Probiotic 20 Billion CFU

What this is. Live bacteria of the kind that already live in your gut. Taken daily for digestion and regularity, and often after a course of antibiotics.

20 billion CFU in one capsule, in a 317 mg blend. Two things the front of the bottle will not tell you: the panel is labelled as a 13-strain blend but names only 11, and it does not disclose how much of each one you are getting.

What you are actually getting, per 1 capsule

• Probiotic Blend (proprietary blend) — 317 mg, stated as 20 Billion CFU
• L. Acidophilus — amount not disclosed
• L. Salivarius — amount not disclosed
• L. Plantarum — amount not disclosed
• L. Rhamnosus — amount not disclosed
• B. Lactis — amount not disclosed
• B. Bifidum — amount not disclosed
• L. Fermentum — amount not disclosed
• L. Reuteri — amount not disclosed
• Animalis (printed on the panel with no genus) — amount not disclosed
• L. Paracasei — amount not disclosed
• B. Breve — amount not disclosed

Count them: the panel names 11 organisms, and one of those eleven is printed simply as "Animalis" with no genus in front of it. The blend is labelled 13-strain. We are not going to print 13 on a page when the panel in front of us lists 11, so we have listed the 11 exactly as they appear.

It is a proprietary blend, which means the 317 mg and the 20 billion CFU are totals for the whole blend. The individual amounts are not disclosed. One organism could account for most of the count and the rest could be rounding, and nothing on the panel would tell you.

Worth knowing before you buy

20 billion CFU is a normal commercial count — probiotic trials run anywhere from about 1 billion to over 100 billion CFU a day depending on the organism and the question. The count is not the weak point here. The disclosure is.

Probiotic research is strain-specific, not species-specific. A study is run on a particular strain with a particular designation, and a different strain of the same species is a different thing. This panel gives species names with no strain identifiers, so there is no study you can match this bottle to.

The panel also does not state whether the 20 billion CFU is guaranteed at the time of manufacture or through to the expiry date. Those can be very different numbers by the time a bottle reaches you, and only the second one is a promise about what you swallow.

How to take it

One capsule a day with water. Thirty capsules, so one a day is 30 days.

Other ingredients

Cellulose capsule. The shell is cellulose rather than gelatin, so it is suitable for vegetarians. The panel declares no allergens and states no storage or refrigeration requirement.

Cautions

Live-culture products deserve a conversation with your doctor first if you are immunosuppressed, having chemotherapy, have a central venous catheter, or are seriously unwell — there are documented cases of infection from probiotic organisms in people in those situations. If you are taking antibiotics, they will act on these organisms too. Keep out of the reach of children. Do not use if the safety seal is damaged or missing. Store in a cool, dry place. Do not exceed the recommended dose. If you are pregnant, nursing, under 18, taking prescription medication or living with a medical condition, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before starting this or any supplement.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.