Yakult - Can you safely freeze it?

Legacy_user

My local supermarket always seems to have reduced Yakult for sale, but it's always on the last date before it's expiry.

Can anyone tell me if it's safe to freeze?

I've read stuff elsewhere saying you shouldn't freeze it as the unfriendly bacteria can multiply when it's defrosting??? Also does freezing kill the friendly bacteria?

Thanks

Toothsmith

I would guess that the little foil cap would more than likely burst off as the liquid froze. Don't know whether the bugs would survive the process.

janet_skelton

the bacteria probably wouldn't survive the freezing process, but then again they don't survivie the acid conditions of your stomach - so you could save even more money by just not buying these gimicky drinks that have little or no proven health advantage.

Ted_Hutchinson

janet_skelton wrote:

the bacteria probably wouldn't survive the freezing process, but then again they don't survivie the acid conditions of your stomach - so you could save even more money by just not buying these gimicky drinks that have little or no proven health advantage.

I think you need to visit pubmed and see how much proven research has already been performed on probiotics. It may help prevent you making a fool of yourself.
More info Prebiotics and Probiotics: What Are They and Why Should I Eat Them?
Don't forget that if you make your own yoghurt then you can also make your own probiotic variety in the same way.

janet_skelton

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

I think you need to visit pubmed and see how much proven research has already been performed on probiotics. It may help prevent you making a fool of yourself.
More info Prebiotics and Probiotics: What Are They and Why Should I Eat Them?
Don't forget that if you make your own yoghurt then you can also make your own probiotic variety in the same way.

I guess the jury's is out on this one then. I refer you to Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2003 Apr 1;17(7):895-904 where the authors report "RESULTS: There were no significant differences in mean gastrointestinal transit measurements, bowel function scores or satisfactory global symptom relief between the two treatment groups, pre- or post-therapy."
Additionally these data were collected where patients had been treated with large amounts of lyophilized bacteria - far more than in the commercial yogurt drinks. In fact a report I read recently was suggesting that some of these drinks had very little bacteria in them at all.
I guess you can pay your money and take your choice if you want to!

Ted_Hutchinson

janet_skelton wrote:

I guess the jury's is out on this one then....snip........... In fact a report I read recently was suggesting that some of these drinks had very little bacteria in them at all.
I guess you can pay your money and take your choice if you want to!

But if you grow your own as I do the cost of buying one probiotic which if you grow it on yourself and it lasts for up to six months isn't too great an expense. There are of course a few reports which are not wholly supportive but the majority are fairly convincing and as I keep pointing out if you take one probiotic and use it as a starter for your own yoghurt, you can continue to grow your own almost indefinitely.

naomi123

The "friendly" bacteria would survive the freezing process; however you might find that levels of undesirable bacteria would also survive and as they would be at relatively high levels before freezing (if the product was close to its expiry date) and would have more time to reproduce on defrosting you might find the product isnt so great from a food safety point of view- i.e. might give you an upset stomach.

Freezing dosnt kill bacteria it just stops it reproducing whilst the product is frozen.

Jo_anne_2

naomi123 wrote:

The "friendly" bacteria would survive the freezing process; however you might find that levels of undesirable bacteria would also survive and as they would be at relatively high levels before freezing (if the product was close to its expiry date) and would have more time to reproduce on defrosting you might find the product isnt so great from a food safety point of view- i.e. might give you an upset stomach.

Freezing dosnt kill bacteria it just stops it reproducing whilst the product is frozen.

The freezing process does kill bacteria, as the formation of ice crystals will lyse the bacterial cells, particularly when suspended in a liquid. It may not kill all bacteria but significant numbers will be lost on freezing. However, you cannot rely on freezing to kill all bacteria, e.g. in frozen chicken, but in a product such as Yakult you would lose a lot.

Ted_Hutchinson

Probiotic Culture Survival and Implications in Fermented Frozen Yogurt Characteristics Frozen yogurt can serve as an excellent vehicle for dietary incorporation of probiotic bacteria. Frozen storage of the product has little or no effect on culture
survival, and bacterial cultures remained at levels sufficient to offer the suggested therapeutic effects. Supplementation with probiotic bacteria has little effect on flavor or compositional characteristics of frozen yogurt.

May not be an exact equivalent of freezing Yakult but sufficiently similar to be worth experimenting if you can find some going very cheap. Be interesting to hear if anyone has tried using frozen Yakult successfully as a starter culture.

Ted_Hutchinson

janet_skelton wrote:

I refer you to Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2003 Apr 1;17(7):895-904

Isoflavones and Functional Foods Alter the Dominant Intestinal Microbiota in Postmenopausal Women
In conclusion, this is the first human study that shows changes in the diversity and composition of dominant bacterial communities in response to dietary supplementation with hormone-related compounds combined with functional foods.
Probiotics and allergy.

Increasing work-place healthiness with the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri