Yakult

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Japanese Yakult.
Chinese Yakult.
Yakult Light 65ml from Australia
Brazilian Yakult.

Yakult (ヤクルト Yakuruto?) is a Japanese probiotic milk-like product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a special strain of the bacteria Lactobacillus casei Shirota. Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. (株式会社ヤクルト本社 Kabushiki-gaisha Yakuruto Honsha?) (TYO: 2267) It was created by Minoru Shirota who graduated from the Medical School of Kyoto University in 1930. In 1935, he started manufacturing and selling Yakult. Official claims state that the name is derived from jahurto, an older form of jogurto, the Esperanto word for "yogurt".[1][2] Since then, Yakult has also introduced a line of beverages for the Japanese market that contain Bifidobacterium breve bacteria, and has also used its lactobacilli research to develop cosmetics. More recently, the Yakult Honsha played a major role in developing the chemotherapy drug irinotecan (Camptosar, CPT-11).[3]

Yakult also owns one of Japan's major baseball franchises, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

After its introduction in Japan and Taiwan, Yakult was first sold in the Western world in Brazil in 1966, due to the large number of Japanese immigrants in the country, before it was marketed elsewhere.[4] Today, Yakult is sold in 31 countries,[5] although its bacteria cultures are provided from a mother strain from Japan regardless of production location.[citation needed]

Yakult is marketed in different sizes. In Australia, Europe and Indonesia, Yakult comes in 65mL bottles. In America, Japan, Philippines and South Korea (where it is known as 야쿠르트), 80 ml bottles are available. In Thailand (where it is known as ยาคูลท์), Singapore (where it is known as 益多 yì duō), Taiwan (where it is known as 養樂多 yǎng lè duō) and mainland China (where it is known as 益力多 yì lì duō), it comes in 100 ml bottles. [6][7][8]



Contents

[edit] Ingredients

Standard Yakult (excludes variations such as in Yakult Light) contains [9]:

  • Sugar (sucrose) to balance sourness with sweetness.
  • Skimmed milk powder
  • Dextrose
  • Natural flavours
  • Live Lactobacillus casei shirota strain, 6.5 billions per 65 mL bottle (concentration of 108 CFU/mL)
  • Water


[edit] Scientific basis

The claimed benefits are supported by an array of scientific studies according to the manufacturer website [1]. Those could range from maintenance of gut flora [2], modulation of the immune system [3], regulation of bowel habits and constipation [4] and finally effects on some gastrointestinal infections [5].

Although the number of scientific papers is certainly large, most of them are related to in vitro and in vivo experiments, with some human clinical trials done on cohorts[10][11][12] and with daily consumption of 40-100 billions of probiotic L. casei shirota [6], far above the single bottle concentration of approximately 6.5 billion.

[edit] Nutrition Facts

Standard Yakult contains 18g of sugar for every 100g, but comes in 65 mL bottles. This concentration is higher than the level defined as “HIGH” by the UK Food Standards Agency (described for concentrations of sugar above 15g per 100g)[7]. As a comparison Coca-Cola and orange juices are in the range of 10g of sugar per 100g, but with a serving size usually greater than 250 ml, their total sugar quantity is therefore much higher than Yakult. Based on the content of milk protein (1.4 g per 100 mL [8]), it is not classified as a flavoured fermented milk of the Codex Standard for Fermented Milks. However, based on the existence of many products like Yakult in the world market, a new category is going to be established into the current Codex Standard for Fermented Milks.

Through Nutrient profiling guidelines, current health claim regulation in European Union may forbid the use of health claim on food products that are nutritionally unbalanced, but dairy products and probiotic drinks are likely to be considered as favorable carrier because their health benefits outweigh the fact they might be high in one of the designated 'unhealthy' ingredients [9].


[edit] References

  1. ^ What is the origin of Yakult’s name?
  2. ^ Reta Vortaro - jogurto
  3. ^ Yakult company profile: Pharmaceutical Division
  4. ^ Yakult page in Portuguese
  5. ^ "Yakult Europe - Yakult worldwide". http://www.yakulteurope.com/index.cfm?menuid=6. Retrieved on 2007-01-16. 
  6. ^ "Yakult USA". http://www.yakultusa.com/. Retrieved on 2007-01-16. 
  7. ^ "Yakult Australia - What is Yakult?". http://www.yakult.com.au/product01.htm. Retrieved on 2007-01-16. 
  8. ^ "Yakult Taiwan". http://www.yakult.com.tw/. Retrieved on 2007-01-16. 
  9. ^ "Yakult Australia - Nutritional Information". http://www.yakult.com.au/health01.htm. Retrieved on 2007-01-16. 
  10. ^ Takeda K, Okumura K (Mar 2007). "Effects of a fermented milk drink containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota on the human NK-cell activity". J Nutr. 137 (3 Suppl 2): 791S–3S. PMID 17311976. http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=17311976. 
  11. ^ Morimoto K, Takeshita T, Nanno M, Tokudome S, Nakayama K (May 2005). "Modulation of natural killer cell activity by supplementation of fermented milk containing Lactobacillus casei in habitual smokers". Prev Med 40 (5): 589–94. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.07.019. PMID 15749143. 
  12. ^ Spanhaak S, Havenaar R, Schaafsma G (Dec 1998). "The effect of consumption of milk fermented by Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota on the intestinal microflora and immune parameters in humans". Eur J Clin Nutr 52 (12): 899–907. PMID 9881885. 

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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