An edible vegetarian casing for food products comprising plasticised gellan gum

摘要

An edible animal free encasement for covering food mass comprises gellan gum and a plasticiser, which is preferably glycerine. The food mass is preferably a vegetarian sausage and the encasement preferably may be able to withstand conventional cooking processes and be frown and thawed without losing structure. The encasement preferably comprises 4% low acyl gellan gum, 1% glycerine and 95% water and has a coat weight of between 1 and 15 grams per square metre. The encasement is preferably applied to the food mass as a coating solution gel at elevated temperatures, preferably 80 {C, which cools within seconds on contact with the colder food mass to form a skin. The preferred method of application of the encasement is by extrusion but it may also be applied by dipping or spraying.