August 2006
Dannon Activia has cultures that last
A SPECIAL STRAIN Dannon’s Activia yogurt contains a trademarked probiotic.
The TV ad shows two college women, one ready to party, the other looking miserable. “I’m bloated, irregular,” she groans.
Her friend diagnoses stress and prescribes Dannon Activia yogurt.
The reason is probiotics. They’re beneficial bacteria that live in the small intestine and are present in many yogurts. They may help with some digestive disorders and could have other advantages. In a study described in the April 2006 online edition of the gastroenterology journal Gut, researchers found that stressed-out rats benefited from a serving of water containing certain probiotics.
Activia contains Bifidus regularis, a strain trademarked by Dannon that is not in its other yogurts. A few small studies suggest regularis creates some greater, um, movement through the intestines, but we can’t say it’s better than other probiotic bacteria. We can, however, address one boast: that it “survives passage through the digestive tract, arriving in the colon as a living culture.”
CR’s tests. We analyzed Activia and Dannon Fruit on the Bottom yogurt for levels of living probiotics, then we swirled the yogurts in simulated stomach acid (using a device called a stomacher) to see whether the bacteria survived as advertised. We also asked our expert tasters to compare vanilla and strawberry Activia with Dannon Natural Flavors vanilla and Fruit on the Bottom strawberry.
CR’s take. Our tests suggest that some of Activia’s bacteria get to the colon: About 3 million of the original 3 billion colony forming units of Bifidus regularis in a 4-ounce serving lived through the stomach-acid bath, and some other probiotic bacteria also survived from Activia and Fruit on the Bottom.
Our tasters said that all the products they tried tasted yogurty, with no off flavors. But there is one difference besides the bacteria: the price. Activia cost us 18 cents per ounce vs. 14 for the Dannons with a more pedestrian pedigree.
The reason is probiotics. They’re beneficial bacteria that live in the small intestine and are present in many yogurts. They may help with some digestive disorders and could have other advantages. In a study described in the April 2006 online edition of the gastroenterology journal Gut, researchers found that stressed-out rats benefited from a serving of water containing certain probiotics.
Activia contains Bifidus regularis, a strain trademarked by Dannon that is not in its other yogurts. A few small studies suggest regularis creates some greater, um, movement through the intestines, but we can’t say it’s better than other probiotic bacteria. We can, however, address one boast: that it “survives passage through the digestive tract, arriving in the colon as a living culture.”
CR’s tests. We analyzed Activia and Dannon Fruit on the Bottom yogurt for levels of living probiotics, then we swirled the yogurts in simulated stomach acid (using a device called a stomacher) to see whether the bacteria survived as advertised. We also asked our expert tasters to compare vanilla and strawberry Activia with Dannon Natural Flavors vanilla and Fruit on the Bottom strawberry.
CR’s take. Our tests suggest that some of Activia’s bacteria get to the colon: About 3 million of the original 3 billion colony forming units of Bifidus regularis in a 4-ounce serving lived through the stomach-acid bath, and some other probiotic bacteria also survived from Activia and Fruit on the Bottom.
Our tasters said that all the products they tried tasted yogurty, with no off flavors. But there is one difference besides the bacteria: the price. Activia cost us 18 cents per ounce vs. 14 for the Dannons with a more pedestrian pedigree.
