Naughty or nice food bugs: Probiotics

by Barbara Murray, December 18th, 2007, 7:00 am

Food manufacturers and their scientists have checked their lists (one hopes at least twice) and found some bugs that are nice, and they’re adding them to your food.  These nice bugs are called probiotics and they are bacteria similar to those naturally found in the human digestive system.

Touted as being good for what ails you — be it lack of mental acuity or irritable bowel syndrome — these beasties are sure to get you into ship-shape condition. No jogging, no treadmill needed. It’s so easy, just retire to your recliner and instead of chips and dip, down some yogurt, cheese, cereal, an energy bar or two, some juice, and — ooh, this is too good to be true — chocolate.  Airplane some probiotics into your toddler if you like; companies are adding ‘em to baby food. And, yes, Fido’s innards can benefit as well; probiotics are also found in pet food.

Food giants and their probiotic products include Kraft’s Live-Active cheeses; Dannon’s Activia and Generals Mills‘ Yo-Plus yogurts; PepsiCo’s Tropicana orange juice; Kellogg-owned Kashi’s Vive brand probiotic-enriched cereal; Nestlé’s Good Start Natural Cultures baby formula; Beech-Nut’s Good Night baby food; and Barry Callebaut’s probiotic chocolate. Energy bars, with brand names such as Attune and High5, are, for the moment at least, made by smaller companies. UK company Feelwell makes a pet food that is available online for probiotic-deprived pooches in the US.

These are just a few examples of probiotic-laden consumer items. According to Datamonitor, more than 150 products containing pre- and probiotic substances were introduced into the US market this year. That’s up from 100 last year and a mere 40 in 2005. And big numbers like these mean big bucks. 2005 saw the sales of “good bug” products reach $760 million in the US. That’s projected to reach $1 billion by 2010.

The US is just a beginner in this beneficial-bug brigade. Worldwide, probiotics are added to a myriad of foodstuffs, including some the US has yet to see, including beverage concentrates and mixes, shelf-stable desserts, milk, savory spreads, and meat products. There are sure to be more.

Now, probiotics occur naturally in foods like sauerkraut, pickles, soy yogurt, miso, and the fiery-hot Korean condiment, kimchi. But, what with the chocolate and all, it seems to be getting mighty crowded on our plates, bug-wise. The probiotic trend is a perfect example of the more-is-better mantra: Some bugs are good for us. Therefore, more good bugs must be better for us. I don’t know about you but it seems to me that it might be time to call the Orkin man.