to achieve the objects of the invention , a novel thickener system is provided which results in the desirable product . this thickener system is a blend of carboxymethyl cellulose having a degree of substitution range from 0 . 65 to 0 . 95 ( cmc ) and type b gelatin . type b gelatin has an isoclectric point of from about ph 4 . 7 to about ph 5 . 1 . the thickener composition , as defined above , is used in the final milk - food juice product in an amount between about 1 . 5 % and about 4 %, based on weight of the final product . preferably the milk and food juice constitute about 90 % by weight of the final product and preferably are used in approximately equal amounts by weight although either may be present in slight excess amount , i . e ., from about 40 % to about 50 % milk and , correspondingly , from about 50 % to about 40 % food juice . the food acidulent may be a food grade acid such as , e . g ., fumaric , adipic , citric , tartaric , malic or succinic , either in anhydrous or hydrated state , or a mixture of two or more of the foregoing . enough food acidulent is added to adjust the ph of the final product to from about 3 . 8 to about 4 . 3 , preferably to from about 3 . 9 to about 4 . 3 . the sweetening agent may be a carbohydrate sweetener or an artificial sweetener . the carbohydrate sweetener may be a monosaccharide sugar such as , e . g ., fructose or dextrose ( glucose ) or a disaccharide sugar such as , e . g ., sucrose or lactose , or a mixture of two or more sugars . the artificial sweetener may be saccharin , an alkali metal salt or alkaline earth salt of saccharin or a peptide such as l - aspartyl - l - phenylalanine methyl ester . suitable food juices are natural fruit juices such as , e . g . orange , grapefruit , black cherry , papaya , mango , grape , cranberry , lemon , lime , or apple , or mixtures of juices such as , e . g ., apple and cranberry or lemon and lime or fruit drinks such as grape drink ( welchade ) or hawaiian punch but this list is non - limiting , and many suitable fruits and juices will occur to those skilled in the art . based on dry ingredients before adding the liquid ingredients , i . e . juice and milk , the compositions of the present invention typically contain the following range of ingredients expressed in % by weight , the amounts of ingredients being selected so that the total is 100 %: ______________________________________ingredient % by weight______________________________________gelatin , type b 15 - 41cmc 2 . 5 - 4sugar 60 - 81acidulent 1 . 6 - 2 . 0______________________________________ typically , the finished product to which the acid food juice and milk have been added contains the following range of ingredients expressed in % by weight , the amounts of ingredients being selected so that the total is 100 %: ______________________________________ingredient % by weight______________________________________gelatin , type b 1 . 5 - 4 . 1cmc 0 . 25 - 0 . 4sugar . sup .+ 6 - 10 . 0acidulent 1 . 6 - 2 . 0milk 40 - 50acid food juice 40 - 50______________________________________ . sup .+ if an artificial sweetener is used , it is present at a level equivalent in sweetening effect to the sugar . as the weight of artificial sweetener will be much less than that of sugar , the relative amounts of milk and juice will increase . it is therefore apparent that the focus of this invention is the discovery that an acidified milk - juice gel can be prepared having superior characteristics using a thickener comprising a mixture of carboxymethyl cellulose and type b gelatin . in general , however , at least 0 . 3 % cmc by weight is preferred . amounts beyond 0 . 4 % by weight may be used but do not confer any advantage . the chosen amount of each thickener component can be dry mixed together with sugar or artificial sweetener if desired , and added to the milk , followed by addition of the fruit juice . alternatively , the thickeners can be added separately , first adding carboxymethyl cellulose to the milk , followed by addition of the juice and the gelatin . the final blend is heated . it is noted that the use of carboxymethyl cellulose as a protein stabilizer has been taught in the literature , see c . a ., 56 , 1816b ; c . a ., 78 , 83016u . in addition , carboxymethyl cellulose has been used in a milk - fruit juice beverage , see food engineering , 43 , no . 4 , april 1971 . instead of whole milk equally satisfactory results may be obtained by the use of reconsituted non - fat powdered milk or reconstituted condensed milk . similarly , instead of whole food juices , reconstituted juice like products may be used . examples of such products are acidified sweetened drinks , e . g . kool - aid , or synthetic fruit juice , e . g ., tang , either the reconstituted product is added to the milk phase , or the dry powder and the requisite amount of water for reconstitution are added to the milk phase . the following examples illustrate the present invention without , however , limiting the same thereto . ______________________________________example 1 2 3 4ingredients % by weight______________________________________gelatin , type b 2 . 0 2 . 0 1 . 5 3 . 0carboxymethylcellulose ( 7m8sf hercules ) 0 . 3 0 . 3 0 . 4 0 . 3milk 45 . 0 45 . 0 45 . 0 45 . 0juice 45 . 0 45 . 0 45 . 0 45 . 0sugar 7 . 5 7 . 5 7 . 9 6 . 5citric acid 0 . 2 0 . 2 0 . 2 0 . 2______________________________________ the foregoing compositions are treated as follows to prepare a milk - juice gel according to the present invention . 1 . add cmc , blend with half the required sugar , add to milk under agitation , and stir for 15 minutes . 2 . add the food juice acidified with citric acid , if any , to the milk phase , and thoroughly mix until blended . 3 . add gelatin , blend with remaining sugar , add to the juice - milk mixture while stirring . 4 . under continuous stirring , heat to 160 ° f ( 71 ° c .) for 30 minutes . 5 . pour into form and cool to below 40 ° f ( 4 . 4 ° c . ).
this invention provides for the combination of milk , an acid food juice , sweetening agent , optional acidulent and a thickener comprising gelatin and carboxy methyl cellulose in a palatable , high protein , stable low ph gel . the food juice remains within the product as a finely divided widely dispersed mixture , providing uniformity of flavor without noticeable particles or graininess .