Bacterial Colonies in three Different Brands of YogurtMorgan Ashley and Gavrielle Filanova

What are probiotics?• Gram positive bacteria included primarily in two genera:

Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium

• “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host” -World Health Organization

• Eli Metchnikoff, the Russian born Nobel Prize recipient (1908) working at the Pasteur Institute was the first to observe the positive role played by some selected bacteria

• "The dependence of the intestinal microbes on the food makes it possible to adopt measures to modify the flora in our bodies and to replace the harmful microbes by useful microbes" –Eli Metchnikoff

Probiotics in Food• For use in foods, probiotic microorganisms

should:

• Be capable of surviving passage through the digestive tract & have the capability to proliferate in the gut

• This means they must be resistant to gastric juices and be able to grow in the presence of bile & under conditions in the intestines

OR

• Be consumed in a food vehicle that allows them to survive passage through the stomach and exposure to bile.

Health benefits of probiotics• Probiotics play very important

roles in regulating proper intestinal function and digestion by balancingintestinal microflora

• Current probiotic research is beingconducted on on the gut microbiome’s implications on digestion, immunity, brain function, and restoration of healthy gut bacteria depleted by antibiotics

• Infants and children with viral gastroenteritis seem to derive the most benefit from probiotics

Who here consumes yogurt?What factors do you consider when purchasing yogurt?

• Price?

• Advertisement of quality & health benefits? (protein & probiotic content)

• Brand names?

Do you get what you pay for?Pros Cons

The more expensive name brand

Name brands and advertisements indicate that it must be of higher quality, and therefore confer more health benefits

More expensive

The less expensive store brand

The lower price indicates that it may be of lower quality, and may not confer the same health benefits

Less expensive

Our Question & Hypothesis• Q= Is there a difference in bacteria counts between three

different brands of yogurt?

• H- There will be a difference in the number/ density of bacteria between three different yogurt brands.

The Three Brands

• 1= Activia

• 2= Price Chopper (generic brand)

• 3= Chobani

The Experiment: Materials• 15 Agar plates were poured• Divided into 3 groups; 5 plates for each yogurt brand

• Three 99 mL bottles of distilled water

• 0.01 mL of each brand of yogurt

The Experiment: Methods• 0.01mL of each yogurt was pipetted into 99mLs distilled water

• The glass bottles of diluted yogurt were shaken well

The Experiment: Methods• 0.1mL of diluted yogurt was pipetted onto each agar plate and

spread throughout using an “L” shaped glass cell spreader

• In between each transfer of diluted yogurt, the glass cell spreader was sterilized using acetone and a flame

The Experiment: Methods

• The plates were incubated at 25°C for 5 days

• The CFUs were counted using a counting pen

ResultsSource df F Sig. Partial Eta Squared

Yogurt2 17.1 0.001 .773

Corrected Total 12

The o.oo1 significance indicates that there is a significant difference between the brands of yogurt, and the odds that our findings occurred by change are very low.

Table 4. Tukey post hoc Analysis of Yogurts (I) Yogurt (J) Yogurt Mean Difference (I-

J)

Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval

Lower Bound Upper Bound

PC Generic Brand

Activia608.4000* 111.16546 .001 303.6627 913.1373

Chiobani50.6000 96.27211 .861 -213.3103 314.5103

Activia

PC Generic Brand-608.4000* 111.16546 .001 -913.1373 -303.6627

Chiobani-557.8000* 111.16546 .001 -862.5373 -253.0627

Chiobani PC Generic Brand-50.6000 96.27211 .861 -314.5103 213.3103

Colony Forming Units of Bacteria in Activia, Price Chopper Brand, and Chobani Yogurt

Conclusions• Statistically significant differences in CFUs include the

differences between: Activia vs. Chobani & Activia vs. Price Chopper Brand

• The difference in CFUs between Price Chopper Brand vs. Chobani was not found the be statistically significant

• Activia was found to have the lowest bacteria count

• Price Chopper brand was found to have the highest bacteria count

You may not always get what you pay for!

• Activia price: ___ oz yogurt costs – cost per oz

• Chobani price: ___ oz of yogut costs – cost per oz

• Price Chopper brand price: __ oz of yogurt costs – cost per oz

Activia Lawsuit • In February, 2010 a class action settlement

reached in federal court ruled that Dannon must pay consumers up to $45 million in damages for exaggerated health claims

• Under terms of the settlement, Dannon mustremove the words "clinically" and "scientifically proven" from product labels and advertisements of Activia yogurt

• In their place, the words "clinical studies show," or something similar, must be substituted.

• "This was a disingenuous advertising campaign that promised something that hasn't been proven," Dr. Roshini Rajapaksa,, a gastroenterologist, told ABC News.

• "Dannon stands by its advertising and denies it did anything wrong.”

References• World Health Organization &Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations. Report of a joint fao/who expert consultation on evaluation of health and nutritional properties of probiotics in food including powder milk with live lactic acid bacteria. (2001, October). Retrieved from http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs_management/en/probiotics.pdf

• McMullen, T. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Business/dannon-settles-lawsuit/story?id=9950269