Jumping on the band wagon, Kraft is getting into probiotics. I don’t know how good it will be but I’m sure I’ll try out the products just to see if they past the taste test. Here are some of the new line: Post Live Active cereal, Live Active cottage cheese and Natural Cheese Snack . Have you tried any of these foods? What were they like?
Germ Circus
Life With Germs
About Jennifer Angelo
The short story:
I'm a humor writer breaking into the bacteria humor business.
Click here for the long story.
Favorite Bacteria
Chlamydomonas:
(a genus of green alga) for its long graceful flagella (whip like arms) that are used in mobility.My RSS Feed
The Header: A Boy and His Dog
Zach, my neighbor (8 years old), holds Chewy, my puppy (10 weeks old). I asked Zach to let Chewy lick his nose. I took about 10 shots and this was the best one. After which Zach said, "That enough."
Germ Circus 
I pretty much stay away from anything made by Kraft, Post, etc. even with probiotics. I’ll stick to real foods. These “functional” manufactured food products are going to be the next big wave of highly processed foods, because corporate food developers can easily visualize big profits if they market their products using the latest probiotic research. I’m sure the public will lap it up though.
But like other convenience foods, something is lost in the “translation” and the cons will probably outweigh the benefits, like the flavored, sweetened, moussified “yogurts” sold in recent decades; they aren’t even great sources of probiotics and they bear no resemblence to real yogurt.
Anna, you’re probably right. Like Michael Pollan says, as packaging inceases, nutrition decreases.
Thanks!
Jennifer,
Scott over at Modern Forager blog ( http://www.modernforager.com/blog/2007/12/22/here-we-go-with-the-functional-foods-nonsense/ ) has a new post up about “functional foods” and fortified foods that, while not specifically addressing the addition of probiotics, does address the way corporations “dress up” their junk foods with added nutrients and beneficials in order to make new sales. You may find it of interest.
Thanks for letting me know about Scott’s site. I’ll take a look later today.
Scott’s site if very interesting and informative.
LOVED the live active ceral – 8 g fiber and it TASTES good!
Taste IS important!
I bought some of the cereal yesterday. I had a bowl last night (taste o.k. as far as packaged ceral goes). I woke up this morning with an unbelievable amount of gas working it’s way down. Ugh, I don’t think it’s this bad when I take a good probiotic.
Wendy,
Excellent point about the gas! I bet the commercials don’t mention any of those side effects! Maybe this is a potential source of energy to solve the crisis.
as we speak, i am munching on Liveactive mixed berry crunch cereal with PREBIOTIC FIBER and it is delicious..
Sarah,
Sounds delicious! I’ll have to try some.
You should use “pass” instead of “past” in your paragraph about probiotic foods from Kraft.
Hi
Found you by accident—interesting posts. But your favorite “bacteria”??? Im sure others have pointed out ( but in case not):
Chlamydomonas are NOT bacteria!!! Bacteria are Prokaryotes in their own kingdom (often shared with blue green algae). Possibly the source of confusion.
True algae including the green ‘Chlamy’ are Eukaryotes and belong in Kingdom Protists or Protoctista depending upon who is naming the Kingdoms of Life.
Big differences ( i.e.bacteria have NO cell nucleus, few organelles, no chlorophyll, etc) and as a sci ed consultant who tries daily to desperately raise the public’s science literacy I strongly feel that misinformation should be amended.
btw Chlamy was always MY favorite too!!! But for a bacterial fav, youll have to choose another cutie!!
be well and great site otherwise!!!
Finette
Finette,
what IS your favorite bacteria? Thanks for the info. Give me a couple of days on changing the post site. How did you find this blog?
Jon,
Thanks for catching my grammatical errors!
I actually found Post Live Active Harvest Nut cereal quite good…in fact, I had eaten it a few days a week until I wasn’t able to find it on the supermarket shelves recently. Has anyone heard about the recall of the Live Active cereal…apparently pertaining to the fact that it may contain “tree nuts”? If anyone has any info on this, it would be great!
I wonder if Post Live Active Harvest Nut cereal has been taken off the shelves.
there must be a way to find out.
Thanks for keeping us informed Karen.
I found it at Big Lots last week. The box misspelled “probiotics” as “prebiotics” which is why I figured it landed at Big Lots. But if it’s been recalled, I’m shocked it would be allowed to be sold even at Big Lots.
Pretty interesting. Perhaps the people at Big Lots don’t read labels as carefully as you do, Tati!
I wondered if the “pre” and “pro’ are just a typo.
I found my ‘mixed berry crunch’ at Big Lots too. At $2 bucks a box it looked like a bargain. It tastes great, however, I agree with earlier posts – the gas is a killer!!! My work day was torture – the bubbling and gurgleing never let up. Suggestion to all: eat it only if you work from home and live alone. Otherwise, be prepared for possible embarrassment.
DeeDee,
Thanks for the asute note. Maybe the box needs to have a warning: only eat if you work alone or are at home alone! Thanks for the comment.
just a suggestion: don’t eat it for supper…
(i woke up at 4am in agony – roiling, gassy innards)