Probiotics

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The study of probiotics takes guts — real or manufactured. A British outfit created a computer-controlled, mechanical simulator of gastric digestion. The study of the gut might lead to glory.

Ganeden Biotech introduced six new partner products at last week’s IFT Show in Chicago.

Innovations in probiotic dairy products are on the rise. This is a reflection of the increasing demand for probiotics due to consumers’ interest in health and wellbeing. Dairy was the third most commonly named “functional food” in the 2011 Functional Foods Survey conducted by the International Food Information Council.

Probiotic-containing dairy products are gaining in popularity; but do all these products deliver on their promises? Find out more.

Although 72% of Americans are aware of prebiotics’ association with digestive health, according to the International Food Information Council’s 2011 functional foods survey, most would be hard-pressed to describe prebiotics and their functions. That’s understandable. The story of prebiotics and health is not simple. But as scientists learn more, the story becomes more compelling and worth the telling.

It’s getting harder to stroll a city block without landing in front of yet another frozen yogurt outlet. These brightly colored, sleekly designed shrines to soft-serve bliss are sprouting like spring grass, adding oomph to what some have described as the latest renaissance for a category that was all but written off not long ago.

In our February column we discussed the importance of digestive health as the basis of all good nutrition and the role ice cream products could play in terms of providing probiotic (consumption of “live and active beneficial” bacteria) and/or probiotic friendly (that is, prebiotic) mix ingredients. We reviewed delivery of probiotics via active culturing and/or cold inoculation.