Yakult Cultured Milk Drink – AceLight
1143 days agoWell, the cultured milk thingy caught me and I went to NTUC to buy myself some Yakult. If you are living in Singapore and have not heard of Yakult, you are either living in an underwater flat or underneath Mount Faber. Everywhere you go in Singapore, you can see ads for Yakult. We know that they say it is good for you and you should drink about 1 bottle per day. However the bottle they have in mind is such a small one, I doubt that it has enough of it to be of any use. Well, that is my opinion anyway. Definitely not backed up by any facts or through experiments.
It is also not surprising that not many people know that Yakult is a cultured milk drink. Cultured as in being “cultured” by bacteria. In this case, the milk is being cultured by good bacteria. And the idea is just the same as in yogurt, buttermilk, Kim Chi and other fermented dairy or vegetables. They are all cultured by good bacteria. And we now know that good bacteria is beneficial to your overall health, especially to your intestines. What is cool is that I have been drinking Yakult since I was young. I remembered that it cost about 35 cents per bottle and the caps can be used to exchange for toys and gifts. After school, that’s what I would normally do at my local provision shop. I would buy a bottle of Yakult, drink it, then exchange the cap for a toy. Don’t you miss the days when stuff was cheap in Singapore? Nowadays, what can you really buy in Singapore for 35 cents? It is like living in inflation city.
Anyway, before we all despair, please take a look at the photos of the Yakult Cultured Milk Drink.
It costs S$3.65 for 5 tiny bottles of Yakult (80ml). I am not kidding you. This means that it is priced at 75 cents per bottle! And this is for a 5 pack Yakult. If you buy separately, I am sure it will be even more expensive. Singapore, the place where inflation will kill you but not the rich.
Worldwide Probiotics drink! And yes, this is a Cultured Milk Drink. See I didn’t bluff you. Not too sure what is the difference between Ace Light and the original Yakult though. They both taste the same to me but seeing the name “Light”, it most likely mean that this has less sugar. Well, I still find it a bit too sweet.
Yakult is kind enough to tell their customers where to open. Just press on the areas marked “Open here”. Cool, I didn’t know it was that simple. Oh, each bottle contains 30 billion live lactobacillus casei Shirota strain from Japan! Wow, this really is probiotic heaven! I was just wondering whether this is enough to make a difference in our intestines?
It states that the lactobacillus casei Shirota strain reaches the intestines alive where it helps to increase beneficial bacteria, decrease harmful bacteria and improve the environment of the intestines thus helping to maintain intestinal health. Cool, just like Yogurt only more expensive. I often wondered whether yogurt or Yakult has more live cultures when we consume them? Ha, our Yakult is manufactured in Malaysia.
Okay, now to the ingredients of Yakult. It contains Fructose, Maltitol, Dried skim milk, glucose, flavouring and live lactobacillus casei Shirota strain. Amazing, tons of simple sugars like Fructose and Glucose and even complex ones like Maltitol. It is no wonder everyone is complaining that Yakult is just so sweet. The good thing is that it attracts kids to drink Yakult instead of other soda drinks. At least it comes with some probiotic bacteria, right? If I am a parent, I would want my kids to drink Yakult instead of gassy soda drinks which comes with nothing more than sugar and water.
The tiny bottle of Ace Light Yakult in all it’s glory. You can finish this in just 2 mouthful. 80ml costs about 75 cents. Heart-pain, man. I still can’t figure out why are they charging so much for such a tiny bottle of milk? Is there something special about the milk they use or it is because the culture is difficult to ferment?
Anyway, if you guys are interested, I am going to culture Yakult by incubating milk with some Yakult starter. I believe that the temperature to ferment the milk with the Yakult bacteria is the same as the temperature to ferment yogurt. With any luck, we will have a lot of Yakult to drink at a fraction of the cost. YAKULT!
Hey, I am curious… did you manage to make your own cultured milk? BTW, any idea what is the recommended daily intake of cultured milk?
Thanks
Yes, I did. I merely followed Yakult’s instructions – 40 degrees and ferment for 7 days. However, I only ferment for like 36 hours or less. I guess it turned out okay but since I have not tasted plain unsugared Yakult before, I am not certain. However there were curds and whey.
From Yakult’s site, they claim that 1 cup (80ml?) is enough. I find that highly doubtful though.
Can Yakult be used for starter culture in sausages?
I have never tried. But why do you need starter culture in sausages?