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Yoptimal®, Health Professionals
Clinical studies / Scientific Proofs
A conclusive clinical study
In October 2010, the 6th International Symposium on Probiotics and Health: "Key Findings and New Directions"
was held at the Mont-Royal Centre in Montreal. During this event, Dr. Denis Roy, a member of the
Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods (INAF) team and Holder of the Canada Research Chair
in Lactic Culture Biotechnology for Dairy and Probiotic Industries, presented the results of a clinical
study conducted on Yoptimal®.
A first in Canada
- The first Canadian study on a commercial yogurt that shows that transient
passage of BB-12® and LA-5® has a positive impact on the bacterial population with regards to the
increase of beneficial bacteria and the reduction of potentially pathogenic bacteria
such as enterococci.
- This is the only study conducted on Canadian subjects in good health.
An innovative and unique methodology in Canada
- Classic microbiology + molecular counts. This last innovative and seldom used step enabled counting
the results obtained through classic microbiology by quantifying the specific presence
of BB-12® and LA-5®.
Conclusive results:
- Establishment of the BB-12® strain in the intestinal flora
- Greater presence of LA-5®, something which had never been seen before
- Significant reduction in potentially pathogenic bacteria such as enterococci
- Validation that an adequate amount of BB-12® and
LA-5® (109 cfu per 100 g serving of Yoptimal® from Yoplait) in commercial yogurt can survive passage through the gastrointestinal tract: significant recovery of the bacteria in the feces (survival after intestinal transit)
- No negative alteration of enteric microbiota in healthy subjects (no intestinal flora imbalance).
Yoptimal® from Yoplait, a product that keeps its promises
- The results of this clinical study suggest a potential beneficial effect of Yoptimal® on the Canadian population by helping to reduce the risk of intestinal disorders which may be triggered by harmful bacteria such as enterococci.
- A study that enables Ultima Foods to conclusively claim that consuming Yoptimal® from Yoplait promotes healthy digestive tract flora in healthy Canadian population
- Yoptimal® from Yoplait, a yogurt that shows that health benefits and good taste can go hand in hand.
A daily serving of Yoptimal® is advised to keep enjoying these benefits!
It has been reported that for a health benefit to be observed, at least 100 million to 1
billon living probiotic cultures must be present per 100g serving of product (7).
The probiotics are gradually eliminated with the feces. Based on clinical pharmacokinetic studies,
it would seem that for the exogenous probiotic population to be maintained, the probiotic culture
must be ingested continuously (8).
It should be noted that other studies have also proven the effectiveness of the probiotics and
strains contained in Yoptimal®.
The active probiotic cultures contained in Yoptimal®, BB-12® Bifidobacterium lactis and LA-5® Lactobacillus acidophilus,
can survive the "hostile" conditions found in the gastrointestinal tract (6) as these cultures
are fairly resistant to gastric enzymes and bile (9).
The combination of these two strains of active probiotic cultures, BB-12® Bifidobacterium lactis and LA-5® Lactobacillus acidophilus,
has been clinically proven to be safe for human consumption (10).
Legal framework for using probiotics (11)
The major influx of products enriched with probiotics on the food market recently led the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) to revise Chapter 8 - Health Claims - of the Guide to Food Labelling and
Advertising to protect consumers by ensuring that claims regarding probiotics are accurate and in
compliance with the Guide. This Guide (11) also determines the specific conditions framing the
application of health claims regarding probiotics for all product-related communications
(Internet, advertising, TV, packaging).
Two types of claims can be made:
Strain-specific claims: Statements about the health benefits or effects of specific strains of
probiotics. At the present time, no strain-specific claims have been accepted by Health Canada.
Non strain-specific claims: Statements about the nature of probiotics, referring to the fact that
they are naturally found in intestinal flora. At the present time, Health Canada allows four claims of
this nature, providing the following conditions are met:
General conditions:
1) Identification of the strain: The Latin name of the microorganism (i.e. genus and species),
along with the identity of the strain of the microorganism.
2) Quantitative declaration: The amount of the probiotic microorganism(s) contained in the product
at the end of its shelf life.
3) Ingredient List: Foods containing probiotic microorganism(s) must be labelled with a list of
ingredients, and the probiotic microorganism(s) must be identified by its (their) common name(s) or by
a class name.
Specific conditions:
1) Eligible species (11): The product must contain one or more of the specific species listed in
Table 8-4 of the Guide.
2) Minimum levels in the product: The product must contain a minimum level of 1.0 x 109 cfu of one
of the eligible microorganism(s) that is (are) the subject of the claim.
References
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Methodology: Fifty-eight healthy Canadians were randomly assigned to three groups receiving either
non fermented placebo yogurt or BBe9 yogurt with BB-12 (109 cfu/ 100 g) and LA-5 (109 cfu/100 g) or
BBe10 yogurt with BB-12 (1010 cfu/100 g) and LA-5 (109 cfu/100 g) in a four-week intervention. Plate
count methods were used to evaluate total anaerobic bacteria, bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, bacteroides,
enterococci, enterobacteria and clostridia in feces before and immediately after the intervention.
Quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to estimate changes in B. animalis subsp. lactis, L. acidophilus LA-5,
bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and total population.
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