Table 1.
Probiotic products evaluated.
| Ranked product | Promised dose | Dose(s) at what time | Type | Probiotics in producta,b |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1.00E+09 | At time of manufacture + before expiration | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei (?), Limosilactobacillus reuteri (?), Latilactobacillus sakei (?), Ligilactobacillus salivarius (?) |
| 2 | 5.00E+09 | (?) | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of Streptococcus salivarius K12, S. salivarius M18, Bacillus coagulans (?) |
| 3 | (?) | (?) | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of L. reuteri (?), S. salivarius K12, S. salivarius M18 |
| 4 | 2.00E+08 | Before expiration | Lozenge | L. reuteri ATCC PTA 5289, L. reuteri DSM 17938 |
| 5 | 3.00E+09 | (?) | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of Lactobacillus acidophilus (?), L. reuteri (?), L. paracasei (?), L. salivarius (?), Streptococcus thermophilus (?), S. salivarius K12, S. salivarius M18 |
| 6 | 1.00E+08 | (?) | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of Streptococcus uberis KJ2, Streptococcus oralis KJ3, Streptococcus rattus JH145 |
| 7 | 1.00E+09 | (?) | Lozenge | Kluveromyces marxianus fragilis B0399, Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 |
| 8 | 1.00E+09 | At time of manufacture | Lozenge | S. salivarius M18 |
| 9 | 5.00E+08 | At time of manufacture | Lozenge | S. salivarius K12 |
| 10 | 7.00E+09 | (?) | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of L. paracasei (?), L. reuteri (?), L. salivarius (?), L. acidophilus (?), B. coagulans (?) |
| 11 | 2.00E+09 | At time of manufacture + before expiration | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of L. paracasei 8,700:2, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum DSM 6595, L. acidophilus (?), L. reuteri (?), S. salivarius K12, S. salivarius M18 |
| 12 | 8.00E+09 | (?) | Lozenge | Weissella cibaria CMU, W. cibaria CMS1 |
| 13 | 1.00E+09 | (?) | Powder | Proprietary blend of Lacticaseibacillus casei (?), L. acidophilus (?), L. salivarius (?), L. paracasei (?), Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus (?), L. plantarum (?), B. lactis (?), Bifidobacterium bifidum (?), Bifidobacterium longum (?), Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium breve (?) |
| 14 | 2.50E+09 | At time of manufacture + effective level (?) before expiration | Lozenge | S. salivarius K12 |
| 15 | 5.00E+09 | At time of manufacture + effective level (?) before expiration | Lozenge | L. rhamnosus GG |
| 16 | 7.50E+08 | At time of manufacture | Powder | Proprietary blend of Bacillus subtilis DE111, B. coagulans (?), B. bifidum (?), L. rhamnosus (?), L. acidophilus (?), L. paracasei (?) |
| 17 | 1.00E+09 | At time of manufacture + before expiration | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of S. salivarius K12, S. salivarius M18, L. casei subsp. casei (?), L. paracasei (?), L. plantarum (?), L. reuteri (?), L. salivarius (?), B. lactis BI-04, L. rhamnosus GG, B. breve (?), Bifidobacterium infantis (?), S. thermophilus St-21 |
| 18 | 3.00E+09 | At time of manufacture | Lozenge | Proprietary blend of B. coagulans (?), L. acidophilus (?), B. lactis (?), L. plantarum (?), L. rhamnosus (?), L. casei (?), L. salivarius (?), L. bulgaricus (?), B. breve (?), L. paracasei (?), L. lactis (?), S. termophilus (?), L. brevis (?) |
| 19 | (?) | (?) | Lozenge | L. reuteri (?) |
| 20 | 3.00E+09 | (?) | Lozenge | L. plantarum L-137 |
| 21 | 1.67E+09 | At time of manufacture | Powder | Proprietary blend of S. salivarius (?), L. reuteri (?), L paracasei (?) |
a
Products were ranked in descending order by live cells as determined by v-qPCR (Figure 1). Promised doses (CFU) were determined as the per unit dose of probiotic (a single lozenge or powder capsule). Several products instructed to consume multiple units to reach the advertised CFU dose, so the advertised dose was divided by that number to obtain the promised per unit dose. If a product disclosed a minimum dose before expiry, this was used as the promised dose instead of the dose at manufacturing.
b
(?): Unknowns in promised dose, time of promised dose and strains used.