Tobacco dough and a method for its manufacture

Abstract

A smoke-less tobacco composition includes at least one thickening agent such as xanthan gum or a mixture of xanthan gum and galactomannan.

1 . A smoke-less tobacco composition comprising at least one thickening agent.  
     
     
         2 . A tobacco composition according to  claim 1  characterized by that it is moist snuff composition, preferably snus.  
     
     
         3 . A tobacco composition according to  claim 1  or  2  characterized by that the content of the thickening agent(s) is from 0.00001 to 20% (weight/weight), preferably from 0.00001 to 2% (weight/weight), most preferred 0.00001 to 0.6%.  
     
     
         4 . A tobacco composition according to any one of  claims 1  to  3  wherein the thickening agent is xanthan gum or a mixture comprising xanthan gum.  
     
     
         5 . A tobacco composition according to any one of  claims 1  to  4  wherein the thickening agent is a) xanthan gum and galactomannan or b) Acacia gum and xanthan gum, preferably Thixogum S™ or Thixogum X™, most preferred Thixogum S™.  
     
     
         6 . A method for obtaining a smokeless tobacco composition according to  claim 1  comprising adding at least one thickening agent to a tobacco raw material.  
     
     
         7 . A method according to  claim 6  wherein the thickening agent is a mixture comprising a) xanthan gum and galactomannan or b) Acacia gum and xanthan gum, preferably Thixogum S™ or Thixogum X™, most preferred Thixogum S™.  
     
     
         8 . A method for obtaining a moist snuff composition according to  claim 2  comprising the following steps: 
 a) grinding or cutting and optionally sieving, of tobacco raw material,  
 b) processing of tobacco obtained in step a);  
 c) and optionally packing,  
 wherein at least one thickening agent is added during the processing step b).  
 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 8  wherein step b) comprises the following steps: 
 i) adding water and NaCl to the tobacco flour under stirring to form a mixture;  
 ii) heating and keeping the mixture heated up, thus achieving a pasteurisation or “sweating” of the mixture;  
 iii) cooling the moist snuff mixture; and  
 iv) adding at least one thickening agent and optionally other ingredients such as other salts, humectants and flavour additives.  
 
     
     
         10 . A method according to any one of  claim 6  to  9  wherein the thickening agent is added in the form of an aqueous solution or dispersion giving 0.00001-20% (weight) of thickening agent in the end product.  
     
     
         11 . A method according to any one of  claim 6  to  10  wherein the thickening agent is added in a solid form giving 0.00001-20% (weight) of thickening agent in the end product.  
     
     
         12 . A method according to any one of  claim 6  to  11  wherein the thickening agent is xanthan gum or a mixture comprising xanthan gum, preferably a mixture comprising a) xanthan gum and galactomannan or b) Acacia gum and xanthan gum, most preferred Thixogum S™ or Thixogum X™, especially preferred Thixogum S™.  
     
     
         13 . A smoke-less tobacco product obtainable by a method according to any one of  claims 6  to  7 .  
     
     
         14 . A moist snuff composition obtainable by a method according to any one of  claims 8  to  12 .  
     
     
         15 . A smoke-less tobacco product according to  claim 1  or  13  or a moist snuff composition according to  claim 2  or  14  presented in the form of a reel or coil, optionally equipped with spacing paper intermediate the layers in the reel or coil.  
     
     
         16 . A container containing a smoke-less tobacco product according to  claim 1  or  13  or a moist snuff composition according to  claim 2  or  14 , wherein preferably said container is a can, most preferred a can provided with a lid.