Gift Certificate
Join FREE Newsletter

My Account Logout Contact Us Subscribe Now! Login Contact Us
Home Product Tests  Warnings  Encyclopedia News Where to Buy
 
 
Product Review: Probiotic Supplements (Including Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, and Others)
 

Initial Posting: 12/12/06   Updated: 5/25/07   Updated: 10/9/07
PROBIOTICS   
 

Seal of Approval Alphabetical list of brands for the 24 products tested.

Advocare Jarrow Formulas Nature's Way
Ark Naturals Kal Nutravite
Culturelle Kyo-Dophilus PB 8
DDS Mitomax Pharmanex
Enzymatic Therapy Natural Factors Probiotic
Flora Source Nature Made Rite Aid
Florastor Nature's Secret Vita-Treat
Garden of Life Nature's Sunshine webber naturals
Make sure the supplement you take passed our test and is right for you!  Isn't your health worth it?
     CLICK HERE TO LOGIN
Sales of supplements containing beneficial organisms (probiotics) have grown rapidly, but our tests found seven with fewer viable organisms than claimed or generally known to be effective. And one of these was contaminated with mold!

In this Review, you'll get ConsumerLab's test results for 24 probiotic products. We help you choose carefully among nineteen products for people and three more for pets so you'll understand the potential benefits and risks.

You need to subscribe to get all the test results and ConsumerLab.com's valuable recommendations. In this comprehensive report, you'll discover:
    • Which products failed and which passed our tests.
    • What probiotics do and important differences among probiotic organisms.
    • Dosing information for various conditions.
    • Cautions and potential side effects.

If you already are a subscriber, LOG-IN now.


Summary
for non-subscribers:


Sample Test Results of Approved Products:
Listed alphabetically below are examples of products that passed. These "Approved" products met their label claim and ConsumerLab.com's standards. To get the full report covering 24 Probiotic Supplements along with our recommendations, you must SUBSCRIBE or LOG IN now.

EXAMPLES OF RESULTS OF CONSUMERLAB.COM TESTING OF PROBIOTIC SUPPLEMENTS
Click on for additional information on the product
Click on beneath a product name to find a vendor that sells it.
To find retailers that sell some of the listed products click here.
Product Name
(Suggested Daily Serving)

Click on "Ingredients" for Full Listing

Manufac-
turer or Distri-
butor

Types of Organisms Claimed Per Unit (and amounts if specified)

Listed Number of Probiotic Organisms in Maximum Suggested Daily Serving*

— TEST RESULTS —
(See Passing Score ) for More Information on Review Criteria)
Con-
tained Listed Amount of Probiotic Organ-
isms**

Provided At Least 1 Billion Bacteria Per Daily Serving**
Free of Microbial Conta-
mination

General
Enzymatic Therapy™ Acidophilus Pearls™ (1 pearl per day)* Ingredients
Mfd. by Enzymatic Therapy, Inc. Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium longum
1 billion

Yes

Yes

Yes

Florastor® Saccharomyces boulardii lyo 250 mg (2 capsules per day)*
Ingredients
Dist. by Bioxodex, Inc Saccharomyces boulardii
250 mg
10 billion

Yes

Yes

Yes

Jarrow Formulas® Enhanced Probiotic System, Jarro-Dophilus EPS™ (1-2 capsules per day)*
Ingredients

Dist. by Jarrow Formulas® L. rhamnosus R0011 680 Million, L. casei R0215 680 Million, L. plantarum R1012 340 Million, L. acidophilus R0052 680 Million, B. longum BB536 (morinaga strain) 680 Million, B. breve R0070 340 Million, Pediococcus acidilactici R1001 670 Million, Lactococcus diacetylactis R0100 330 Million
4.4 billion - 8.8 billion1

Yes

Yes

Yes

Kyo-Dophilus® 1.5 Billion Live Cells Per Capsule (2 capsules per day)*
Ingredients

Mfd. by Wakunaga of America Co. Ltd L.acidophilus Ks-13, B. bifidum G9-1 and B. longum MM-2
3 billion

Yes

Yes

Yes

Nature Made® Acidophilus 500 Million Live Cells per Tablet (2 tablets per day)*
Ingredients
Dist. by Nature Made Nutritional Products Lactobacillus acidophilus 500 million
1 billion

Yes

Yes
(for 2 tablets)

Yes

Nature's Way® Primadophilus® Optima, 14 Probiotic Strains Plus NutraFlora®, 35 Billion CFU, Enteric-Coated (1 capsule per day)*
Ingredients
Dist. by Nature's Way Products, Inc. Lactobacillus casei-108, Bifidobacterium longum-135, Lactobacillus acidophilus-122, Lactobacillus plantarum-119, Lactobacillus rhamnosus-111, Lactobacillus rhamnosus-114, Bifidobacterium breve-129, Bifidobacterium bifidum-132, Lactococcus lactis-136 [sic], Streptococcus thermophilus-110, Bifidobacterium infantis-116, Lactobacillus bulgaricus-137, Lactobacillus salivarius-118, Lactobacillus helveticus-128
35 billion

Yes

Yes

Yes

Pharmanex® ProBio PCC™ Live Probiotics (1 capsule per day)*
Ingredients
Dist. by Pharmanex, a division of NSE Products, Inc. Lactobacillus fermentum
Amount not stated

NA

Yes

Found 1.2 billion** per capsule

Yes

Probiotic Gut Buddies® (1 capsule per day)*
Ingredients
Mfd. by Tishcon Corp. Bifidobacterium longum ME 0.4 billion, Lactobacillus rhamnosus ME 0.4 billion, Lactobacillus acidophilus ME 1.2 billion
2 billion

Yes

Yes

Yes

*Tested through CL's Voluntary Certification Program prior to, at time of, or after initial posting of this Product Review.

** Amounts shown are actual from testing. ConsumerLab.com allowed a margin of error in determining whether products met claims and minimums. For products noted above as providing less than 1 billion organisms, applying such a margin of error still yields a result below 1 billion.

1 Product label indicates that listed amount and/or types of bacteria relates to the "time of manufacture." Otherwise, products should be expected to contain listed ingredients at time of purchase before expiration date.

NA — Not applicable.
Unless otherwise noted, information about the products listed above is based on the samples purchased by ConsumerLab.com (CL) for this Product Review. Manufacturers may change ingredients and label information at any time, so be sure to check labels carefully when evaluating the products you use or buy. If a product's ingredients differ from what is listed above, it may not necessarily be of the same quality as what was tested.

The information contained in this report is based on the compilation and review of information from product labeling and analytical testing. CL applies what it believes to be the most appropriate testing methods and standards. The information in this report does not reflect the opinion or recommendation of CL, its officers or employees. CL cannot assure the accuracy of information provided to it by third parties. Liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this report is hereby disclaimed.
Copyright ConsumerLab.com, LLC, 2006. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced, excerpted, or cited in any fashion without the express written permission of ConsumerLab.com LLC.







Want to see more?

To view this article in its entirety, please click below on the "Log In" button if you are already a subscriber or the "Subscribe" button to learn how to subscribe.




 



 

Subscribe | Log In
Home | Product Tests | Brands Tested | Natural Products Encyclopedia | Where to Buy Products | News | Recalls & Warnings
Athletic Banned Substance Tests | Raw Materials Tests | Testing Programs | The CL Seal | CL Book | About Us | CL Survey
Gift Memberships | Join Free Newsletter | Privacy Policy | Site Map | Contact Us

©2008 ConsumerLab.com, LLC. All rights reserved. A single copy of a report may be printed for personal use by the subscriber.
It is otherwise unlawful to print, download, store or distribute content from this site without permission.