LactoSpore chosen for Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt, with more product launches to follow

07-Aug-2012 - Last updated on 09-Aug-2012 at 08:07 GMT

Sabinsa’s LactoSpore has been selected for Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt, the world’s top-selling self-serve frozen yogurt brand, and consumers can expect more products with the probiotic ingredient from other companies soon, says Sabinsa’s marketing director.

Wellspring Industry, Inc.’s Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt is currently sold across the globe, and is the most recent ‘food product’ containing LactoSpore, said Shaheen Majeed, Sabinsa Marketing Director.

“We are very pleased to have LactoSpore included in such a popular product as Tutti Frutti,” he said. “There are number of companies which have included our LactoSpore in their products and are at the early stages of bringing them to market. There are other food products such as cereal products which are being tested for introduction to the US market.

“Other food products such as drink shakes and mixes, probiotic on the go stick packs, and probiotics in chocolate, are other examples that LactoSpore will appear in.”

The ingredient

According to the company, the ingredient is Bacillus coagulans, formerly known as Lactobacillus sporogenes, and it is a shelf stable (at room temperature) probiotic.

The ingredient boasts convenient storage and handling attributes. The strain is also said to not require refrigeration to maintain its reported health benefits.

The strain is in the sporulated form, and this enhances survival and proliferation in the gastrointestinal environment unlike vegetative cells that may be destroyed under these conditions. LactoSpore powder is standardized to 15 billion spores per gram although lower spore counts (e.g., 6 billion spores per gram) are also produced, said the company.

Tutti Frutti

Tutti Frutti is said to be the world’s top selling self-serve frozen yogurt, and is available in numerous countries, including Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, UAE, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Tahiti, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

“The taste and quality of our frozen yogurt is simply unmatched, so it makes sense that we would seek out a probiotic that will provide our customers with the benefits of the best, most stable probiotic we could find,” said Paul Lee, head of Wellspring’s R&D team.

GRAS

Sabinsa self-affirmed the GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status of the ingredient in 2009, and LactoSpore is one of the company’s seven self-affirmed GRAS functional ingredients.

“We certainly realize and understand that companies do have a 'need' or 'want' for 'FDA no comment' GRAS letter,” said Majeed. “We are carefully reviewing this process, as it is not required by law to submit to FDA our GRAS affirmations, since they have been assessed by an independent panel of toxicologist.

“Also, one has to consider the financial implications of submitting to the FDA, on the final per kilo price of the raw material. Will it be affordable to be added to many of the food products, where prices are being driven down? If the companies we work with can eventually afford the final cost of the product, then we'll certainly consider it.”