How can a drinking straw support your immune and digestive systems? It’s not possible, right? Well, it is now! No longer just a convenient way to get liquids from carton to mouth, drinking straws now deliver the healthy benefits of probiotics.

In 2008, Australian-based Unistraw created an innovative, award-winning probiotic drinking straw. Each straw contains hundreds of UniBeads that dissolve as liquid is sipped through the straw.

Until now, no probiotic was hardy enough to survive on the shelf for 12 months and then dissolve as liquid is sipped through the straw. When Unistraw tested GanedenBC³⁰ probiotics in their straws, they found it worked perfectly. Today, each UniBead contains GanedenBC³⁰ probiotics.

This gives beverage manufacturers an easy, cost-effective way to deliver the goodness of probiotics no matter how acidic their liquid beverages. It’s environmentally friendly too: the straws are recyclable.

Unistraw will begin manufacturing its new probiotic straw in 2012, and will market it in a stand-alone format or as an attachment to juice and dairy cartons.

Could your beverages benefit from this unique probiotic delivery method? Contact us to find out.

Body builders and other professional athletes know that Gaspari sports nutrition products are simply the best on the market. Rich Gaspari, a former professional body builder, winner of the Mr. America and Mr. Universe titles, started Gaspari Nutrition because he wanted to make existing sports nutrition products better.

Gaspari’s drive for quality and excellence resulted in MyoFusion®, a protein drink for professional and amateur body builders and athletes that not only worked – it tasted good, too. Body builders rely on protein drinks to help achieve lean muscle mass and improve energy and endurance. Existing protein drinks at the time tasted terrible!

But times change, Gaspari says, and so should a protein drink’s formulation. Once he heard about probiotics, Gaspari did his research – and partnered with Ganeden to include GanedenBC³⁰ for a completely reformulated MyoFusion protein drink. (You can learn more about the partnership in this Gaspari Nutrition video.)

“The MyoFusion Probiotic Series is formulation excellence,” Gaspari said in recent commercial, now live on the company’s Website and YouTube. “Very few protein powders on the market incorporate probiotics,” he adds.

Gaspari considered a variety of probiotics before he determined that GanedenBC³⁰ was the only one strong enough to meet the company’s stringent needs.

We’re very excited about this partnership – and that Gaspari Nutrition, a company known for product excellence, is including the Ganeden brand name in its advertising.

MyoFusion Probiotic Series is currently available at GNC stores nationwide.

Who knew our shy, quiet, working-in-the-background probiotic GanedenBC³⁰ was such an exhibitionist?

With only a pizza box and pepperoni slice for cover, GanedenBC³⁰ is one ingredient in the pizza dough of New Orleans’ based Naked Pizza. One of the world’s hottest and fastest growing franchises, Naked Pizza has taken pizza out of the junk food/fast food category with its emphasis on healthy ingredients. For them, naked means natural.

Naked Pizza’s pizzas have fewer calories, more protein, and no additives, preservatives, or colorants. Instead of your typical white flour crust, Naked Pizza’s version is made with ten grains, pre-biotic fiber, and our heat-resistant GanedenBC³⁰ probiotic. The result? A crust that is digested more slowly, resulting in a reduced glycemic response—suitable even for a diabetic diet. In addition, the fiber content of the crust leaves you feeling fuller, longer, so you’re less likely to over eat.

Naked Pizza wasn’t always naked. Originally called World’s Healthiest Pizza, it started as a tiny pizza shop operating in New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the area and the pizza shop, the owners decided to regroup and rebrand.

Partnering with a marketing company dedicated to helping small businesses rebound in the hurricane’s aftermath, the owners changed the company name, engaged social media, and selected healthy, natural ingredients to make a great-tasting, nutritious pizza.

Now with locations opening across the U.S., people everywhere are getting naked. They’ve even opened a new location in Dubai—although they changed the name to N_K_D Pizza for cultural reasons.

How much interest is Naked Pizza generating? They recently celebrated the opening of their first New York City store by delivering pizzas to MSNBC’s Today show. Show host Kathie Lee Gifford touted the benefits of its tasty and nutritious multi-grain crust to a national audience.

Want to check out Naked Pizza for yourself? Have a look at their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter @NakedPizza. Or better yet, order one in and enjoy. And if you’re feeling shy, just close your eyes.

The next time you strut down the grocery aisle, your eye may be drawn to the widely growing section of probiotic fortified foods and beverages. During the What’s Your Probiotic Profile session sponsored by Ganeden at the 2012 Pre-&Probiotics Virtual Conference on Feb. 1, Ganeden’s vice president of business development Mike Bush and Glenn Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology and Head of Food Microbial Sciences at the University of Reading in England, broke down the benefits of probiotics and looked the many uses companies and brands have utilized probiotics for.

That’s all fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, it’s about how you walk the walk, not talk the talk. So, this is how Ganeden Biotech makes GanedenBC³⁰ work for more than 50 food and beverage products worldwide.

1. Go after mainstream items: It’s important to understand consumers’ wants and needs, especially when making the decision to incorporate probiotics into the mix.  Go after products individuals desire and consume on a regular basis such as Red Mango frozen yogurt, Naked Pizza pizza and MyoFusion, a protein powder blend by Gaspari Nutrition. By doing so, consumers are getting the product they want and the benefits they need.
2. Create awareness: Simply slapping on a label notifying individuals that a given product contains probiotics isn’t sufficient enough when it comes to education and raising awareness. You have to go about and beyond and explain to consumers what probiotics are, how they function and how they are beneficial.  By doing so, you’re not only helping your consumers know what they are putting into their bodies, you’re also establishing your credibility.
3. Deliver results: You must be able to back up your claims. It’s as simple as that. Never settle for subpar work and always strive to keep learning and researching. As mentioned before, this builds credibility and proves to the public you’re an influencer and opinion leader in the probiotic, food and beverage industries.

There you have it—how Ganeden applies GanedenBC³⁰ to various foods and beverages and establishes relationships with strong, successful brands. For a complete list of GanedenBC³⁰ partners, click here.

The 2012 Pre-&Probiotics Virtual Conference can be a bit overwhelming with the amount of information you have access to. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Here’s an outline of what you can expect from Ganeden’s sponsored session, What’s Your Probiotic Profile on Wednesday, Feb. 1 beginning at 12 p.m.

• What are probiotics?
• Supporting research
• Functions—how do they work?
• The benefits
• Probiotic trends
• Which products contain probiotics?
• Probiotic consumption methods
• Key messages consumers want to know and how you can teach them

We hope you grasp all key points covered in this session and that you will effectively be able to apply these tips and information to your food and beverage products, bringing probiotic goodness to all.

Two of the top opinion leaders in the probiotics industry will present a tell-all on the functions, benefits and appeals of probiotics in What’s Your Probiotic Profile. Who are these individuals you may ask. These probiotics gurus are Glenn R. Gibson, the current President of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) and Ganeden’s own Mike Bush, a board member of the International Probiotics Association (IPA).

Get to know Glenn:

Glenn Gibson is one of the world’s leading probiotic experts with more than 15 years of experience in the field of microbiology. He is Professor of Food Microbiology and Head of Food Microbial Sciences at the University of Reading in England. Glenn has published eight books, authored more than 200 research papers and holds 10 patents. Not only is he the current President, he is also one of the founding members of ISAPP.

Get to know Mike:

Mike Bush is the Vice President of Business Development at Ganeden Biotech, Inc. With nearly 20 years of industry experience, Mike overseas all licensing and new business development efforts. Since establishing Ganeden’s licensing division in 2006, Bush has seen GanedenBC³⁰ added to more than 50 food and beverage products from nationally-recognized companies. Currently, Mike serves on the Board of Directors for the IPA and is active in regional and economic development and entrepreneurial education initiatives.

These two individuals prove their experiences and expertise about probiotics will help others understand and use them to improve wellness and quality of life worldwide.

Ganeden’s very own vice president of business development Mike Bush will serve as one of the 22 expert speakers at this year’s Pre-&Probiotics Virtual Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 1. For those out of the loop, the free, online conference focuses on food and beverage ingredients for gut and health immunity.

Bush and Glenn R. Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology and Head of Food Microbial Sciences at the University of Reading in England, will host the webinar What’s Your Probiotic Profile? (How Probiotics can Work for Your Company/Product) beginning at 12 p.m., EST.

In their webinar, Bush and Gibson will team up and address the unanswered questions about probiotics, breaking the good bacteria down to its basic functions and many benefits. Bush and Gibson will also give advice on how to educate others about the pros of probiotics as well as how to effectively use them in different food and beverage products.

Get ready to get schooled in probiotics by these two experts and rise quickly to the top of your class. It’s not too late; register now.

If you haven’t tapped into the health and wellness world lately, Feb. 1 may be the perfect time to do so. For the second year, NutraIngredients-USA .com and NutraIngredients.com will host the Pre-&Probiotics Virtual Conference, starting at 8 a.m., EST. And here’s an added bonus: the conference is free. All you have to do is register. We promise it’s as easy as that.

Pre-and-probiotics are the latest trends in the health, food and beverage industries, but do you really know everything you should about the land of probiotics? Worry no more. With 11 different webinars and more than 20 probiotic and nutrition expert speakers, the Pre-&Probiotics conference covers every inch of imaginable subjects about pre and probiotics. Webinar topics range from discussions about trends in the market to benefits and uses of pre and probiotics in food and beverage products.

So, what are you waiting for? Tap into the health and wellness world and register now.

Finally! Our Canadian neighbors to the north no longer need a passport to enjoy the benefits of GanedenBC³⁰ probiotics.

Nealanders International Inc. is now the exclusive distributor of GanedenBC³⁰ probiotics in Canada. Nealanders is a leader in manufacturing and distributing healthy food ingredients, including antioxidants, release agents, vitamin premixes and bakery concentrates. From its head office in Mississauga, Ontario, Nealanders manages operations across Canada and the United States.

Ganeden’s partnership with Nealanders is a natural fit. Both companies are innovators in wellness with extensive research capabilities.

And, GanedenBC³⁰ survives harsh processing conditions, such as acidity, heat and freezing temperatures—a good thing when temperatures fall to -100ºF in Canada’s Nunavut. When it’s too cold for your snowmobile to start, your probiotic will still be going strong.

Good luck GanedenBC³⁰ in your new home! Send us a postcard and keep the Canucks in good digestive health.

Frozen yogurt sounds healthy, especially if you’re ordering from one of the many “real” yogurt chains opening up across the U.S. As Karen Borsari states in her Shape Magazine article, Healthy Snacks: 5 Myths About Frozen Yogurt, the biggest myth about frozen yogurt is that it’s naturally nonfat or low-fat and sugar-free.

At about 380 calories – and 76 grams of sugar! – a large 16 ounce cup of low-fat yogurt is anything but low-fat, reports Borsari – and that’s before adding any toppings (did someone say, “Cap’n Crunch”?).

Although “real” yogurt comes with “live and active cultures” – the kind that keep your digestive tract in good working order – these cultures often don’t survive the freezing process to which frozen yogurt is subjected and thus don’t make it to your digestive system, rendering any health benefits moot.

Ganeden Biotech partner Red Mango is changing this scenario. Founded over six years ago, Red Mango has become one of the most popular and fastest growing retailers of authentic nonfat frozen yogurt made with GanedenBC³⁰. The frozen yogurt retailer is also the first to earn the National Yogurt Association’s Live and Active Cultures Seal, a voluntary identification available to all manufacturers of refrigerated and frozen yogurt whose products contain at least 100 million (10⁸) cultures per gram at the time of manufacture.

“Shelf-life, manufacturing processes, stomach fluid and – particularly in the case of frozen yogurt – extreme temperatures can prevent probiotics from surviving and getting to where they can do the most benefit,” says Marshall Fong, VP of Marketing at Ganeden Biotech, Inc. in the Shape article. “Although frozen yogurt does contain probiotics, the majority of them do not survive long enough for you to reap the rewards.”

Red Mango frozen yogurt is winning accolades as it combines “yogurt’s natural goodness: calcium, protein, and live and active cultures” with some pretty yummy flavors including mango, pomegranate (made with Pom Wonderful) and Madagascar Vanilla. The company also sells parfaits (yogurt with fruit and granola) and smoothies. All Red Mango products contain GanedenBC³⁰.

Want to give it a try? “Like” the company’s Facebook page and receive a discount coupon good at any of the company’s retail locations. Yum!