CA1188918A

CA1188918A - Sugarless hard candy

Info

Publication number: CA1188918A
Application number: CA000426937A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Bernard Boursier; Michel Huchette; Francis Devos; Guy Bussiere
Original assignee: Roquette Freres SA
Current assignee: Roquette Freres SA
Priority date: 1982-04-30
Filing date: 1983-04-28
Publication date: 1985-06-18
Also published as: FI77562B; AU563197B2; DK159637C; DE3369781D1; EP0094292A3; DK159637B; DK190883D0; JPH0456583B2; FI77562C; FR2525868B1; JPS58201945A; EP0094292A2; FR2525868A1; EP0094292B1; AU1409283A; ZA833063B; FI831469L; DK190883A; FI831469A0; US4497846A

Abstract

SUGARLESS HARD CANDY

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Sugarless hard candy comprising, on the one hand, as sugarless boiled sugar, a hydrogenated starch hydro-lysate prepared from a starch hydrolysate having a D.E.
of 42 to 60, on the other hand, a quantity of gum arabic between 1 % and 8 % by weight with respect to the finished product, preferably between 2 % and 6 % by weight, and/or an amount of CMC between 0.2 and 2 % by weight with respect to the finished product, preferably between 0.3 and 1.2 %.

No figure

Description

.SUGARLESS H~RD CANDY

The invention relates to a sugarless hard candy and to a process for the manufacture of the same.
Hard candies are well-known to the consumer and in the confectionery field, and have a brittle consistency and a glassy appearance.
Conventional hard candies are traditionally constituted by a mixture of saccharose and glucose syrup, dehydrated by cooking, if necessary under vacuum. In the case of sugarless hard type candy and still conventionally, the mixture of saccharose and glucose syrup has been replaced by sorbitol syrups containing, if necessary, mannitol and, more recently, by hydrogenated starch hydroly-sates.
Candy manufactured by means of sorbitol syrups containing possibly mannitol have two major drawbacks, namely:
- -the long lapse of time necessary to achieve complete hardening, which impedes the continuous operation of manufacturing installations, - the phenomena of crystallisation due to the high proportion of sorbital in the syrups concerned~
In addition, by reason of the fluidity of the cooked mass, the manufacture of this candy imposes recourse to a process of cas-ting into molds, ~hile hot, (120C approxi-mately~, of -the mass of sugarless hard candy whereas, in , , the case of conventional hard candies, it was also possible to cut them up from a roll, the constituent candy of which is cooled to about 70C-~0C~
To improve the quality of this candy, manufacturers of sugarless hard candy have proposed to add gum arabic to sorbitol-mannitol mixtures, the gum arabic having -the role of retarding or inhibiting the recrystallisation of the sorbitolO
The use, for the manuEacture of sugarless hard candy, o~ hydrogenated starch hydrolysates instead of sorbitol syrups has permitted recourse to gum arabic to be abandoned, the candy so manufactured not showing crystallisation phenomena and only requiring particularly short hardening times.
In addition, the manufacture of sugarless hard candy produced by means o these hydrolysates is closely related to that of conventional hard candy, thus making possible both shaping by casting in moulds and shaping by cutting up a roll.
The hydrogenated starch hydrolysates which had first been proposed in practice were those obtained from starch hydrolysates of dextrose-equivalent (D.E.) of 30 to 40.
The candies obtained from these hydrolysates show in fact a complete amorphous condition, are insensitive to crystallisation without it being necessary to resort to gum arabic additions and hence still preserve a vitreous or glassy appearance.
They are not however devoid of drawbacks. In fact, on the one hand, -they are of little sweetness, hence neces-sitating recourse to artificial sweeteners such as sacchar-inates or cyclamates or aspa~tam and, on the other hand, show proof of a non-negligible cariogenic na-ture.
The first of these drawbacks was eliminatable by reeourse to hydrogenated starch hydrolysates obtained from starch hydrolysates with a higher D.E., comprised between 10 42 and 60.
The second was more recently eliminated by means of the use of hydrogena-ted starch hydrolysates comprising in addition a proportion below 3%, preferably below 1.5%
of polyols of degree of polymerisation (or DP) higher -than 20.
The sugarless hard candy based on these hydro-genated stareh hydrolysates hence no longer shows the draw-backs of sugarless hard candy based on the prior hydroly- -sates.
Other drawbacks are associated however with the use of hydrogenated starch hydrolysates obtained by hydrogena-tion of stareh hydrolysates having a DE of 42 to 60.
The first of these drawbacks resides in a flow or creep phenomenon called "cold-flow'i of which the constituent material of the candy is the seat, ~his phenomenon, which is rather slow at 20C but which aceelerates with rising temper-ature, being maniEested in the long run by deformation of the candies, prejudical to their marketing.
The second drawback resides in the non-negligable hygroscopic nature of this candy, due to the fact that confectionery products based on these hydrogena-ted starch hydrolysates must be brought to a water content less than

2%, preferably less than about 1%, which results in a ten-dancy to the taking up of water again in storage.
The cold-flow may be considerably reduced by lowering the residual moisture content of the candy to a value less than about 1%, but this lowering is very diffi-cult to effect at the industrial stage and results in any case in a very appreciable aggravation of the hygroscopic nature of the candy, the latter having for this reason a much higher tendency to stick to the wrapping paper.
To establish ideas, it is indicated that the mois-ture or water content of hard candy is determined, with respect to the measurements carried out with respect to the present invention, by the so-called Karl FISHER method.
It was therefore a particular obJect of the in-vention to provide a solution enabling simultaneously aremedy for these two drawbacks whereas, until now, the attenuation of one was manifested by the amplification of the other, the technician having therefore been obliged un--til now to satisfying himself with a compromise be-tween the two.
Now, the Applicants have had the meri-t of having discovered, as the result of a very large number of -tests, ~ ~ - ~

that the -two drawbacks concerned could be in fact lessened if not eliminated at -the same time by the incorpora-tion in the constituent hydrogenated starch hydrolysate of the sugarless hard candy of an effec-tive arnount of gum arabic or of carboxymethylcellulose or CMC, which was all the more unexpected as the replacement of sorbitol and mannitol mix-tures by hydrogenated starch hydrolysates had precisely enabled the suppression of recourse to the use of gum arabic prevlously necessary as an agent for combating the excessive time of hardening and against crystallisation;
this suppression had been considered as constituting a determining advantage.
Consequently, the sugarless hard candy according to the invention is characterised by the fact that it comprises, as sugarless boiled sugar, a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate prepared from a starch hydrolysate having a DE of 42 to 60, the usual constituents such as flavours, dyes, acids and the like, as well as a quantity of gum arabic and/or of CMC sufficient so that, on the one hand, the water content of the final candy may be higher than about 1% and particularly comprised between abou-t 1% and

3%, thereby reducing the tendency to reabsorb water and hence to hygroscopicity and so that, on the other hand, the tendency of cold-~low of the finished product becomes considerably reducedO
In the case of gum arabic, the "sufficient"
quantity is comprised between 1 and 8% by weight with respect to the finished product, preferably between 2 and 6% by weight.
In the case of CMC, the "sufficient"quantity is comprised between 0.2 and 2% by weight with respect to the finished produc-t, preferably between 0.3 and 1.2%.
The hydrogenated starch hydrolysates of HSH
included as sugarless sugar by the above-said confectionery are obtained from starch hydrolysates having a DE between 42 and 60, preferably between 45 and 60 and, more preferably still, between 45 and 55 and have furthermore, contents ex-pressed with respect to the dry matter of the hydrolysates :
- a sorbitol content of 0~1 to 19%, preferably 0.2 to 17%, - a content of maltitol from 35 to 80%, preferably from 35 to 65 and more preferably still, from 40 to 58%, the complement to 100 being constituted by poly-ols o:E degree of polymerisati.on (DP~ hic,herthan 2.
Still more preferably, the abovesaid HSH are ob-tained from starch hydrolysates having a content below 3%,more particularly below 1.5% , of products of ~P higher than 20~
An inherent advantage in the invention resides actually in the fact that the presence oE the gum arabic or the CMC does not counter the non cariogenic properties of the latter hydrogenated starch hydrolysates.
It may be advantageous, in certain cases, to incorpora-te with the constituent hydrogenated s-tarch hydrolysate of -the sugarless hard candy according to the invention, an amount of mannitol which can range up to 10%
by weight but is generally between 1 and 8% by weigh-t of the total weight of the confectionary.
This incorporation in fact enables the tendency of the finished candy to reabsorb water to be further reduced, hence its propensity, already considerably decreased, to be sticky, and it is made possible by the presence of the gum arabic and/or of the CMC.

The fact that the sugarless hard candy according to the invention may have.a final content of water higher than 1%, particularly 1 to 3%, made possible by the presence of the gum arabic or of the CMC in the mass subjected to de-hydrating cooking, generally enables the dehydration to be conducted at a temperature below that normally necessary in the absence of these products provided according to the invention, this advantage may have important practical repercussions on the manufacture.

In the case of incorporation of gum arabic, the cooking temperature may in fac~, in practice, be selected below about 5 to 15C with respect to the temperatures necessary previously for preparing sugarless hard candy from hydrogenated starch hydrolysate This lowering of the cooking temperature, small as it may appear, is e~tremely advantageous since it makes possible manufacture of the candy with steam pressures of the order of 8 bars ins-tead of 10 bars which were necessary at temperatures previously used and which were of the order of 160 -to 170; in other words, it makes necessary the re-course to specially adap-ted installations, on the contrary, conven-tional installations used in the manufac-ture of hard candies remain usable.
It follows that, according to the invention, to prepare the candy according to the invention, successively:
- with hydrogenated starch hydrolysate are incorp-orated, besides the conventional additives, a. sufficientproportion of gum arabic and/or CMC, and if necessary up to 10% by weight of mannitol, - the mixture thus obtai.ned is brought -to a tem-perature generally higher than 140C, - this temperature is maintained under vacuum of at least 700 mm Hg until the moisture content of the mix-ture is brought to a value below about 3% by weight, particularly from 3 to about 1% by weight, - the mass so obtained is cast in moulds or, more preferably, is given the shape of a roll from which the candies are cut off, - the confectionery produc-ts so obtained are wrapped after shaping and cooling.
Below are described, within the scope of the examples, tests carried out at the laboratory stage and at the pilot stage and which have permit-ted Applicant to realize the invention.

Through a first set of -tests, a selection was effected among tens of thickening produc-ts selected from the group comprising :
- extracts of algae : carregheenins, agar-agar, - gums of vegetable origin: guar, carob gum tragacan-th, gum arabic, - products developed by microorganisms :
xanthane and dextran, iO - synthetic products: carboxymethylcellulose (or CMC), polyvi.nylpyrrolidone (or PVP), carboxy-methyl starch which were used in the manufacture of candy whose constit-uent material was hydrogenated starch hydrolysate (HSH 1) having the following composition (percentages expressed to dry matter) and obtained by hydrogenation of starch hydrolysate having a DE of 48.2 :
DP 1 7.0 DP 2 51.5 DP 3 18.0 DP 4 to DP 10].5.5 DP 10 to DP 20 6O7 DP > 20 1.3 The operational me-thod applied for these first tests included :
- mixing the product and the hydrolysate, - coo~ing the mixture in a copper vassel on an electric pla-te to the temperature of 180C with frequent stirring, casting on to cold marble of the boiled mass once the temperature of 180C is reached.
- cutting up the cooled mass at about 60-80C into candies of 15 x 15 mm, - wrapping the candies.
The tests executed on each of the candies thus manufactured and which had the purpose of evaluating the resistance to cold-flow and to hygrocopicity were as follows:
1) Tes-t of resistance to cold-flow The candies (unwrapped) are placed in a dessica-tor containing a saturated lithium chloride solution ensuring in the dessicator a relative humidity comprised between 10 and 15%.
To accelerate the phenomenon, the dessicator had been kept at exactly 50C in a closed oven.
The cold flow was evaluated over time and noted as poor, average or good according to the surface area occu-pied by the candy after a week of test.(good : surface occupied identical at the beginning and at the end of the test) (poor : surface at least doubled at the end of ~he test).
2) ~ygroscopicity test - Candies tunwrapped) of known weight were placed at 20C in a dessicator containing a saturated sodium nitrite solution ensuring in the dessicator a relative humidi-ty of 66%. The weight of the candies was checked daily for 6 days.
Results obtained for the thickening products employed at various concentrations (expressed as percentages wi-th respect to the dry matter of the hydrolysate) are collected in table Io The result is considered as :
- good, if the candy has reabsorbed less than 2.5%
water after 6 days, - poor, if the candy has taken up more than 3%
water after 6 days.
The results recorded both for the test of resis-tance to cold-flow and for the hydroscopicity test are collected in Table I below :

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It follows from the results collected in Table 1 that carboxymethylcellulose used at 5/Oo and that gum arabic used at 3 %, 4% and 5% behave well in the high viscosi-ty and cold-flow tests.
In order to evaluate their action better, these products were taken for a second series of tests in which the cooking and evaluation conditions were slightly modified.
In these tests, the following produc-ts were compared :
- hydrogenated starch hydrolysate (HSH 1) defined above (control) - HSH 1 supplemented with gum arabic (or GA) to 3 %
- HSH 1 supplemented with carboxymethylcellulose tor CMC) 7 MF at 0.5 %
- HSH 1 supplemented with carboxymethylcellulose (or CMC) 7 MF at 0.7 %.
In this second series of tests, the cooking was not conducted up to a given temperature but up to a given weight, ~hat is to say up to a given residual water content.
To do this, the electric plate and the cooklng vessel 20 were placed on a balance and the development o~ the weight of the coolced mass (increase of the dry matter) was read at once proportionally with the evaporation of the water.
F'or each of the above cited composition~, candies were cooked so that their contents of residual water should be 1 %, 1.5 % and 2 %.
The final cooking temperature corresponding to the desired content of residual moisture was recorded for each test.
The -tests and measurements described below are ap-plied to each of the test products. The results were col]ected in Table II.
1) Stickiness Test The samp].es were kept in an a-tmosphere with 66 %
relative humidity for 60 hours the reabsorption of water was then comprised between 0.5 and 1 %.
The apparatus used to characterise the stic1ciness may be that known under the trademark "INSTRON 1122~.
A parallelepipedic lump of boiled suqar was placed between the jaws of the measuring vice comprised by -this apparatus 50 that the upward faci.ng surface of this lump is positioned horizontally. A pastille supporting a weight of 33~ g is applied to the upward facing surface of the candy and is left in place under the effect of its weight for 15 seconds.
The force (expressed in newtons) necessary to pull off the pastille is then measured.
The more sticlcy it is the greater i.s the force.
2) Hygroscopicity The measurement was ide.ntical with that described with respect to the preceding tests.
In Table II are noted the average reabsorptions by weight for each type of candy after 1, 2, 3 and 6 days as well as the deformation of the candy after 6 days, namely:
- very considerable deformation : marked 10, (flow) , - no deformation : marked 0.

3) Tes-t of resis-tance to cold flow _ _ _ _ This test was identical wi-th tha-t described above ;
-the flow is evaluated by marks ranging from 0 -to 10, 0 re-presen-ting a minimal flow and 10 a very considerable flow.
Comparatively with the results obtained with can-dies based Oll hydrogenated starch hydrolysate alone (HSH 1), the use of gum arabic or of CMC leads for the manufac-ture of candies-- to a decrease in cooking temperature (results shown in Table II) for an identical residual water con-tent, particularly marked for 1 % of water ; this -temperature is 192C for the candy based on HSH 1 alone, preferably 185C in the presence of gum arabic, 188C in the presence of CMC;
- to a decrease in hygroscopicity (wa-ter reabsorp-tion lower) accompanied by less deformation o the candies at the end of the hygroscopicity test ;
- to better resistance -to cold flow.
In comparison with gum arabic, CMC gives candies more resistant to cold flow but slightly stickier under the conditions of the previously defined stickiness test.

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It is possible, from the results of Table II, to summarize the advantage of GA and CMC in the improvement of candy based on hydrogenated starch hydrolysate in com-paring the hygroscopicity of candy (with and withou-t GA
and/or CMC) having an approximately similar resistance to the test of resistance to cold flow.
The corresponding values are collected in Table III
below:
TABLE III

. .

CONTROL + GA + CMC+ CMC
_ _ _ _ ~ at 3 % at 0.5 /O at 0.7%
Cold flow 4 5 3 3 Water content in % 1 1.5 1.5 1~5 Cboking temperature (C) 192 175 178 178 Hygroscopicity after 6 days (%) 3.41 2.50 2.37 2.40 Deformation after hygro-scopicity test 9 7 5 4 __ ,. ._ It appears, on examining this Table, that the pre-sence of a low percentage of gum arabic or of CMC hence enables the cooking -temperature to be diminished, at the same time as considerably reducing the hygroscopicity of the product ~up to 30 % in these -tests~ and reducing the deformation associated with water absorption.
EXAMPL.E 2 The laboratory tests were completed by similar tests on conventional confectionery material~

The following operational steps:
- charging a cooker of the trademark "OTTO HANSEL" with 30 kg oE HSH 1 defined in example 1, with 75 % of dry matter, - possible dispersion of gums or other products, directly in the cooker, with stirring, - cooking in 10 to 15 minutes, then placing under vacuum (700 mm Hg~ for 2 minutes 30 seconds, - cooling on a cold table, - passage through a roll shaper towards 80C, - cooling system - exit from -the system towards 50 -5~C
- wrapping on an automatic wrapping machine, were employed successively under the conditions indicated below:
- HSH 1 alone at 160C and 150C (tests 1 and 2) - mixture HSH 1 and 3.5 % of gum arabic at 150C and 140C (tests 3 and 4) - mixture HSH 1 and 0.8 % plus 0.4 % of agar-agar at 140C (tests 5 and 6) - mix-ture HSH 1 and 0.8 % of carregheenin (trademark "SATIAGEL MR") at 140C (test 7).
In Table IV below are collected, for each test, the observations made in the course of the manufacture and the results of the measurements of the residual water content (Karl Fisher method) of the hygroscopicity test and of the "cold flow" test described above.

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Ln S E ~ o o o o o o ~ ul v _ _~ r ~z r-l _ _ ~_ On examining Table IV, it i5 observed tha-t the cooking temperature beEore applica-tion of the vacuum for a candy based on HSH 1 alone cannot be less than 150C
(test N 2), the resistance to cold flow showin~ itself to be already mediocre for this test.
It is observed, on the other hand, that the candies of test N 1 had good resis-tance to cold flow, but high hygroscopicity.
The candies including gum arabic and cooked at 140C (test N 4) were hardly hygroscopic but also mediocre to the cold flow test. At 150C, gum arabic (test N 3) contributes sufficient resistance to the candy whils-t reducing its hygroscopicity.
The results collected in accordance with the laboratory tests are hence confirmed by the industrial tests.
By means of the addition of gum arabic, a cooking tempera-ture reduced by 10C enables the production of candies based on hydrogenated starch hydrolysate having a better resis-tance to co]d flow and a reduced hygroscopicity, compara-tively with a control no-t containing gum arabic.
The employment of the other hydrocolloids tested changes in certain cases the texture of the cooked mass.
Thus, candies containing carragheinin and agar-agar could not be manufactured normally since the elastic texture conferred by these products in-terferes with the operation of the roller and of the wrapper.
Gum arabic, not havin~ unfavourable rheological proper-ties, hence gives full sa.isfac-tion in these manu-factures.
EXÆMPLE 3 Thi.s example .illus-trates the use of mannitol in association with gum arabic and/or CMC for the manufacture of candies based on hydrogenated starch hydrolysates.
The use of mannitol could in fact show itself to be interesting to limit the hygroscopicity of candies, in the sense that this product could result, after slight reabsorption of water by the candy, in a fine recrystallis-ation at the surface, thus forming a "barrier" which has the result of restraining moisture transfer.
However and as the following tests will show, the incorporation alone of mannitol for the manufacture of candies based on hydrogenated starch hydrolysates having a DE before hydrogenation of ~2 to 60 is not advantageous since it accentuates in fact notably the tendency to cold flow of the candies.
In this example, the tests have been carried out on a hydrogenated starch hydrolysate (HSH 2) having the following composition (percentages expressed on dry matter):
DP 1 3.6 DP 2 54.0 DP 3 18.1 DP 4 to DP 10 10.7 DP 10 to DP 20 8.7 DP > 20 4.9 9~

- 2~1 -Before hydrogenation, this hydrolysate had a DE about 47.6.
The method of preparation of the candies was identical with that described in example l.
In table V are collected the results recorded from the point of view of deformation after the hygroscopicity test, from the point of view of evaluation of surface re-crystallisa-tion and from the point of view of the cold flow test, for candies manufactured on the one hand with hydro-~0 genated starch hydrolysa-te (MSH 2) alone, on the o-ther hand with mixtures of HSH 2 and respectively 5, 7.5 and 10% of mannitol (the percentages being expressed with respec-t to the dry matter of the hydrolysate), the cooking temperature being l~0C.
TABLE V

_ Deformation Evaluation Evaluation Test % of after the of the surface of No. malmitol hygroscopicity recrystallisa- coldflow _ .
2 0 . 5 none 140 3 7.5 0 ~+ lO
20 - 4 lO _ lO

Meaning of the symbols: + slight, ++ average, -~++ strong.
It result from the values collec-ted in table V
that candies including mannitol and which are subjected to -the hygroscopicity test have, after a slight water reab-sorption, a fine crystalline surface layer which retards or even interrupts any wa-ter absorption and hence ensures the preservation of the product.
It appears however, from table V, that this use of manni-tol alone is manifested also by a very consider-able increase in cold flow, which renders the improvement in preservation of the candies by the mannitol uncertain.
The conjoint employment of gum arabic and/or of j CMC enables, on the other hand, the cold flow of the candy to be prevented whilst preserving the beneficial effect of the mannitol on the stability of the product, as appears from the tests whose results are collected i.n table VI; these tests have been carried out with 7.5%
of mannitol and increasing amounts (3%, 4% and finally 5%) of gum arabic, the cooking temperatures being 160, 170 and 180C.

1'ABL,EAU VI

Composition _ of the candy Cooking Deforrnation Evaluation E 1 ation tempe- after the of the surface va u .
Proportion Proportion rature hygr.osco- tion of mannitol gum arab1c .

0 0 180 9 none 4 7.5 3 160 +++ 10 7O5 3 170 0 lll 8 7.5 3 180 1) ~ 2 7.5 4 160 O ~+ 8 7.5 ~ 170 O +++ 8 7.5 4 180 0 ~
10 7.5 5 160 0 ~ll 7 7.5 5 170 O ~+ 5 7.5 5 18~ 0 0 The incorporation of gum arabic avoids any de-formation of the product in the hygroscopicity test and ensures, for suf-ficient cooking temperatures, good resis-tance to cold flow of the candy composed of a mixture of hydrogenated starch hydrolysate and mannitol.
It is thus possible to combine a reduction in the hygroscopicity of the "sugarless" candy by the use 20 of mannitol and an improvement in the resistance to cold-flow by the incorporation of gum arabic, which leads overall to a considerable improvement in the stability on preserva-tion of candy based on hydrogenated starch hydrolysa-te.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Sugarless hard candy essentially con-sisting of - hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, prepared from a starch hydrolysate having a DE of 42 to 60, and of - gum arabic in an amount of between 1% and 8% by weight with respect to the finished product, and/or CMC
in an amount comprised between 0.2 and 2% by weight with respect to the finished product.

2. Sugarless hard candy essentially con-sisting of - hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, prepared from a starch hydrolysate having a DE of 42 to 60, and of - gum arabic in an amount of between 1% and 8% by weight with respect to the finished product, and/or CMC
in an amount comprised between 0.2 and 2% by weight with respect to the finished product and - usual additives selected from the group com-prising flavours, acids and dyes.

3. Sugarless hard candy essentially con-sisting of - hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, prepared from a starch hydrolysate having a DE of 42 to 60, and of - gum arabic in an amount of between 1% and 8% by weight with respect to the finished product, and/or CMC
in an amount of between 0.2 and 2% by weight with respect to the finished product, and - of up to 10% by weight of mannitol, and - of usual additives selected from the group com-prising flavours, acids and dyes.

4. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the amount of gum arabic is comprised between 2 and 6% by weight.

5. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the amount of CMC is comprised between 0.3 and 1.2% by weight.

6. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate is prepared from a starch hydrolysate having a DE comprised between 45 and 60.

7. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate is prepared from a starch hydrolysate having a DE comprised between 45 and 55.

8. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate comprises, expressed with respect to the dry matter of the hydrolysate:
- a sorbitol content of 0.1 to 19%, - a maltitol content of 35 to 80%, the complement to 100 being constituted by polyols of degree of polymerisation (DP) higher than 2.

9. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate comprises, expressed with respect to the dry matter of the hydrolysate:
- a sorbitol content of 0.2 to 17%, - a maltitol content of 35 to 65%, the complement to 100 being constituted by polyols of degree of polymerisation (DP) higher than 2.

10. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate comprises, expressed with respect to the dry matter of the hydrolysate:
- a sorbitol content of 0.2 to 17%, - a maltitol content of 40 to 50%, the complement to 100 being constituted by polyols of degree of polymerisation (DP) higher than 2.

11. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate comprises, expressed with respect to the dry matter of the hydrolysate:

- a sorbitol content of 0.1 to 19%, - a maltitol content of 35 to 80%, - a content in products of DP higher than 20, less than 3%, the complement to 100 being constituted by polyols of degree of polymerisation (DP) higher than 2.

12. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate comprises, expressed with respect to the dry matter of the hydrolysate:
- a sorbitol content of 0.1 to 19%, - a maltitol content of 35 to 80%, - a content in products of DP higher than 20 t less than 1.5%, the complement to 100 being constituted by polyols of degree of polymerisation (DP) higher than 2.

13. Sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 2 and 3, wherein the content of mannitol is comprised between 1 and 8% by weight of the total mass of the candy.

14. Process for the preparation of sugarless hard candy according to anyone of Claims 2 and 3, com-prising the successive steps:

- of incorporating with the hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, the gum arabic and/or the CMC, the con-ventional additives if any and the mannitol if any, - of heating the thus obtained mixture to a temper-ature higher than 140°C, - of maintaining this temperature under a vacuum of at least 700 mm Hg until the moisture content of the mixture is brought to a value of about 3% by weight to about 1% by weight, - and of wrapping the candies thus obtained after shaping and cooling.