Probiotic Straw Moving Closer to Commercial Launch

Australian-based Unistraw grabbed headlines in 2008 when they announced the development of an innovative, award-winning probiotic straw concept. Unistraw’s probiotic straw delivery system contains hundreds of UniBeads, which are housed within the straw.

Nov 25 2011 --- In what is being called an engineering and biotechnological breakthrough, Ganeden Biotech and Unistraw International Ltd., announced a global partnership to include the probiotic GanedenBC30 into Unistraw’s award winning probiotic straw concept. Beverage manufacturers can now provide consumers with probiotics to benefit the immune and digestive system in their favorite beverage products, without needing a refrigerated supply chain.

Australian-based Unistraw grabbed headlines in 2008 when they announced the development of an innovative, award-winning probiotic straw concept. Unistraw’s probiotic straw delivery system contains hundreds of UniBeads, which are housed within the straw. The probiotics in the UniBeads are dry, shelf stable and dissolve as liquid is sipped through the straw. With this method, juice, milk, carbonated drinks and water can all be turned into probiotic beverages that no longer need refrigeration and have a shelf life of up to 12 months. The straw is also recyclable.

Unistraw tested a variety of probiotic strains and found GanedenBC30 is the probiotic strain with the best stability to complement the Unistraw delivery system. Unlike other probiotic strains, GanedenBC30 (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086) can survive the toughest manufacturing processes, supply chain conditions, as well as stomach acids, making the probiotic both effective and efficient.

The survivability of GanedenBC30 can be linked to its naturally occurring layer of organic material that protects the genetic core of the bacteria. Other probiotic strains are unable to form this protective layer, making them vulnerable to failure in a variety of manufacturing processes.

“The probiotic straw is a game changer to the beverage industry because liquids that normally could not be enriched with probiotics and other nutritional ingredients now can,” said Tim York, Managing Director, Unistraw International Ltd. “GanedenBC30 is one of a very few probiotic strains capable of meeting the durability and longevity standards necessary for this concept to be fully embraced by beverage manufacturers. Milk, juice or whatever a beverage manufacturer can dream up, we can now provide an easy, cost-effective, on-the-go delivery system offers probiotic benefits not possible before.”

For Ganeden Biotech, the Unistraw probiotic straw is the latest in a string of partnerships where a beverage or food concept offering the benefits of a probiotic needed a stronger, more durable probiotic strain to make the concept successful.

“For years we’ve been showing beverage and food manufacturers that GanedenBC30 was the only probiotic that could survive their manufacturing process,” Mike Bush, Vice President of Business Development, Ganeden Biotech. “But Unistraw’s probiotic straw is a technological breakthrough in the beverage industry. We’re truly excited that GanedenBC30 is a part of this exciting program and will now be offered with beverage products all over the world.”

Unistraw will begin manufacturing its new probiotic straw from Q2 2012 with the straw available in a stand-alone format and also as an integrated product suitable for attachment to aseptic juice and dairy cartons.