March 7/Alexandria, Va./U.S. Fed News -- U.S. patent no. 7,897,185, issued on March 1, was assigned to Franklin Foods Inc.

"Cream Cheese Products and Methods of Making the Same" was invented by Jon R. Gutknecht (Delray Beach, Fla.) and John B. Ovitt (Franklin, Vt.).

According to the abstract released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, "Technique for making a cream cheese product comprising steps of: providing a milkfat fluid comprising butterfat; pasteurizing the milkfat fluid; homogenizing the milkfat fluid; and culturing bacteria in the milkfat fluid; producing a cream cheese product comprising live probiotic bacteria cultures. Cream cheese product comprising: between about 10% by weight and about 55% by weight of total butterfat; and a live probiotic bacteria culture."

The patent was filed on June 16, 2006, under Application No. 11/454,756.

For further information, visit: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=7897185&OS=7897185&RS=7897185

From the March 21, 2011, Prepared Foods E-dition