Yakult

PRESS INFORMATION:
GENERAL BACKGROUNDER

That was then…
Yakult’s unique story originates back in 1920s Kyoto, when young scientist Dr. Minoru Shirota began studying Nobel Prize winner Elie Metchnikoff’s ground-breaking research into beneficial bacteria. Inspired by the potential benefits for intestinal health, Dr Shirota resolved to find a simple way in which ‘good’ bacteria could be isolated for general human consumption.

After many years of research, Dr Shirota succeeded in isolating a unique strain of beneficial bacteria, robust enough to survive in the intestines. He used this strain, Lactobacillus casei Shirota, to make a fermented milk drink – resulting, in 1935, in the first ever bottle of Yakult. Initially, Dr Shirota simply handed out his new drink to patients in his surgery. However, as word spread, demand surged – and in 1955, Dr Shirota set up the Yakult Honsha Company Ltd.

Working on a Healthy Society:
Dr Shirota believed that true health consisted not just of physical fitness, but of good mental, social and cultural wellbeing – a view he summed up in the phrase ‘Working on a Healthy Society’. This philosophy shone through in the way that he set up the company, from the revolutionary ‘Yakult Ladies’ delivery system to a wide programme of corporate, cultural, academic and scientific sponsorships.

This is now:
Fast forward 75 years, and today 30 million Yakult products are consumed every day in 32 countries worldwide. Yet the core product has changed very little – today’s Yakult still contains the very same Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain as isolated by Dr Shirota all those years ago. Each little bottle contains at least 6.5 billion of these unique and beneficial bacteria. In the UK, there are two products, the original Yakult (red packaging) and Yakult Light (blue packaging).

But why listen to your gut?
The gut is an incredible organ, containing some 100 trillion bacteria (the ‘gut flora’) – in fact, there are more bacteria in your gut than there are humans on this planet! And since the digestive system is the location for most of the body’s immune system, it’s important that a healthy balance of bacteria is maintained there.

Passionate about probiotics
Yakult is proud to be known as a ‘probiotic company’; science has always been at the core of the product. Dr Shirota himself established Japan’s Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research in 1955 – and today this renowned institute continues to investigate the benefits of the Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain, alongside a dedicated research centre in Belgium and hundreds of independent researchers in the UK and worldwide.

For more information or images, please contact Sonya Hayden – 020 8842 7616 / shayden@yakult.co.uk or Judith Ineson – 020 8842 7614 / jineson@yakult.co.uk