history of soy yogurt, soy acidophilus milk and other ... - SoyInfo Center

When Huegli bought Heirler and Yamato, Heirler put
half of the money he got from the sale back into Heirler and
half into Huegli in the form of stock. Mr. Heirler is now on
the board of directors of Huegli. Thomas talked with Mr.
Heirler at length in Dec. 1989. His thinking is very much
oriented toward the open market in Europe after 1992.
Huegli is basically a producer for the Reform House market.
His two brands are Neuco and Cenovis. The tofu used in the
Neuco tofu salads is not yet made by Yamato; it is probably
made by Witte Wonder in the Netherlands.
So West Germany’s two biggest tofu company’s will
probably soon be DVG and Yamato-Heirler-Huegli. With
the opening of Europe in 1992, some companies will
decentralize/regionalize their business for reasons of ecology
and freshness. Soyastern is too big for this. The other is the
path that Huegli-Heirler-Yamato are taking, by merging and
trying to distribute and sell products throughout Europe.
Heirler is the perfect company for expanding distribution
outside of Germany. They may be the best in Europe for
refrigerated distribution; they also have a little frozen
distribution. They now distribute some to Switzerland,
Belgium, Austria, and East Germany. After 1992 this
distribution will grow rapidly. Address: Bochumerstr. 92-
104, D-4270 Dorsten, West Germany. Phone: 2362-26801.
865. SoyaScan Notes. 1990. Use of Bifi dobacterium species
in dairylike soymilk products (Overview). March 15.
Compiled by William Shurtleff of Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: A growing number of soy yogurts, dairy milks,
and cultured milks (such as Yakult) in Europe, Japan, and
Canada are being promoted as containing species “Bifi do”
(pronounced BIF-uh-doe) or “Bifi dus” bacteria. Keum et
al. (1984) used Bifi dobacterium bifi dum as a starter for
soymilk yogurt with good results. Sakai et al. (1987) showed
that Bifi dobacterium breve grown on soymilk assimilates
the fl atulence-causing oligosaccharides stachyose and
raffi nose in preference to sucrose, and hydrolyzes galactosyl
compounds.
Talk with Brian Quigley of Canada. 1990. March 15.
These bacteria are found in the large/lower intestine of
newborn infants, but they gradually disappear a few months
after birth. If these bacteria are ingested by adults, they
supposedly go into the digestive tract, where they survive
and kill bad bacteria. By eating a food containing these
bacteria, an adult is replenishing his/her digestive tract
with a bacteria found there at birth but lost. Some studies
ascribe amazing benefi ts (anti-carcinogen, etc.) to this
organism. Chris Hansen’s Lab. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
has done extensive work on this organism in Europe and the
USA. They have worked with Yoplait in France and other
companies to develop good strains. Products now containing
the bacterium are often labeled “BA” or “Bifi do Active.” In
Japan, the bacteria are sold in pill form. Researchers at Laval
University in Quebec, Canada, have also done considerable
HISTORY OF SOY YOGURT & CULTURED SOYMILK 321
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research on these bacteria.
Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology (1984) lists
32 species of Bifi dobacterium, including the species bifi dum
and breve (p. 1424). “Distinction of two serovars have been
made. Serovar A predominates in the feces of human adults,
while B predominates in that of neonates (Reuter 1963).”
A search for the term “Bifi dobacterium” the MEDLINE
database from 1986 to the present lists 78 publications.
866. Sellars, Bob. 1990. The health benefi ts Bifi dobacterium
species in dairy products (Interview). SoyaScan Notes.
March 16. Conducted by William Shurtleff of Soyfoods
Center. [1 ref]
• Summary: Chris Hansen’s Lab was founded in Denmark
in 1874. Mr. Sellars has been interested in Lactobacillus
acidophilus and Bifi dobacterium since 1964, and has
done many experiments on himself. His lab has supplied
acidophilus to the health food industry since 1962. The
single best source of information on Bifi dobacterium
(pronounced BIF-uh-doe-, and called “Bifi do” for short) is a
1983 book by Rasic and Kurmann titled Bifi dobacteria and
Their Role. It cites most of the important studies.
The main benefi t of Bifi do is that it produces some
very benefi cial enzymes that help to inhibit the formation of
pro-carcinogens. But acidophilus also produces an enzyme/
compound which reduces or inhibits the azo-reductase and
nitro-reductase enzymes in the human body. Those enzymes
can produce carcinogens, such nitrosamines (pronounced
nai-TROE-suh-meens).
The species of Bifi dobacterium used by most people
are bifi dum, longum, adolscenpis, and infantis. His Lab.
makes a mixed culture product named Nu-Trish a/B which
contains the longum and the bifi dum. The “a” stands for
acidophilus, which resides primarily in the small intestine;
the B stands for Bifi do, which resides primarily in the large
intestine. This culture is not used for making yogurt. In
the USA the standard for yogurt requires it to contain live
Streptococcus thermophilus (pronounced ther-MOPH-uh-lus)
and Lactobacillus bulgaricus organisms. So Nu-Trish a/B
(which contains whole cells) is usually added to sweetened
pasteurized fl uid milk, which is not fermented, but is sold in
many supermarkets. In a fermented yogurt, the 3 organisms
in Nu-Trish would be antagonistic to the 2 yogurt organisms,
so it wouldn’t work well. The acidophilus and the bifi dum
found in newborn infants come primarily from the colostrum
in mother’s milk, but some may be found in the fetus at birth.
Both organisms are found in both intestines of the infant,
but (as noted above) acidophilus predominates in the small
intestine and Bifi dobacterium infantis in the large. Infants
gradually loose these bacteria as they mature. The Japanese
are very interested in these organisms for health reasons
because of the Yakult company, and Japanese consume more
of these bacteria per capita than any other nation. In Japan,
it is legal to promote the health benefi ts of these organisms,