Yakult

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yakult Honsha Co., LTD

logo
legal form KK
ISIN JP3931600005
founding 1955
Seat Minato , Tokyo Prefecture , JapanJapanJapan 
management Sumiya Hori (Chairman)
Takashige Negeshi (President)
Number of employees Japan: approx. 17,200
Worldwide: approx. 31,700
Europe: approx. 140
sales 2.8 billion euros
Branch Food (since 1935)
Cosmetics (since 1971)
Pharmaceuticals (since 1975)
Website www.yakult.co.jp www.yakult.de

A Bottle of Yakult (2018)
Yakult glass bottle before 1968

Yakult ( Japanese ヤ ク ル ト Yakuruto ) is a drink made from water, skimmed milk, sugar and a special strain of lactic acid bacteria ( Lactobacillus casei Shirota ). It was developed in 1935 by the Japanese doctor and scientist Minoru Shirota and sold by the company Yakult Honsha Co. LTD.

For the European market, Yakult is manufactured in Almere (Netherlands). According to the manufacturer, the production capacity of the plant is 10 million vials per week.

history

The Japanese doctor and scientist Minoru Shirota researched lactic acid bacteria in the 1930s and discovered the lactic acid bacterium strain Lactobacillus casei Shirota , which was later named after him . In 1935 he developed the drink "Yakult" from it and introduced it to the Japanese market. The name Yakult is derived from "jahurto", the Esperanto word for yogurt.

Yakult was registered as a trademark in 1938. In 1955 his company was registered as KK Yakult Honsha ( 株式会社 ヤ ク ル ト 本社 Kabushiki kaisha Yakuruto Honsha ) as a stock corporation in the commercial register.

From 1964 to 1979, Yakult first expanded into other Asian countries ( Taiwan , Hong Kong , Thailand , Korea , Philippines , Singapore ). Other Asian and some Latin American countries followed. From 1994 to 2000 Yakult established itself in 9 European countries, starting with the Netherlands . Yakult was introduced in Germany in 1996 and has been available in Austria since 2005 . From 2002 Yakult opened several production facilities and branches in the People's Republic of China . Yakult has been marketed in the USA since 2007 .

Cosmetics have also been produced since 1971 and pharmaceuticals since 1975, but most of them are only available on the Asian market. Yakult has two research centers. The Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research was founded by founder Dr. Minoru Shirota founded in 1955 and has been based in Tokyo since 1967 . In 2005, the Yakult Honsha European Research Center was established in Ghent , Belgium . Every two years the International Yakult Symposium takes place with researchers from all over the world in different cities in Europe.

The company has also owned and named the professional baseball team Tōkyō Yakult Swallows (formerly Yakult Atoms), mostly abbreviated as Yakult, since 1970 . In Germany, the company founded the children's opera together with the Cologne Opera in 1996 and supports it as a founding sponsor.

Products

The company's core product is the Yakult drink, which has been around for over 75 years. In Europe it is offered as “Yakult Original” (red) and as a reduced-calorie “Yakult Light” (blue). "Yakult Plus" (green) with additional vitamin C has been on the market in Germany since mid-2013 . Yakult is a fermented drink made from skimmed milk . It contains lactic acid bacteria from the Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain . According to the company, a bottle of Yakult stored in a cool place should contain at least 6.5 billion Lactobacillus casei Shirota by the end of its best-before date .

In Asia and South America, Yakult also produces other fermented milk and yoghurt products with the lactic acid bacterium Lb. casei Shirota or with Bifidobacterium breve Yakult. There are also various functional drinks such as B. with gamma-aminobutyric acid or polyphenols .

Yakult cosmetics have been based on lactic acid bacteria since 1971.

In 1975, Yakult launched the first prescription drugs.

Composition according to the manufacturer's instructions

Yakult original

Ingredients:

Nutritional values per 100 ml Portion (65 ml)
Calorific value 280 kJ (66 kcal) 182 kJ (43 kcal)
protein 1.3 g 0.9 g
carbohydrates 14.7 g 9.6 g
of which sugar 14.2 g 9.2 g
fat <0.1 g <0.1 g
of which saturated fatty acids <0.1 g <0.1 g
Fiber 0 g 0 g
sodium 0.02 g 0.01 g

Yakult Light

Ingredients:

Nutritional values per 100 ml Portion (65 ml)
Calorific value 176 kJ (42 kcal) 114 kJ (27 kcal)
protein 1.4 g 0.9 g
carbohydrates 10.2 g 6.6 g
of which sugar 5.6 g 3.6 g
of which polyhydric alcohols, maltitol syrup 2.9 g 1.9 g
fat <0.1 g <0.1 g
hereof: saturated fatty acids <0.1 g <0.1 g
Fiber 1.8 g 1.2 g
sodium 0.02 g 0.01 g

Yakult Plus

Ingredients:

Nutritional values per 100 ml Portion (65 ml)
Calorific value 193 kJ (46 kcal) 125 kJ (30 kcal)
protein 1.3 g 0.8 g
carbohydrates 10.8 g 7.0 g
of which sugar 3.9 g 2.5 g
of which polyhydric alcohols, maltitol syrup 5.5 g 3.6 g
fat <0.1 g <0.1 g
hereof: saturated fatty acids <0.1 g <0.1 g
Fiber 3.2 g 2.1 g
sodium 0.02 g 0.01 g
vitamin C 18.5 mg 12.0 mg

Scientific classification of the advertising messages

Yakult used to advertise with various health claims and called the product "probiotic". However, “there is no evidence that foods with special bacterial cultures have a positive effect on health. Corresponding advertising claims have not been scientifically proven and may not be used for food. ”Yakult also advertised that the product made“ a valuable contribution to maintaining health ”. The company itself submitted an application to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that its bacteria contribute to "maintaining the immune system". The independent scientists rejected the application because it was not sufficiently supported by Yakult.

Consumer protection organizations and the media criticized Yakult's claims, especially with reference to the high sugar content of 14.2 g per 100 ml (for comparison: 100 ml Coca-Cola contains an average of 10.6 g of sugar). In 2006, the European Community launched the Health Claims Regulation, which came into effect on December 14, 2012 after a transitional period and only allows such health claims after the products have undergone a strict approval process.

Since then, Yakult has only advertised that the bacteria would reach the intestines alive. Since no effects have been proven in the intestine, Yakult makes no statement about what the bacteria are doing there. Instead, Yakult started a campaign suggesting that the bottles are "science, not magic"

credentials

  1. ↑ Children's Opera Cologne. Cologne Opera, accessed on August 28, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Yakult Beautiens Japan. Yakult Japan, accessed May 13, 2013 (Japanese).
  3. ^ Yakult Medical. Yakult Japan, accessed May 13, 2013 (Japanese).
  4. ↑ a b c Nutritional values ​​and ingredients. Yakult Germany, accessed May 13, 2013 .
  5. ↑ FOCUS Online: Promise of healing on the test bench. Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Food with special bacterial cultures (formerly: "probiotics"). Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b "Healthy" foods? | Hamburg consumer center. Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of a health claim related to Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota and maintenance of the upper respiratory tract defense against pathogens by maintaining immune defenses pursuant to Article 13 (5) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 . In: EFSA Journal . tape 8 , no. 10 , 2010, ISSN  1831-4732 , p. 1860 , doi : 10.2903 / j.efsa.2010.1860 ( wiley.com [accessed November 5, 2019]).
  9. ↑ Many foods only pretend to be healthy. In: www.tagesspiegel.de. Retrieved November 5, 2019 .
  10. ↑ NDR.de: Are probiotic drinking yoghurts healthy? , accessed May 30, 2014
  11. ↑ Yakult commercial | Yakult. September 14, 2015, accessed November 5, 2019 .

Web links

Commons : Yakult Honsha  - collection of images, videos and audio files