Baby Nutrition Care

Yakult is the only probiotic product in the world that contains exclusive probiotic, Lactobacillus casei Shirota. Probiotics are friendly bacteria or yeasts that have been used for centuries as natural ingredients in health-promoting foods, and recent scientific studies support the many health benefits of probiotics. Today, more and more people worldwide are turning towards probiotics for healthy living.

Yakult is a refreshing fermented milk drink. Each tiny bottle of Yakult contains billions active bacteria of the strain Lactobacillus casei Shirota. This special strain of lactic acid bacteria is strong enough to survive gastric juice and to reach the intestines alive. It helps to maintain a healthy balance of the intestinal flora, important for good digestion.

How is Yakult made? A solution of skim milk powder, sugar and water is ultra-heat treated, then fermented using selected, live lactic acid bacteria called Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain. Flavours are added, and Yakult is then bottled and packaged.

Today, Yakult is sold in 27 countries, although its bacteria cultures are still imported from a mother strain in Japan regardless of production location. Yakult is marketed in different sizes. In Australia and Europe, Yakult comes in 65ml bottles. In the USA, 80 ml bottles are available. In Taiwan and China, it comes in 100 ml bottles.

Yakult can be taken by both children and adults. After 12 months, the child’s intestinal flora is almost identical to that of adults. Therefore, the amount of beneficial bacteria in Yakult will help to re-establish a balance of intestinal flora in children and adults alike.

Yakult can be added to cereals, smoothies, milkshakes, cheesecakes or any other cold foods. If the bacteria are subjected to extremely high temperatures they die, so do not add Yakult to hot foods or beverages.

In China, the total number of children sickened from dairy products tainted with melamine grew to 53,000. Nearly 13,000 children have been hospitalized and 4 have died. The root cause of this incident is that Sanlu and at least 6 of the other 22 companies that have produced milk tainted with melamine were exempted from government controls, because they were believed to have high quality standards, and with the obligation of carrying out regular checks on their own.

What is melamine? Melamine is a white, crystalline powder made from urea, a readily available raw material that is produced from ammonia and carbon dioxide. More than 95% of melamine production worldwide is used as a raw material to make amino-formaldehyde resins. In addition, melamine is known to be excreted in animal urine, and believed not to accumulate in the body of animals. When exposure levels are much higher, as was the case with cats and dogs, the melamine and its compounds appear to cause the formation of crystals in the kidney systems, resulting in kidney damage.

Melamine alone is of low toxicity, however animal studies have suggested that kidney problems occur when melamine is present in combination with cyanuric acid, a potential impurity of melamine. This combination has formed crystals in the body and was not fully dissolved in urine, the melamine gathered in the kidney, gunking up the organ and forming stones. The level of melamine found in the contaminated infant formula has been as high as 2 560 miligram per kilogram ready-to-eat product, while the level of cyanuric acid is unknown.

In 2007, melamine was found in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate exported from China and used in the manufacture of pet food in the US. This caused the death of a large number of dogs and cats due to kidney failure. By itself, melamine is not known to be highly toxic, so scientific investigators now think it is a mixture of melamine and another chemical—cyanuric acid—added to the Chinese wheat flour that is causing crystal formation in the kidneys of cats, dogs and other domesticated animals.