Ink Jetting Inks for Food Application

Abstract

Edible ink formulations for printing onto edible substrates and snack pieces. Methods are provided showing how to print on edible substrates and on snack pieces at high line speeds.

1 . An ink comprising a non-aqueous based carrier, a surfactant and at least, one active ingredient selected from the group consisting of a colorant, a flavor, a perfume, sugar, amino acid, protein and mixtures thereof, wherein the ink is printed onto a substrate on a high speed processing line via one or more piezo-electric drop-on-demand printers. 
     
     
         2 . The ink of  claim 1  wherein the surfactant is selected from the group consisting of polysorbate based surfactants, lecithin based surfactants, sorbitan based surfactants and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The ink of  claim 1  wherein the surfactant comprises less than about 50% by weight oil. 
     
     
         4 . The ink of  claim 3  wherein the surfactant comprises less than about 30% by weight oil. 
     
     
         5 . The ink of  claim 4  wherein the surfactant comprises less than about 10% by weight oil. 
     
     
         6 . The ink of  claim 6  wherein the surfactant comprises less than about 5% by weight oil. 
     
     
         7 . The ink of  claim 1  further comprising a viscosity modifier. 
     
     
         8 . The ink of  claim 7  wherein the viscosity modifier is glycerin. 
     
     
         9 . The ink of  claim 1  comprising less than about 50% by weight, water. 
     
     
         10 . The ink of  claim 9  comprising less than about 30% by weight water. 
     
     
         11 . The ink of  claim 10  comprising less than about 10% by weight water. 
     
     
         12 . The ink of  claim 11  comprising less than about 5% by weight water. 
     
     
         13 . The ink of  claim 1  wherein the ink is edible. 
     
     
         14 . The ink of  claim 13  wherein the substrate is edible. 
     
     
         15 . The ink of  claim 13  wherein the surfactant is lecithin based. 
     
     
         16 . The ink of  claim 1  wherein the non-aqueous based carrier comprises a glycol based liquid. 
     
     
         17 . The ink of  claim 1  further comprising a humectant. 
     
     
         18 . The ink of  claim 1  further comprising an anti-foamer. 
     
     
         19 . The ink of  claim 1  wherein the ink has a pH, and the pH of the ink is controlled to a range of 4 to 10. 
     
     
         20 . The ink of  claim 1  wherein the ink has a surface tension from about 24 to about 50 dyn/cm.