The Proactive Expansion of the Global Probiotics Council

In March 2004, Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd. (President, Sumiya Hori) and Groupe Danone of France (Chairman and CEO, Franck Riboud) agreed to set up the “Global Probiotics Council” in order for the two companies to work together to generate awareness for and promote the understanding of Probiotics.
It has been announced that two projects will be undertaken as a result of this collaboration.

Outline

1. Scientific exchange program

The Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research and Danone Vitapole are both engaged in the highest level of research on Probiotics and it is well known that each institution has certain areas where it excels. However, through collaborative research activities it is thought that an even higher level of research can be achieved; therefore, the Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research and Danone Vitapole have agreed to exchange researchers for one year in order to collaborate on an agreed upon research program.

1. Period of time: One year starting from September 2005
2. Exchange participants:
    (Yakult)
   

   Name:	Dr. Akira Kushiro (Senior researcher) 43 years old
   Affiliation:	Laboratory of clinical microbiology; Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research; 1976 Yaho, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8650, Japan
   Education:	Doctor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1990 Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University

    (Danone)
   

   Name:	Dr. Raish Oozeer 30 years old
   Affiliation	Vitavaleur/Probiotics and Culture, Group Danone Vitapole; R.D.128-91767 Palaiseau Cedex-France
   Education:	Doctor of Microbiology, 2004 Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Paris 11 Universi

3. Research themes:

   (Yakult)	Inquiry into the age-dependent change of intestinal flora using quantitative PCR analysis
   (Danone)	Measurement of MICs (Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations) and assessment of the safety of Lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacterium

    

Note:

1. Quantitative PCR
   PCR is an abbreviation of polymerase chain reaction. DNA polymerase is a key enzyme of PCR that duplicates DNA, and it is possible to amplify DNA more than one million times in several hours by PCR. The automatic analytical system of quantitative PCR that the Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research has developed enables the analysis of intestinal flora in less than one week, compared with 3 to 20 months using the traditional cultivation method. Dr. Oozeer will be analyzing the age-dependent change of intestinal flora using this machine.
2. Antibiotic resistance and safety assessment
   Heavy use of antibiotics causes the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, and resistant phenotypes are newly acquired or transferred. Bacteria with acquired resistant phenotype are not appropriate for use as food ingredients because they have the potential to transfer resistant phenotypes to other bacteria. It is well known that Lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacteria are resistant to some antibiotics. Dr. Kushiro is going to prove that the resistant phenotypes of them are intrinsic and not acquired, and then assess their safety for food use.

2. Co-sponsorship of a Probiotics symposium in the USA

Yakult and Danone will provide an educational grant, and the Harvard Medical School Division of Nutrition will hold the first USA Probiotics Symposium.

1.  Theme: Probiotics and Intestinal Health in Children
2. Date and Time: Sunday October 9, 2005; 19:30 to 22:30
3. Venue: Grand Hyatt Hotel (Washington DC)
4. Presenters and presentation themes:
   

   Opening	Allan Walker, M.D. (Harvard Medical School)
   Lecture 1	Athos Bousvaros, M.D. (Harvard Medical School) “Bacterial Colonization and Disease Prevention”
   Lecture 2	Jonathan Markowitz, M.D. (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) “Probiotics and Day Care Center Disease Prevention”
   Lecture 3	Cornelius W. Van Niel, M.D. (University of Washington School of Medicine) “Probiotics Applications in Combating Children’s Diarrhea”
   Lecture 4	Balfour Sartor, M.D. (UNC School of Medicine) “Probiotics Applications in Children’s Inflammatory Bowel Diseases”

5. Symposium format:
   
   • An educational symposium is to be held at the 2005 AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) National Conference and Exhibition.
   • The symposium lectures will be displayed on the Harvard Medical School Division of Nutrition website at a later date.
6. Sponsor: Harvard Medical School Division of Nutrition
7. Commercial supporters: Yakult Honsha Co. Ltd. and The Dannon Company, Inc., through an unrestricted educational grant

 

Note:

1) About Yakult activities in the United States
USA Yakult was established in 1990 with offices in Los Angeles and New York, and since then the company has been conducting product and market-related research. Starting in 1999, USA Yakult began sales mainly with Asian supermarkets (Japanese, Chinese and Korean) throughout the United States with its products being imported from Mexico Yakult. From 2005, USA Yakult has expanded its business to include Hispanic supermarkets in California.

 

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