Yosa Organic Dairy-Free Smoothies

Finland, the home of the giant Valio lactose-free milk empire, continues to introduce dairy-free goodies on a regular basis. Yosa organic dairy-free smoothies were brought out last year and are being extending to the Swedish and German markets as well.

Yosa smoothie is a delicious combination of high-quality organic oats and organic fruits or berries. With its high content of fruits or berries, each smoothie is an excellent source of natural fiber.

Yosa smoothies contain plenty of living lactic acid- and bifido-bacteria also known as probiotics. Probiotics have been shown to:

increase the amount of beneficial bacteria in the gut
balance the digestion
boost the immune system of gut

The probiotics in Yosa smoothies have been a subject of more than 30 scientific publications. The health-enhancing effects of these specific bifido-bacteria have also been demonstrated in long-term clinical studies.

The smoothies come in mango-vanilla and raspberry red current flavors.

Yogurt and Probiotics - Part 2

Yesterday I told you that Dannon settled a class action suit over health and medical claims it made about its yogurts.

We've all seen the ads in which a glowing Jamie Leigh Curtis, the picture of 50-year-old health, smilingly spoons Activia while an off-screen announcer states that Activia is "clinically proven to regulate your digestive system in two weeks." Regulate is a code word here that means promotes a bowel movement in those with constipation. The collective twelve-year-old mentality of our humor community being what it is, more of the younger generation have probably seen the parodies of the ads on programs like Saturday Night Live than the original ads aimed at their parents and run during the national news programs along with ten thousand commercials for bladder fitness and erectile dysfunction.

Adweek reported that the ad campaign wrought the kind of health benefits on Dannon's bottom line that they could wish for in their yogurt:

In its first year, Activia sales soared to over $130 million, more than three times Dannon's original forecasts. The launch not only created a new powerhouse franchise for the world's largest yogurt company in the U.S., it helped drive one of the hottest new functional food categories: those containing probiotic ingredients.

Once we're past the cheap laughs, we get to the very adult issues of false and deceptive advertising. The lawsuit filed against Dannon claimed that:

Dannon’s own studies disproved the company’s boasts and that a study conducted by leading microbiologist and funded by Dannon determined in 2006 that there was "no conclusive evidence" of probiotics providing health benefits. The report, entitled "Probiotic Microbes: The Scientific Basis," was prepared by the American Academy of Microbiology, a leadership group of the American Society of Microbiology, the suit claims.

As another SNL bit asks, Really?

Really.

Under the settlement terms, Dannon will also change some language on Activia products, stating that the yogurt will help regulate the digestive system, IF eaten for two weeks and as part of a healthy lifestyle. The DanActive products will be changed from stating they have a positive effect on the immune system to "interact" with the digestive system's immune system.

DanActive had the word IMMUNITY in big capital letters on its bottles and was making health claims right and left. You can see it still on the DanActive site, although I don't know how long that will last.

If you were a DanActive or Activia user, you can sign up to get a cash refund at this settlement web page.

And maybe you should start saving those receipts if you eat Yo-Plus. The same Adweek article cited above also reported that on March 17, 2009, the same law firm

CSGR&R filed a class action suit in a Southern Florida District Court citing Yo-Plus' claims that its trademarked "exclusive" Optibalance bacteria cultures regulate digestive health in a way other yogurts do not.

Similar to language in the suit against Dannon, the complaint against Yo-Plus alleges, "General Mills has no support for these claims, even though it states that it does, going so far as to claim it has clinical proof. General Mills' representations are false, misleading and reasonably likely to deceive the public."

The suit further asserts, "General Mills' own studies fail to support this advertising message, and a number of them flatly contradict General Mills' claims. In fact, General Mills has never tested Yo-Plus for its ability to deliver the unique health benefits claimed in its advertising campaign."

Functional foods, foods with special nutrients or cultures added to promote health, are probably good for you in some ways, if you take care to watch that you're not just having a sugary treat disguised as medicine. The kicker is in the line that must be added. "IF eaten for two weeks and as part of a healthy lifestyle." The healthy lifestyle must come first. Functional foods aren't magic potions that substitute for doing right, exercising right, and eating right in the first place.

Do you really even need functional foods if you do all that? That's the $64 million question.

Lactaid Free Sample

I get it when a company decides to cross-promote its products. That makes sense.

Usually.

Benecol Spread is a functional food, one that adds plane sterol esters to reduce cholesterol. I mean, how many other butter substitutes are made by multinational pharmaceutical firms, in this case McNeil Nutritionals.

You know what else is made by McNeil Nutritionals? Lactaid. And Benecol is running a promotion in which you can get a free sample of Lactaid just by filling in the request form on that page.

But the weird thing for me is that Benecol is a lactose-free spread. Check this page.

• Zero Carbs
• No Trans Fat
• Lactose-Free
• Gluten-Free
• Kosher

OK, if you're avoiding lactose you may look for Benecol. Or if you trying for health you'll take Lactaid. Or something like that. It all makes perfect sense.

I'll stop making fun of them now. McNeil is one of the good guys. Lots of products aimed at us. Just remember that you don't need to take Lactaid when you have Benecol.

McNeil Nutritonals.

Organic Food Bar -- ONE

The new product Organic Food Bar -- ONE is "a bar more delicious than a morning muffin and loaded with beneficial probiotics to boost the immune system and promote good digestive health with ten times the active cultures of yogurt." Wow. That's prose so tasty it must have been baked up in a press release.

OK, I'll bite. The result seems chewy enough to serve to you.

Organic Food Bar -- ONE products are 100% certified organic and dairy- free and contain no preservatives, trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, refined sugars or Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). ...

Organic Food Bar -- ONE comes in three varieties: Blueberry Muffin Crunch, Raspberry Muffin Crunch and Chocolate Macaroon Crunch.

Organic Food Bar -- ONE Chocolate Macaroon Crunch contains a special component: Probiotics, or "good bacteria," improve the balance of one's intestinal microflora, which has been shown to promote digestive health and boost immunity. Organic Food Bar -- ONE Chocolate Macaroon Crunch contains ten times the active cultures of yogurt.
Organic Food Bar -- ONE will retail for $0.99-cents and will be available in your favorite health, grocery, convenience and drug stores nationally beginning March, 2009. Pre-orders are available by calling (800) 246-4685 or online at: http://www.organicfoodbar.com.

Diet Coke Not Functional Food

Functional foods are growing to be the next big food fad. Adding nutrients or probiotics, or claiming that they have extra nutritional value, makes a regular food "functional."

You know that this will be a huge fad because it is already being abused.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called Diet Coke Plus "misbranded … because the product makes a nutrient content claim but does not meet the criteria to make the claim."

Diet Coke Plus does have nutrients added. In the Atlanta Journal Constitution Joe Guy Collier wrote that:

Its labeling says that each 8-ounce serving provides 15 percent of the daily reference value for niacin, B⁶ and B¹² and 10 percent of the daily reference value for zinc and magnesium.

This is about as meaningful as adding a sprinkle of vitamins to a kid's cereal and then claiming that it's healthy.

Diet sodas are slightly better for you than regular sugared sodas, but mostly are expensive carbonated water. Nobody should have such a ridiculously unhealthful diet that a smidgen of nutrients added to diet soda would make a difference. It's total marketing hype and not worth your dollars.

Be a smart consumer and think about any "healthy" claims that products make. A label plastered across a package touting its wonderfulness isn't always going to be real. If a food really isn't functional, don't bother with it. And don't believe that functional foods will magically make you healthier. Only a good, balanced diet will do that.

Digestive Advantage Muffins?

I've been writing for the past couple of years about functional foods, foods that have probiotics - beneficial bacteria - added to them in order to create supposedly healthier foods.

And I've been writing for years about Ganeden, the maker of Digestive Advantage, a probiotic pill taken by many of us who are lactose intolerant.

I suppose I should have foreseen that the two would intersect at some point.

Still, it took me by surprise when I saw this article by Mary Vanac of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

A company in Mayfield Heights is marketing a probiotic that might help the health trend already accepted in Europe and Asia catch on in America.

It's selling its healthy bacteria as a food ingredient -- one that unlike most other probiotics remains effective even when it's baked, boiled, frozen or squeezed.

The company, Ganeden Biotech, has teamed with two dozen food companies since January to incorporate its probiotic in everything from muffins to health bars to energy drinks -- even ice cream.

Main Street Gourmet in Akron recently began adding GanedenBC30 to the raisin bran muffins in its Isabella's Healthy Bakery line under the label Activate: Probiotic Enriched Muffins.

You can't buy these muffins in Ohio yet. But foods with the GanedenBC30 logo could start hitting the shelves of local grocery and drug stores by early next year. ...

That's where Ganeden may have a leg up on many of its competitors. The company's patented strain of Bacillus Coagulans -- GanedenBC30 -- generally survives processing and digestion, and is stable in items on store shelves for up to two years.

So instead of drinking a few ounces of probiotic-rich Yakult dairy beverage every morning like Japanese people do, Americans soon may be able to get their daily dose of probiotics in breakfast cereal.

Yes, the not being available yet in stores part is disappointing. I'll keep following the story and let you know when and where they do appear.

Functional Food: Benecol Strawberry and Berries Drink

European countries in general are in the forefront of the manufacture of functional foods, foods that contain extra nutrients or claim to have healthy properties.

And the Finnish company Raisio Group owns the Benecol brand which is is marketed by Raisio Group, as well as McNeil Nutritionals and Cilag GmbH International, in more than 30 countries.

Every year Benecol offers more new products. Last year I wrote about Benecol Adds Tropical Fruit Flavored Soy Drinks.

This year's launch is for The Strawberry and Berries Dairy Free Drink.

Quoting that press release:

Esther Van Onselen, Marketing Manager for Benecol, said; “We’ve been really pleased with the first-year sales of Benecol Tropical Dairy Free Drink and it’s brought in new consumers to the cholesterol-reducing category. Strawberry and Berries is a popular combination that offers non-dairy consumers a tasty new way to take control of their cholesterol, through an everyday and easy addition to their diet.”

Over two thirds of UK adults have raised cholesterol, the number one cause of heart related problems. Benecol contains the unique ingredient Plant Stanol Ester, which is clinically proven to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol by up to 14% after just 2 weeks. Drinking just one bottle of Benecol’s Dairy Free Drink every day, in combination with a healthy diet and lifestyle, can significantly lower cholesterol to help maintain a healthy heart.

The new flavour dairy free drink will be available in all major supermarkets by the end of the year. Roll out will begin with Tesco, where the product will be stocked from 1st September 2008. The RRP is £3.69 for a six-pack.

Benecol drinks don't appear to be available in the U.S. yet, although other Benecol products are. Although I can't confirm all the promised health benefits claimed, I'm positive that these drinks are smarter purchases in the long run than the ridiculously overpriced and overpromised vitamin-infused waters that are the craze.

Dairy-Free GoodBelly

Functional foods are still mostly a European concept, even though American firms have been slowly introducing them for years.

For years also describes how long I've been writing about them, with the best definition found in an article I posted more than two years ago, quoting "Taking Soy Protein beyond Milk," by Henk Hoogenkamp & Paul Evers of Netherlands' Alko Research.

Basically, functional drinks are defined as a concept that provides a health benefit beyond the basic nutritional content by virtue of their physiologically active added components. Yakult Japan is not only the pioneer of the probiotic functional drinks but also still the world leader of the distinctive ‘one-shot size’ drink format. It has taken a while, but in recent years a wave of me-too products has been introduced by giants like Yoplait, Danone and Nestle.

A soymilk industry veteran is bringing a new class of functional food to the states. From the press release:

NextFoods, the new functional food company formed by Organic and Natural Products industry pioneer Steve Demos (Founder and former President of WhiteWave, Inc., makers of Silk® soymilk) and seasoned industry and former WhiteWave veteran Todd Beckman, today announced a $16 million investment, led by Seattle-based venture capital firm Maveron LLC. Maveron, co-founded by Dan Levitan and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, is investing in NextFoods and its new GoodBelly(TM) brand of probiotic fruit drinks ...

GoodBelly is the first fruit-based, dairy-free probiotic product of its kind in the United States. Licensed from Probi AB, a Swedish biotech company and a leading player in the field of probiotic research and development of effective and well-documented probiotics, the patented and proprietary probiotic Lp299v has been clinically tested and proven for 15 years to improve overall digestive regularity and promote immunity. With exclusive North American rights to Lp299v, NextFoods plans on continuing to work with Probi to expand the offerings in its NextFoods portfolio.

GoodBelly is currently available in two product lines – GoodBelly Probiotic Fruit Drink and GoodBelly Multi – and is distributed nationwide at 1,500 stores, including Whole Foods Market and grocery chains such as HEB, Publix, Wegmans and Giant Eagle.