Probiotic gummy manufacturer studies product’s stability

15-Feb-2016 - Last updated on 16-Feb-2016 at 16:15 GMT

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Florida-based probiotic manufacturer Viva 5 contends that a study of their proprietary process demonstrates the “long-term stability” of probiotic gummies.

Gummies are an increasingly popular format to deliver nutrients for supplement. Manufacturer Viva 5 announced that the process it developed, which allows “the addition of the probiotic into the gummy matrix, rather than as a component of the sugar coating,” the company said in a prepared statement has demonstrated high stability over an extended period of 18 months.

“When you put the probiotic into the coating (such as a sugar coating), you limit how much probiotic you can actually add to the gummy—typically in the millions of CFU/gummy,” Tony Corey, Chief Technical Officer of Viva 5, told NutraIngredients-USA. “More importantly, sugar starts to fall off the gummy during bottling, shipping and handling. The variation of sugar loss is hard to control, and therefore the viability of the probiotic in the gummy unknown.”

“By carefully infusing the probiotic into the gummy itself, using a proprietary process, we can increase the probiotic concentration inputted into the billions of CFU/gummy, maintain high uniformity of the probiotic in the gummy from piece to piece, and most importantly we can maintain viability of the probiotic through shelf life as demonstrated through our extensive accelerated and real time stability testing.”

“Probiotic stability is a big challenge in the industry and we are very pleased to see that our accelerated stability trend has been substantiated by extended real time shelf life studies,” Brian Baer, President of Viva 5, said in a press release.

Finding the perfect formula

“When we started developing probiotic gummies about 5 years ago, we recognized the challenge of adding a probiotic and maintaining stability,” Corey said.

“We spent almost two years identifying the best viable strain and then worked to incorporate adding it into a gummy delivery form using a unique gummy manufacturing process. We subsequently carried out a high number of trials to first confirm the recovery of the gummy.”

Once the manufacturing process was confirmed, the company initiated both accelerated and real time stability to verify the stability and shelf life of the product. “This extensive stability testing has shown that the probiotic in our gummies is stable for more than 24 months. In addition, Viva5 probiotic gummies undergo stringent quality testing at all phases of commercial production. In fact, every lot of probiotic gummies produced is tested at a certified third party laboratory to insure continued potency and freshness,” he added.

Another contender in the Bacillus coagulans strain

Increasing attention around probiotics has pushed both the supplements and food industry to develop and innovate many delivery formats.

One Brooklyn company is delivering probiotics in coffee, and Ohio-based probiotic manufacturer Ganeden launched a sort of seed accelerator program to award $25,000 and mentorship to a team that submits a novel way of delivering probiotics.

“With the growth of probiotic sales in dietary supplements, as well as gummy delivery forms, we expect to see continued high demand for our shelf stable probiotic gummies worldwide,” Baer said.

“Expanding delivery options for probiotics offers access to a wider group of consumers including the elderly and children, who may struggle to take products in a capsule form.”

“Our probiotic gummies are positioned as a dietary supplement and not a candy,” Corey added. “Thus, we have seen a dosage preference for gummies as they make taking supplements more enjoyable, and in turn this increases compliance.”