Yeugh cult!

Everyone knows so-called 'probiotic drinks are sugar and water masquerading as health food.  And that great customer relations is about listening to what people are saying.  So how do you explain this - below - from the distributors of Yakult in response to my mate 'Nutters's’ complaint??

First, I'd better explain that the milkman left 24 free samples of this expensive confection at 'Nutters's' place of work.  'Nutters' didn't ask for them ... didn't welcome them and told Mr Yakult as much.

You will notice that Yakult's careful, official, line is not to claim health benefits, just the weasel words about ‘positive outcomes’.  I shall be following this up at some reputable sources, including Quack Watch and Bad Science. Watch this space.

Here's the official response:

Subject: RE: Yakult freebies

Dear ,

Thank you for your email; I am very sorry that you were disappointed with your recent free delivery of Yakult.

Just to give you some basic background on the product, Yakult was developed back in 1935 by a Japanese scientist; the product still contains the same unique strain of bacteria (Lactobacillus casei Shirota) and has remained largely unchanged in over 75 years. Yakult is now available in 32 countries worldwide and research on our strain and Yakult has been conducted all over the world, including several countries in Europe as well as Japan, India, Australia, Canada, Mexico and Argentina.

Yakult has research institutes in Belgium and Japan, and since the year 2000, over 160 original research studies on Lactobacillus casei Shirota have been published. (Healthcare professionals and the media can access our research at http://hcp.yakult.co.uk.) A broad range of positive outcomes has been reported in human studies, involving healthy people, people with sub-optimal health and disease. There is also scientific evidence to show that this strain survives and passes through the gut alive (an important probiotic characteristic).

The product was not developed to be a high volume ‘thirst-quenching’ or ‘tasty’ drink but as a way of delivering high numbers of our probiotic bacteria in a small volume drink. You are quite correct when you state that the sugar is in the product to improve its palatability; it masks the sour taste of the lactic acid that is produced during the long, natural fermentation of skimmed milk, the process by which Yakult is made. It is also necessary to keep the probiotic bacteria alive during shelf life.

I do hope that this information is of some use. If you would like any further info, please do let me know and I will be happy to help. If you would prefer that your work address is removed from our database, please do just let me know and I will alert our sales team.

Best regards, Sonya

-----Original Message-----

Sent: 19 January 2012 14:18

To: _UK Info

Subject: Yakult freebies

Dear Sirs,

The company I work at in Crawley, West Sussex, has just had a free 24 pack of Yakult delivered by our Dairy Crest milkman.

I would like to protest that the consumption of this stuff should be discouraged, and not marketed as a health product.

It contains a huge amount of glucose, fructose and sugar which alone would be enough to be a threat to your teeth.

I suspect there's so much sweetening because it would otherwise taste even worse than it does already.

How can you sell this and sleep at night?

kind regards,