Kerry reveals mass understanding of probiotic health despite social media myths

06 Nov 2019 --- A large proportion of international consumers now understand the role of probiotics in digestive health, with numbers ranging from 56 percent of Chinese consumers to 79 percent of US respondents. This is according to a white paper from Kerry Group-owned Ganeden, which investigates the changing perceptions around gut health. However, much of this information is coming from unchecked sources on the internet, meaning consumers are vulnerable to “fake news” and other malicious content.

“As consumers become more interested in digestive health, they increasingly go online to learn more. It’s definitely not the case that all the information about gut health out there is accurate – there are still a lot of myths around. The most common is that all probiotic strains are the same when, in fact, each is unique, with its own distinct characteristics. These properties can influence safety, efficacy and suitability for particular applications,” John Quilter, Vice-President and General Manager of ProActive Health at Kerry, tells NutritionInsight.

He notes that over the past five years, the number of google searches for “gut health” has grown by 669 percent, with the largest leap occurring earlier this year. Over the same period, the number of searches for “microbiome” and “gut-brain axis” grew by 267 percent and 204 percent, respectively.

Last month, a speaker from NewtritionX Summit 2019 also flagged the dangers of the dissemination of false information on social media. “As we are speaking about a science here, it needs to be about facts,” said Dr. Simone Frey.

However, the Kerry survey of over 11,000 consumers across 14 countries found that a large amount of participants had at least some correct information. When asked which health benefits they associated with probiotics, respondents demonstrated particularly high levels of understanding of their importance to gut wellness. 

“From existing research, we already knew that probiotics score highly on name recognition. What’s perhaps slightly surprising about our new findings is the extent of knowledge about their specific benefits – especially for digestive health – and the fact that the same pattern occurs in different global markets,” notes Quilter. 

While around 72 percent of UK consumers who were aware of cultures – a term sometimes used to describe probiotics – were able to correctly identify their benefits for digestive health, this rose to 79 percent in the US. Meanwhile, 56 and 67 percent of Chinese and Brazilian consumers, respectively, who were already aware of probiotics could understand their benefits for digestive health.

There were also some further regional differences, with four in ten US consumers stating that they would be interested in purchasing milk and non-dairy drinks if they offered digestive health benefits – higher than the global average of 32 percent. In Latin America, meanwhile, 61 percent said they would be interested in purchasing yogurt and yogurt-based drinks with a digestive health benefit, compared to 48 percent globally.

Consumers are increasingly prepared to take action when it comes to their health generally.Influencing purchasing habits
Interestingly, despite US consumers having more knowledge about probiotics than Chinese consumers, only a third had used probiotic-containing products over the last month, in comparison to half of the Chinese respondents. However, consumers globally have high levels of demand for products with digestive health benefits, and not just in traditional categories such as yogurt.

Four in ten (39 percent) of respondents globally said they would be interested in purchasing fruit and vegetable juices if they contained ingredients that promoted digestive health. More than a third (35 percent) would be interested in buying cereals containing ingredients with digestive health benefits.

“There are many drivers for interest in the digestive health space simply that digestive health problems are so widespread now. Across the world, 15 percent of consumers say they are unsatisfied with their current digestive health situation, while around one in four US consumers suffers digestive health issues every day,” notes Quilter.

He adds that another key factor is that consumers are increasingly prepared to take action when it comes to their health generally. Globally, 42 percent of consumers say they proactively seek out products that can improve their health and 47 percent say they react to health problems when they arise.

Consumers also have clear preferences for delivery formats for health-enhancing ingredients. Eighty-five percent named food and 57 percent named drink. This is in comparison to just 23 percent for pills or tablets, 11 percent for candy or gum and 9 percent for powder.

Quilter highlights that probiotic ingredient GanedenBC30 appeals to this demand. As the spore-forming probiotics can survive almost any manufacturing process, they can be incorporated into products in most food and beverage categories.

High numbers of the consumers surveyed said they would purchase products containing GanedenBC30, or switch brands to another product containing it. In China, for example, 95 percent of consumers would definitely or probably buy a product containing GanedenBC30 and 73 percent would switch to a different brand if their usual one was not available with GanedenBC30.

“One of the biggest changes in the probiotic space has been the huge increase in the range of applications for probiotics. GanedenBC30 now features in over 750 leading food and beverage products around the world and the range goes beyond categories traditionally associated with probiotics, like yogurt. In fact, it now includes almost any everyday product you can think of – everything from coffee to peanut butter,” Quilter concludes. 

Earlier this year, another Kerry report found that while 85 percent of consumers are interested in buying products with digestive health benefits, only 45 percent actually do. The company then identified the traditional pattern of breakfast, lunch and dinner as a potential key to boosting digestive health markets.

By Katherine Durrell