Chr. Hansen says it finalized a “ground-breaking alliance project” involving Fresh Beverages International. Officials say the deal makes it possible for producers of non-refrigerated beverages to add probiotics to their drinks.

For decades, consumers have turned to probiotic yogurt and other refrigerated dairy category offerings for the beneficial bacteria. Meanwhile, insurmountable challenges associated with the survival of the live probiotic bacteria in ambient beverages has meant that the non-refrigerated beverage category has always been non-probiotic territory.

“We are very pleased to be able to bring the powerful health benefits of our best-selling probiotic strain Bifidobacterium BB-12 to an entirely new product segment,” says Chr. Hansen’s Lars Bredmose, marketing director, Probiotic Cultures.

He continues, “BB-12 is one of the world’s best documented and most widely used probiotic strains. It is trusted by millions of consumers of dairy and food supplements all over the world to bring benefits in digestive and immune health—in an entirely natural form. The partnership with Fresh Beverages International offers a convenient way for beverage producers to offer probiotics in virtually any type of drink.”

James McCormack is managing director at Fresh Beverages International.

 “The Shinsen Cap is an easy-to-use dosing cap suitable for even the most sensitive ingredients such as BB-12 and other functional or sensitive ingredients,” he says.

McCormack says Fresh Beverages International has more than 10 years of commercial experience producing and developing dosing caps. He notes that Shinsen was developed in Japan and quite literally means “fresh” in Japanese.

Officials say Fresh Beverage International’s patented seal and gas flushing technology provides an air-tight, water-tight and light-limiting environment. These conditions provide optimal conditions for  functional ingredients, such as BB-12. The probiotic culture is kept fresh in the Shinsen Cap up until the point of consumption. Then a simple twist releases the probiotics into the beverage. As a result, consumers can now get the maximum benefit of the probiotic BB-12 in their freshly made beverage.

The combination of the unique Shinsen Cap and a patented formulation of BB-12 powder offers a shelflife of at least one year at ambient temperature, officials say.

“The long shelflife is key to entering this segment where distribution is independent of cooling chains and point-of-sale is outside the in-store refrigerators,” says Chr. Hansen’s Bredmose. “We believe that this solution combines the need for probiotics with superior clinical documentation with high stability and convenience.” – Chr. Hansen, www.chr-hansen.com