| abstract |
A food product which incorporates polyunsaturated fatty acids and an encapsulated pro-oxidant, said food product having a water activity of 0.75 or less. The pro-oxidants may be metal salts such as copper, manganese, iron and/or zinc salts. Sources of omega-3 fatty acids include fish oil. The present invention is directed especially to nutrition products, such as nutrition bars and soups, sweet powders and other food products, with a water activity (aw) of 0.75 or less, as well as to processes for preparing such products, wherein the products incorporate omega-3 and/or omega-6 and/or other polyunsaturated fatty acids in combination with encapsulated pro-oxidants, such as salts of copper, iron, manganese and zinc. The formulations according to the invention can be expected to have a very good shelf life, yet include polyunsaturated fatty acids which generally have a tendency to oxidize, together with normally pro-oxidant compounds in encapsulated form. Previously, it would have been expected that where pro-oxidants and omega-3 or other unsaturated fatty acids are combined in the same formulation, the fatty acids would oxidize and the shelf life of the food product would be unacceptable. |