Case Study: Probiotic Flow Cytometry to Detect Non-Culturable Cells
The Challenge
A probiotic brand is developing a new gummy product called “Yummy Gummy Kids Probiotic.” The product has a label claim of 20 billion CFU/serving, so the brand formulated the product with 24 billion CFU/serving. However, plate count results show 17.5 billion CFU/serving, which does not meet label specifications.
Our Approach
The brand approached us for help investigating the cause of a lower than expected plate count. We suggested flow cytometry to determine if improper formulation and manufacturing or inadequate plating methods resulted in the low counts. The flow cytometry results showed 22 billion AFU live cells, 1.3 billion AFU injured cells, 0.5 billion AFU dead cells. So, product met label claims, but the plate method could not recover the live cells in the product.
The Solution
The brand used an acceptable formulation, however, plate read methods could not recover the live cells in the product (or no culturable cells were present). Future testing should adjust the plate method so it accurately reflects the product's cell count. Alternately, flow cytometry could be used as the primary enumeration technique.
Our Team
Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc. in Madison, WI is our Center of Excellence to support probiotics and has the necessary expertise and capabilities to individually evaluate each product and ensure we are preparing the samples for accurate identification, enumeration, or contamination. We actively work with probiotic suppliers to become qualified to run their strain-specific enumeration procedures and offer them to our joint customers.
Reach out to us to learn more about how we can partner with your team!
