Morinaga Milk’s LAC-Living+ postbiotic achieves self-affirmed GRAS in US
Key takeaways
- Morinaga Milk Industry achieved self-affirmed GRAS status for LAC-Living+, expanding its availability for US foods, beverages, and supplements.
- The ingredient remains stable under heat and moisture, allowing manufacturers to easily use it in diverse products like gummies and bars.
- Developed to address emerging consumer interest in mental well-being and the gut-brain axis, LAC-Living+ is designed to support mood and mental health.
Japanese dairy and functional ingredients supplier Morinaga Milk has published its self-affirmed GRAS status in the US for its proprietary postbiotic ingredient LAC-Living+ (Lactobacillus helveticus MCC1848). This move expands the commercial availability of LAC-Living+ for US-sold dietary supplements, functional foods, and beverages.
As a postbiotic ingredient, LAC-Living+ maintains stability under conditions that may compromise live microorganisms. This includes exposure to heat processing, moisture, and extended shelf life environments, making it suitable for a wide variety of applications.
These traits also offer manufacturers greater flexibility in formulation design, supporting formulation across categories including ready-to-drink beverages, powders, bars, gummies, dairy products, and supplements.
Morinaga Milk Industry highlights that consumer interest in proactive health management has significantly expanded in recent years, in line with rising awareness of the connection between the gut and the brain, widely known as the gut-brain axis.
“Achieving self-affirmed GRAS status for LAC-Living+ marks an important milestone for our postbiotic portfolio,” says Masashi Kamiya, general manager of Functional Food Ingredients Division at Morinaga Milk.
“With increasing interest in mental well-being and convenient health solutions, we believe LAC-Living+ offers strong potential to support our partners in developing innovative products tailored to evolving consumer needs.”
Postbiotics gain traction
The global functional ingredient market is evolving beyond conventional probiotics to include postbiotics — non-viable microorganisms and their components that offer physiological benefits.
Morinaga Milk highlights that postbiotics are gaining ground due to their stability, safety, and ease of formulation, particularly in product formats that are challenging for live microorganisms.
From an industry angle, ADM previously spoke about how “postbiotics are critical” due to their formulation resilience. The supplier highlighted its own L. gasseri CP2305 as an example of a clinically validated, next-generation biotic, implying benefits across mood, stress, and sleep — three deeply interconnected pillars of wellness.”
In 2018, Morinaga Milk Industry achieved self-affirmed GRAS status for its first postbiotic ingredient, LAC-Shield (L. paracasei MCC1849). As the company’s second postbiotic innovation, LAC-Living+ was developed to address emerging consumer needs in the area of mood and mental well-being.
Morinaga activities
In other recent developments at Morinaga Milk, the company released joint research findings together with Japan-based scientists to investigate the effects of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 consumption in male athletes following a high-protein diet. These diets may disturb the gut environment and increase body-odor-related metabolite production, such as gases, sweat, and other body smells.
Last May, the Japanese dairy producer launched a new maternal milk formula, Mori-Mama, developed to support women during preconception, pregnancy, and lactation.
