10 exciting food patents ‐ treats
No. 1: Edible drinking straws
Back in 1897 people were already thinking about swapping out straws with EDIBLE STRAWS. US575206 even patented:
"A drinking straw made of a homogenous mass of chewing‐gum, flour, glucose, grain sugar and starch, being sufficiently: flexible to be bent; and semirigid to stand upright in a glass of liquid."
No. 2: Cheese popcorn
Patented method of making a crunchy CHEESY POPCORN:
- Mix popped popcorn and shredded cheese and form into a layer
- Heat to melt the cheese
- Cool
- Freeze
- Freeze‐dry
Why this was patentable: "It was a long sought goal in the snack food industry to combine effectively the tastes of popped popcorn and cheese. However, it was also known that, under ordinary circumstances, if one simply melted cheese over popped popcorn, the moisture from the melted cheese would degrade the popcorn. As a result, it was believed that popped popcorn and melted cheese were structurally incompatible and could not be combined as such." … Until now!
(US5208055)
No. 3: Ice cream lollipop
WOW ‐ a patented ICE CREAM LOLLIPOP!!
"An edible bowl; and
a thickened boss on the bowl, defining a longitudinally extending bore with an obstruction along its length."
In use, a stick is inserted into the bore, piercing the obstruction and frictionally securing the stick within the boss.
(US1835719)
No. 4: Chocolate coated ice cream bar
A patented way of getting the chocolate coating to stick on an ICE CREAM BAR:
- Mix hard candy granules in a fluid ice cream mix, with some granules protruding from the ice cream surface
- Freeze
- Dip in a molten coating, such that the protruding granules soften to cause the coating to adhere thereto.
(US1968732)
No. 5: Ice cream cones
Right up there with nuclear fission ‐ a patented ice cream cone with pockets for collecting and storing melted ice cream!
Only really required by those with lazy tongues.
(US2087068)
No. 6: Banana split
A real treat! A patented BANANA SPLIT comprising:
- an edible cone;
- a fresh peeled banana frictionally secured to, extending longitudinally along, and protruding from the cone; and
- a layer of soft ice cream covering the banana.
Not requiring a spoon or fork to be eaten, made this Banana Split patentable!
(US5766658)
No. 7: Chip sandwich
This sounds sooo good …
Patented method of making a CRISPY CHIP SANDWICH:
- Select crispy chips (e.g. potato, corn, rice, oat or wheat chips / crackers)
- Coat each chip with marshmallow
- Align, but space the chips
- Insert an intermediate filler (e.g. peanut butter, chocolate, coconut, jelly, jam, candy, syrup, fruit) between the chips, and bond
In English: a marshmallow‐coated‐chip sandwich!
Apart from tasting great, the marshmallow layer preserves the all‐important CRUNCH by preventing moisture or oils in the filler migrating into the chip and making it soggy.
(US5500234)
No. 8: Buttered popcorn
Another one for all those Popcorn lovers ‐ patented BUTTER FLAVOURED SALT:
- Salt;
- Butter flavouring; and
- 0.5‐20% sharp melting non‐butterfat with a melting point between 35C and 49C
The flavouring provides the butter flavour; and the comparatively higher melting point of the non‐butterfat retains free flow of the salt (without clumping) at room temperature, while being sufficiently low in melting point to provide the fatty (but not waxy) feel in the mouth.
Butter flavoured salt sans butter ‐ very clever. Clearly patentable.
(US3476572)
No. 9: Cereal
Eat my Hat! Someone patented a method of making toys out of BREAKFAST CEREAL:
"Bind breakfast cereal into a shape of a toy sized to fit within a breakfast cereal bowl using a binding material (e.g. sugar) strong enough to maintain the bonds during shipping and storage, but sufficiently weak to break the bonds when covered with milk, thereby release the cereal components for eating."
With my love for action figures exceeding my morning appetite, I would likely have ended up a super chubby‐checker.
(US5863583)
No. 10: Granola
Peanut butter GRANOLA patent (with a surprising twist):
"Peanut butter and bran in an amount that is less than 40% of the total weight, but is sufficient for therapeutical action."
No need to elaborate on the "therapeutical action". And, I used to buy these treats solely because I thought they tasted good! Good thing I'm not much of a sharer.
(US1415893)
