Be wary of the high sugar content in probiotic-rich dairy products.
This advice was contained in a test report of the Consumer Council in collaboration with the ICRT (International Consumer Research and Testing) on yoghurts, yoghurt drinks and lactobacillus drinks. The samples were bought locally for the test.
All eight samples, without exception, were found to contain a level of sugar ranging from 10.5 to 14.8g/100g.
That is "a lot" of sugar according to the UK Food Standards Agency guideline which deems any food product with 10g or more of sugar per 100g to contain "a lot" of sugar.
Consumers are, therefore, advised to pay heed to the sugar content of yoghurt products and lactobacillus drinks which are generally considered to have beneficial effect on intestinal health.
Diabetic patients in particular may seek advice of doctors or dietitians on the intake amount of these products to avoid excessive sugar and calories.
Sugar is often added for taste enhancement as during production some strains of probiotics can produce lactic acid making the product acidic.
The test sought also to identify the probiotics that exist in these products, and to match the species identified with those claimed on the labels of the samples.
5 of the 8 samples scored a correct match on the claimed and identified probiotics.
But consumers may get more than what they ask for in the other 3 samples (1 yoghurt and 2 yoghurt drinks) which were found to contain more probiotics other than what were labelled.
Probiotics are, generally speaking, "good" bacteria defined by FAO/WHO as "living micro-organisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host". But this might be open to question by some in the medical profession.
Dietitians have suggested that fermented dairy products with probiotics support gastrointestinal health. The recommended daily intake amount is 1 to 2 billion colony-forming units; it is not necessary to take too much probiotics as any amount in excess will be excreted from the body.
Doctors, on the other hand, hold the view that there is currently no sufficient scientific evidence on the therapeutic effect of oral intake of probiotics or probiotic foods on intestinal disease.
The two most common probiotics used in the production of yoghurts and yoghurt drinks were Streptococcus themophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Probiotics also identified in the test were: Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus lactis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Bifidobacterium.
Consumers, however, hold no clue as to the concentration or quantity of probiotics present in these products if it is not labeled.
Indeed, the FAO/WHO has recommended that if a probiotic product contains a specific health claim, the claim should be supported by sufficient scientific evidence, and in which case both the species and the viable concentration of each probiotic present at the end of shelf-life (expiry date) should be clearly stated on the product labels.
Among the test samples, none of them contain a specific health claim, with only one indicating on the label the concentration of probiotics contained in the product.
Yoghurts, yoghurt drinks and lactobacillus drinks are required to be properly labeled as specified in the Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) Regulations. However, the labeling of probiotic species and viable concentration of each probiotic present upon expiry are not mandatory under the Regulations.
In general, yoghurt samples have greater nutritional value with more protein (from 3 to 4.5g/100g), and calcium (110 to 170mg/100g) than yoghurt drink and lactobacillus drink samples (from 0.8 to 2.9g/100g in protein and 35 to 98mg/100g in calcium.
Further, consumers are advised that yoghurts and yoghurt drinks are highly perishable dairy products requiring to be stored at low temperature of 0 ℃ to 4 ℃. This storage temperature was indicated on the labels of these test samples.
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