Liquid Live Cultures

Christian Hansen, a global company producing natural ingredients for the food, beverage, dietary supplements & agricultural industries, has announced the launch of a lemon flavoured liquid probiotic product, in the form of a 10ml shot. The product will first be available in Italy later this year, and will then be launched globally in 2014. Christian Hansen have previously created liquid probiotics in an oil form, targeted at infants and children, but this good bacteria shot aims to reach a broader target audience. The new liquid probiotics combines the BB-12 bacteria strain and FOS fibres.

This winning combination of well researched Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12^® and FOS fibres are used in our 'Saccharomyces boulardii' product, for which we receive fantastic feedback from our customers.

All of this talk of liquid probiotics has got us chatting here in the Optibac office. Read on to discover our thoughts on a liquid probiotics, and the benefits of capsules, powders and liquids.

Will we consider a liquid probiotics?

Perhaps one day we would consider introducing a liquid probiotic, but for now we are sticking with our supplements in capsule or powder form. The most important thing for us is to use well researched bacteria strains, so if a liquid live culture looks like it has been very well tested to us, we will be the first on board!

What is the difference between capsule, powder and liquid probiotics?

Probiotics are in lots of different forms, from capsules to coffee! At Optibac our products are currently available in capsule and powder forms, and here we explain why.

Some liquid probiotics may not be stable at room temperature and require refrigeration, which may be less convenient for some people. They may also use a lot of packaging, particularly if the liquid probiotics is taken as a daily dose, which is certainly something we would consider. We give lots of thought to making our products palatable, and a liquid probiotics may require flavourings to be added to help improve the taste. At Optibac we pride ourselves on not putting any nasties in our products, and it may prove costly to find suitable natural flavourings.

You may also be familiar with probiotic yoghurt drinks available on the market. These may contains high doses of sugar or artificial sweeteners to again help them taste better, which is something we would be keen to avoid.

Probiotic 'shots' / make your own

If you fancy a shot of liquid probiotics, it is easy to make your very own from the supplements in our range. Our Nutritional Therapist Seher is a dab hand at this, and frequently offers customers a liquid probiotics shot by mixing a sachet of one of our products. The beauty of this is that you can mix the powder with any flavour you like to suit your tastes! As each of our products contains specific bacteria strains to target specific health conditions, you can choose the product that is best suited to you. It is worth noting that probiotic bacteria prefer an environment that is not too acidic or too hot, so bear this in mind when choosing your liquid - try to avoid orange juice, and ensure they are kept at room temperature. Follow us on Twitter to find out when Seher is in your local store and you can pop in for a probiotic shot!

Our Nutritional Therapist Seher is a dab hand at making probiotic shots

A number of Optibac products are in sachet form; Saccharomyces boulardii, One week flat and For babies & children. If you are looking for a more general daily probiotics, our For every day capsules can easily be opened and mixed with food or liquid. You can be safe in the knowledge that Optibac capsules and sachets contain no artificial sweeteners, additives or flavours.

Here at Optibac, probiotics is all we do. We are very proud of our products, they have fantastic research and we are really proud of our feedback from customers. We are always researching and exploring new ideas and if we think of a product that may be right for our customers, either a liquid probiotics, capsule or sachet, you will be the first to know about it.