Examples: Patent Food ‐ Technical Feature
Been told that food patents require a technical feature? Well, these applicants didn't have to jump very high to overcome that hurdle and secure granted patents:
Cheese cake batter
Kraft's crafty patented method for making its CHEESE CAKE batter last 120 days!
- Combine cream cheese, cream, sweetener and eggs to form a mixture
- Heat the mixture to 60‐68.3C
- Inject nitrogen gas into the heated mixture
- Whip the heated mixture
- Cool the heated mixture
Sounds simple enough, but adding the nitrogen gas is the difference between a multi‐billion dollar patented batter recipe and a Sour Cream Cake dodgy tummy.
Minor side‐effect: a slight squeak after a large portion.
Patent: AU2012209043
KFC fried chicken
Why does KFC Chicken taste so good?
Their patented method of cooking chicken keeps the chicken moist by preventing moisture from evaporating while deep‐frying.
Here is KFC's patented "not so secret" cooking method:
- Immerse chicken pieces in a bath of oil heated in a pressure cooker to 175‐205C
- Reduce the temperature of the oil rapidly to 120‐135C
- Cook the chicken for 2 minutes while increasing pressure to 1 bar, then continue cooking the chicken for 8 minutes
Patent: US3245800
Ice cream
ICE CREAM makes you HAPPY. If a plain vanilla ice cream doesn't cut it, add laughing gas!
In 1936 Aeration Processes Inc patented their method of making ice cream:
- Absorb nitrous oxide (Laughing Gas!) in to ice cream mix under pressure and without freezing
- Release the pressure to expand the mix, and refrigerate the expanded mix
The patent goes on to say: "Carbon dioxide, while water soluble, may be objectionable … Moreover, the slightly sweet taste of nitrous oxide gas makes it preferable (!!!) to use for ice cream" … Oh, and it also makes you Happy! I love these guys.
Apparently, the nitrous oxide "homogenises" the mix. But, I reckon they took the "happy customer" mantra super‐literally. I seriously got to get some of that! Pre‐90's ‐ can't beat it!
Patent: US2343767
Coffee
STARBUCKS tried to patent their method for making the perfect espresso:
- Add ground coffee to an espresso machine
- Apply 10‐60kg primary compression to the ground coffee
- Apply 60‐500kg secondary compression to the ground coffee
- Force heated, pressurised water through the twice‐compressed ground coffee
And, you have a Patent Pending espresso!
Must admit to feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
Starbucks faced considerable headwind from examiners, as 2‐step compression is generally known for gas compression and soil compaction.
Patent: EP2385777
Popping candy
The patented secret to making POPPING CANDY:
- Melt sugar and keep it at a temperature below 140C
- Place the sugar melt in a pressurised chamber (at least 3.5 bar)
- Introduce tiny air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen gas bubbles (between 0.25mm and 0.35mm in diameter) into the sugar melt
- Cool the sugar melt to below 25C while in the pressurised chamber
… Then, eat.
The sugar melts, triggering a gas‐popping‐party in your mouth.
Silly me: all this time, I thought it was a chemical reaction.
Patent: US4289794
