing mixture comprising a substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient and starch in a weight ratio which is in the range from 1:99 to 9:1. In preferred embodiments, the content of the stabilizing mixture may in the range of 0.2-5 wt% such as in the range of 0.5-2.5 wt%.

In the present context, the term "dietary fiber" is used to designate a non-starch polysaccharide hydrocolloid material of plant, icrobial or seaweed origin which material resists digestion by the human alimentary enzymes. As used herein, the term "substantially water-soluble" indicates that the dietary fiber ingredient is at least 90% water-soluble as determined according to the enzymatic method for simultaneous determination of soluble and insoluble fiber published by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) in J. Assoc . Official Anal. Chem . , 1985, 68 , No. 4. It may be preferred that the dietary fiber ingredient is at least 95% water-soluble.

JACEMENTSHEET Dietary fiber ingredients which are useful in the products according to the invention include ingredients which are widely used in the food industry as thickening, gelling or stabilizing agents. Thus, the ingredients include water- soluble cellulose derivatives such as carboxymethylcellulose and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, alginic acid and salts and esters thereof, water-soluble hemicelluloses, vegetable or microbially derived gums, pectins, carrageenans, agarε, mucilages and alginates. Useful gums include xanthan gum, gum arable, locust bean gum, guar gum, tragacanth gum and karaya gum.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, xanthan gum is used as the dietary fiber ingredient. A useful amount of xanthan gum in the present invention is in the range of 0.05- 2 wt% such as in the range of 0.1-1 wt% as e.g. 0.2 wt%, calculated on the product.

As used herein, starch is defined as a high-polymeric carbohydrate occurring in plant materials in the form of white granules usually made up of both a linear polymer (amylose) and a branched polymer (amylopectin) . The many botanical varieties of starch exhibit differences with respect to their physical characteristics and chemical composition. Thus, starch granules from grains such as rice and maize vary between 3 and 20 μm with respect to the average size of their largest diameter, and those from roots and tubers such as tapioca, arrowroots or potatoes between 10 and 100 μm. As examples, rice starch has an average granule size of about 4 μm, maize starch one of about 14 μm and potato starch one of about 100 μm.

In the present context, useful starch ingredients may be ingredients containing native starch, which term is used herein to define starch substantially being in the form in which it is present in the fresh plant material and that it has not to any substantial extent been chemically or enzy- matically modified. Accordingly, useful starch ingredients include native potato starch, native arrowroot starch and native grain starch. Generally, native starch ingredients are not readily soluble in water at ambient temperatures and they do not swell or become gelatinized at such temperatures.

Accordingly, the product according to the invention may advantageously contain starch as defined above which has been thermally, chemically or enzymatically modified to obtain starch ingredients having particularly useful technological characteristics including water solubility and viscosity enhancing characteristics at temperatures in the range of 0- 50°C. Such modified starches include starch derivatives which are partially hydrolyzed starches such as e.g. maltodextrinε. Other useful examples of modified starches are alkali treated starches, oxidized starches, acetylated distarch phosphate, distarch phosphate, onostarch phosphate, starch acetates, hydroxypropyl starch and acetylated starch adipates.

The pourable product according to the invention may advan¬ tageously contain a starch ingredient which is a mixture of native starch and modified starch or it may be a mixture of native starches or of modified starches.

As it has previously been defined, the product according to the invention contains a stabilizing mixture comprising a dietary fiber ingredient and a starch ingredient in a weight ratio which is in the range from 1:99 to 9:1 such as about 1:25, the range depending on the type of product and the types of ingredients. In useful embodiments, the range may be from 1:19 to 1:1 and in other useful embodiments in the range from 1:9 to 1:3.

The above-defined stabilizing mixture may further comprise a dietary fiber ingredient which is less than 50% water- soluble. Such ingredients are typically dietary fiber ingredients originating from plant cell walls where they form the major structural components: cellulose, non-cellulosic polysaccharides including he icellulose, pectic substances,

REPLACEMENTS and lignin. All such dietary fiber components apart from lignin are non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) . The term NSP is frequently used as a practical indication of the dietary fiber content of a plant material.

Conveniently, the above further dietary fiber ingredient may be added to the present product in the form of vegetable ingredients in their fresh state, such as e.g. tuber, leaf and root materials or in the form of dried plant materials including cereal grains, seeds or separated fiber products including as examples potato fiber, potato pulp, pea fiber, beet fiber and soybean fiber. When such fiber ingredients being less than 50% water-soluble are added to the product, they may advantageously be added in the form of particles of an average size of at the most 0.5 mm. It may be more advantageous that the average particle size of the above- defined fiber ingredients is at the most 0.2 mm such as at the most 0.1 mm.

Depending on the type of product, it may contain additional ingredients which are conventionally used in the particular type of product. Such additional ingredients include as examples herbs, flavouring agents, spices, salt, acidifying agents, preservatives and sweetening agents.

As previously defined, the product according to the invention has a fat content which is in the range of -0.5-10 wt%, calculated on the product. In preferred embodiments, the fat content is at the most 8 wt%, preferably at the most 5 wt%, more preferably at the most 3 wt% and most preferably at the most 2 wt%.

The pH of a product according to the invention depends on the particular type of product. If desired, the pH is adjusted by the addition of a conventional food grade acidifying agent such as e.g. vinegar or citric acid. The present product is conveniently provided in a consumer packaging such as a plastic or aluminium foil bag, a casing, a tin or a glass container and may be in a ready-to-use form or in a form which requires a further treatment prior to consumption such as heating. The product may further be a part of a package containing supplementary meal ingredients.

In interesting embodiments, the product may be provided in the form of a mixture of dry ingredients including the emulsified ingredient and the stabilizing mixture and a direction how to prepare the finished product, or in the form of a dry mixture of all ingredients except the emulsified ingredient together with directions how to add the emulsified ingredient and prepare the ready-to-use product.

Furthermore, it is contemplated that a composition may be prepared which contain all of the ingredients including the emulsified ingredient in a dry form which composition can be rehydrated by the consumer, optionally under heat treatment to obtain the product according to the invention. Preferably, such a composition has a water content of at the most 15 wt% and more preferably at the most 10 wt% .

Accordingly, in a further aspect, the present invention relates to a composition for preparing a product according to the invention, said composition containing all of the ingredients of the product as defined above with the excep- tion that the content of water is at the most 15 wt%, the content of water preferably being at the most 10 wt% . The composition may be prepared by subjecting the product according to the invention to a treatment whereby a propor¬ tion of water is removed by a drying or evaporation step. It may, however, be economically more feasible to prepare the composition by mixing dry ingredients including the emulsified ingredient in a dehydrated form.

In a still further aspect, the present invention relates to a process for preparing the edible pourable product. The process comprises the mixing of the emulsified ingredient, the stabilizing mixture, water and if desired, further ingredients.

It may be -convenient to carry out the mixing in more steps. As an example, the ingredients of the stabilizing mixture may be dissolved or suspended separately in water. The dissolution and/or suspension of the stabilizing mixture ingredients may advantageously be carried out under stirring and/or heating conditions. As an example, a sauce stabilizing mixture may be heated in water at a temperature in the range of 50-100°C such as in the range of 70-95°C. As one result of such a heat treatment, the starch ingredient of the stabilizing mixture may become gelatinized.

The remaining ingredients of the product may then, in a subsequent step, be added under mixing conditions to the above aqueous stabilizing mixture to obtain the product as defined herein. This mixing step may also be carried out under heating at a temperature in the range of 50-100°C.

In accordance with the process as provided herein, the mixing of the ingredients may also be carried in a single step in which all ingredients are added to a mixing apparatus and the mixing carried out until the desired product is obtained. This one-step mixing procedure may advantageously be carried out at a temperature in the range of 50-100°C.

However, it may be convenient to carry out the .r.ixing of the ingredient at lower temperatures in the range of 0-50°C such as e.g. in the range of 5-15°C. This requires that the active ingredients of the stabilizing mixture are soluble in water at these temperatures, at least to a degree which results in the desired viscosity and consistency of the product to be prepared.

The invention is illustrated in the following examples: EXAMPLE 1

Preparation of low-fat mushroom sauce

A commercial mushroom sauce having the following composition was used as a reference product.

Water 59.00 wt%

Margarine, 80 wt% fat 10.00 wt%

Dairy cream, 13 wt% fat 20.00 wt%

Dried mushrooms 1.50 wt%

Sauce additive mixture¹* 9.50 wt%

1) A commercial sauce system No. 3724 B from Gastronomisk Institut I/S, Hørshol , Denmark. The mixture contains the following ingredients: wheat flour, modified maize starch, maltodextrin, skimmed milk powder, meat extract powder, dried mushrooms, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, colouring agent, salt, spices, mono and diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono- and diglycerideε (E472e) , monosodium glutamate and citric acid.

The commercial sauce product has a fat content of about 11.0 wt%.

Baεed on the above composition, a fat reduced mushroom sauce was prepared according to the following recipe:

Water 72.60 wt%

Dairy cream, 13 wt% fat 16.00 wt%

Dried mushrooms 1.50 wt% Sauce system No. 3724 B 9.50 wt%

Modified starch²' 0.30 wt%

Xanthan gum 0.10 wt%

2) C FLO™ 67 (Cerestar) , acetylated distarch adipate of waxy maize starch. The low-fat sauce was prepared by adding aε a first step the sauce system, the modified starch and the xanthan gum and half of the water to a KS (Karl Schnell)™ blender and heating the mixture to about 90°C during stirring to obtain a smooth, homogeneous mixture.

In a subsequent step, the remaining water was added to the above mixture together with the dairy cream and the dried mushrooms and the resulting sauce mixture was heated to 90°C while stirred and kept at this temperature for about 20 minutes until a creamy εmooth sauce was obtained. After cooling, the sauce may conveniently be distributed into consumer packages such aε casings in aliquots of 250 g. The sauce had a fat content of 2.1 wt%.

The low-fat sauce had a suitable viscosity desirable for a sauce with good pouring characteristics. On eating, the low- fat sauce conferred a rich, creamy "mouthfeel" comparable to that of the reference mushroom sauce and, importantly, the sauce did not show any stickiness and slipped readily from the teeth and the mucouε membraneε of the oral cavity.

EXAMPLE 2

Preparation of a low- fat bearnaise sauce

A commercial bearnaise sauce containing about 20 wt% fat and having the following composition was selected as the reference product:

Water 59.68 wt%

Margarine, 80 wt% fat 24.18 wt%

Bearnaise flavouring, liquid 1.67 wt%

Dairy cream, 13 wt% fat 5.00 wt% Dried tarragon 0.12 wt%

Flavouring mixture¹' 1.26 wt%

Bearnaise sauce syεtem²' 8.09 wt% 1) monoεodium glutamate, sugar and meat extract.

2) Sauce εyεtem No. 4465, Gastronomisk Institut I/S, Hørs- holm, Denmark containing the following ingredientε (in falling order) : about 50 wt% of modified starches (distarch phosphate and hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate) , vegetable fat, skim milk powder, meat extract, maltodextrin, E472e, tetrapotassiumdiphosphate (E450a) , εalt, εugar, pasteurized egg yolk powder, εpiceε and citric acid.

A low-fat bearnaise sauce was prepared according to the below recipe and in the following manner:

Water 72.00 wt%

Dairy cream, 13 wt% fat 16.00 wt% Bearnaise flavouring, liquid 1.67 wt%

Dried tarragon 0.12 wt% Spice mixture¹' 1.26 wt%

Bearnaise sauce system²' 8.09 wt%

Modified starch³' 0.30 wt%

Xanthan gum 0.10 wt% β-carotene 0.04 wt%

1) monosodium glutamate, sugar and meat extract.

2) Sauce system No. 4465, Gastronomisk Institut I/S, Hørs- holm, Denmark.

3) C FLO™ 67 (Cerestar) , acetylated diεtarch adipate of waxy maize starch.

The xanthan gum and the modified starch ingredient waε added to about 1/4 of the water in a HERBOT™ turbine and mixed for about 4 minutes followed by the addition of the remaining dry ingredients (tarragon, flavouring agent mixture, carotene and sauce system) and a further 1/4 of the water. The resulting mixture was mixed for about 4 minutes and transferred to a heating vessel together with the remaining water, the dairy

REPLACEME cream and the bearnaise flavouring. Thiε reεulting sauce mixture was heated while stirred to about 83°C over about 90 minutes and kept at this temperature for about 20 minutes. Finally, the low-fat bearnaise sauce was distributed into suitable consumer packagings.

The low-fat sauce had a fat content of about 2.8 wt%.

The resulting bearnaise sauce had a suitable viscosity desirable for a sauce with good pouring characteristics. On eating the low-fat bearnaise sauce conferred a rich, creamy "mouthfeel" comparable to that of the reference mushroom sauce and, importantly, the sauce did not show any stickiness and slipped readily from the teeth and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity.

EXAMPLE 3

Preparation of a low-fat bearnaise sauce

A low-fat bearnaise εauce containing the following ingredi¬ ents was prepared in a portion of about 80 kg:

Water 72.86 wt%

Dairy cream, 13 wt% fat 16.08 wt% Bearnaise flavouring, liquid 1.66 wt%

Dried tarragon 1.51 wt%

Spice mixture¹' 1.40 wt%

Salt 0.50 wt%

Skimmed milk powder 0.50 wt% Modified starch²' 2.51 wt%

Modified starch³' 2.61 wt%

Xanthan gum 0.20 wt%

Citric acid 0.10 wt%

1) monosodium glutamate, sugar and meat extract. 2) Purity™ W modified waxy maize starch, stable to acidic conditions and high temperatures, soluble in cold water

3) C FLO™ 67 (Cerestar) , acetylated distarch adipate of waxy maize starch.

The sauce was prepared according a process comprising as a first step the mixing in a KS (Karl Schnell)™ blender, the modified εtarcheε and the xanthan gum with about half of the water. The mixing was carried out at a temperature of about 10°C for about 4 minutes during which period the mixture was circulated about 5 times in the blender during the first step wherein the modified εtarches and the xanthan gum were mixed with water.

In a subsequent step, the remaining ingredients were added to the mixture resulting from the first step and the mixing continued until a smooth and homogeneous sauce was obtained. This step was also carried out at about 10°C.

The resulting sauce product, which had a fat content of about 2.1 wt%, was tested sensorically and was found to have a creamy consistency and "richness" which is associated with sauce products having a fat content of 20 wt% or more. The test panelists experienced the same "mouthfeel" as that of corresponding products with the above higher fat content.

Furthermore, three additional batches of bearnaise sauce test productε were prepared in accordance with the process of the present invention and baεed on the preεent recipe. Theεe three batches of sauces had a content of xanthan gum which was 0.1, 0.3, 0.4 wt%, respectively.

The above product containing 0.2 wt% xanthan gum and the three additional batches were subjected to measurements of the viscosity at 5 and 80°C, respectively, by means of a Brookfield™ Viscometer provided with a No. 4 spindle. The measurementε were carried out at 1.5 and 30 rpm, reεpec- tively. The resultε of theεe meaεurementε are summarized in the below table.

TABLE

Viscosity of low-fat sauces, Brookfield™ Viscometer, Spindle No. 4

Viscosity, at 5°C, Viscosity at 80°C, cPs cPs

1.5 rpm 30 rpm 1.5 rpm 30 rpm

Claims

1. An edible pourable product containing 5-50 wt% of an emulsified ingredient, 0.1-10 wt% of a stabilizing mixture comprising a substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient, and starch in a weight ratio which is in the range from 1:99 to 9:1, and 45-94.9 wt% water, said edible product having a fat content which is in the range of 0.5-10 wt%.

2. A product according to claim 1 wherein the emulsified ingredient contains at least 10 wt% fat phase.

3. A product according to claim 1 wherein the emulsified ingredient is an oil-in-water emulsion.

4. A product according to claim 3 wherein the oil-in-water emulsion is a dairy product selected from the group con- sisting of dairy cream, acidified dairy cream, at least partially rehydrated dried milk and at leaεt partially • rehydrated dried dairy cream.

5. A product according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the emulεified ingredient compriεes a fat phase the proportion of which is at least 15 wt%, preferably at least 20 wt%, more preferably at least 25 wt% and most preferably at least 30 wt%.

6. A product according to any of preceding claims wherein the content of the stabilizing mixture is in the range of

0.2-5 wt% and preferably in the range of 0.5-2.5 wt%.

7. A product according to claim 1 wherein the stabilizing mixture further comprises a dietary fiber ingredient which is lesε than 50% water-εoluble.

P

8. A product according to claim 7 wherein the dietary fiber ingredient which iε less than 50 wt% water-soluble is in the form of particles of an average size of at the most 0.5 mm.

9. A product according to claim 1 wherein the starch is modified starch.

10. A product according to claim 1 wherein the weight ratio between the subεtantially water-εoluble dietary fiber ingredient and starch iε in the range from 1:19 to 1:1, preferably in the range from 1:9 to 1:3.

11. A product according to claim 10 wherein the weight ratio between the εubεtantially water-εoluble dietary fiber ingredient and starch is 1:3.

12. A product according to claim 1 wherein the substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient is selected from the group consisting of a carrageenan, a vegetable gum, a pectin, an agar and an alginate.

13. A product according to claim 12 wherein the dietary fiber ingredient is xanthan gum.

14. A product according to claim 9 wherein the modified starch iε εelected from the group conεiεting of distarch phosphates, distarch adipates and partially hydrolyzed starcheε.

15. A product according to any of preceding claimε wherein the fat content is at the moεt 8 wt%, preferably at the most 5 wt%, more preferably at the most 3 wt% and most preferably at the most 2 wt%.

16. A product according to claim 1 wherein the pH is at the most 5.0.

17. A product according to any of preceding claims which is a product selected from the group consisting of a sauce, a soup, a dresεing and a dip.

18. A proceεs for preparing an edible pourable product comprising mixing

(i) 5-50 wt% of an emulsified ingredient,

(ii) 0.1-10 wt% of a εtabilizing mixture comprising a substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient and starch in a weight ratio which is in the range from 1:99 to 9:1 and

(iii) 45-94.9 wt% water, and, optionally

(iv) further ingredients

to obtain the pourable edible product having a fat content which is in the range of 0.5-10 wt%.

19. A process according to claim 18 wherein the emulsified ingredient contains at least 10 wt% fat phase.

20. A process according to claim 18 wherein the emulsified ingredient is an oil-in-water emulsion.

21. A proceεε according to claim 20 wherein the oil-in-water emulεion is a dairy product selected from the group consisting of dairy cream, acidified dairy cream, at least partially rehydrated dried milk and at least partially rehydrated dried dairy cream.

22. A process according to claim 19 or 20 wherein the emulsified ingredient comprises a fat phase the proportion of which is at least 15 wt%, preferably at least 20 wt%, more preferably at least 25 wt% and most preferably at least 30 wt%.

REPLACEMENTSHEET

23. A process according to any of claims 18-22 wherein the content of the εtabilizing mixture iε in the range of 0.2-5 wt% and preferably in the range of 0.5-2.5 wt%.

24. A process according to claim 18 wherein the stabilizing mixture further comprises a dietary fiber ingredient which is less than 50% water-soluble.

25. A procesε according to claim 24 wherein the dietary fiber ingredient which iε leεε than 50 wt% water-εoluble is in the form of particles of an average size of at the most 0.5 mm.

26. A procesε according to claim 18 wherein the εtarch iε modified εtarch.

27. A process according to claim 18 wherein the weight ratio between the substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient and starch is in the range from 1:19 to 1:1, preferably in the range from 1:9 to 1:3.

28. A process according to claim 26 wherein the weight ratio between the substantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient and starch iε 1:3.

29. A proceεε according to claim 18 wherein the εubstantially water-soluble dietary fiber ingredient is selected from the group consisting of a carrageenan, a vegetable gum, a pectin, an agar and an alginate.

30. A process according to claim 29 wherein the dietary fiber ingredient is xanthan gum.

31. A procesε according to claim 26 wherein the modified starch is selected from the group conεiεting of distarch phosphates, distarch adipates and partially hydrolyzed starches.

REPLACEMENTS EET

32. A process according to any of claims 18-31 wherein the fat content of the reεulting edible product is at the most 8 wt%, preferably at the moεt 5 wt%, more preferably at the most 3 wt% and most preferably at the most 2 wt%.

33. A process according to claim 18 wherein the pH of the resulting edible product is at the most 5.0.

34. A process according to any of claims 18-33 wherein the resulting edible product is a product selected from the group consisting of a sauce, a soup, a dressing and a dip.

35. A process according to any of claims 18-34 wherein the mixing temperature is in the range of 80-90°C.

36. A composition for preparing an edible pourable product as defined in any of claims 1-17 comprising all of the ingredients of the pourable product, in which composition the water content is at the most 15 wt% and the amounts of the other ingredients are increased relative to the amounts in the product by a factor which is at least 1.4.

REPLACEMENTSHEET