Bifidobacterium animalis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Bacteria |
Division: | Firmicutes |
Class: | Actinobacteria |
Order: | Bifidobacteriales |
Family: | Bifidobacteriaceae |
Genus: | Bifidobacterium |
Species: | B. animalis |
Binomial name | |
Bifidobacterium animalis (Mitsuoka 1969) Scardovi and Trovatelli 1974 |
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Subspecies | |
B. a. animalis |
B. a. animalis
B. a. lactis
Bifidobacterium animalis is a gram-positive, anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium which can be found in the large intestines of most mammals, including humans.
Bifidobacterium animalis and Bifidobacterium lactis were previously described as two distinct species. Presently, both are considered B. animalis with the subspecies Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. animalis and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis.
Both old names B. animalis and B. lactis are still used on product labels, as this species is frequently used as a probiotic. In most cases, which subspecies is used in the product is not clear.
Several companies have attempted to trademark particular strains, and as a marketing technique, have invented scientific-sounding names for the strains.
Danone (Dannon) markets the subspecies strain DN 173 010 as Bifidus Digestivum (UK), Bifidus Regularis (US and Mexico), Bifidobacterium Lactis or B.L. Regularis (Canada), DanRegularis (Brazil), Bifidus Actiregularis (Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain and the UK), and Bifidus Essensis in the Middle East (and formerly in Hungary, Bulgaria and The Netherlands) through Activia from Safi Danone KSA.
Chr. Hansen A/S from Denmark has a similar claim on a strain of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis, marketed under the trademark BB-12.
Lidl lists "Bifidobacterium BB-12" in its "Proviact" yogurt.
Bifidobacterium lactis Bl-04 and Bi-07 are strains from DuPont's Danisco FloraFIT range. They are used in many dietary probiotic supplements.
Therelac contains the strains "Bifidobacterium lactis BI-07" and "Bifidobacterium lactis BL-34" (also called BI-04) in its probiotic capsule.
Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 is a strain from Fonterra licensed to DuPont, which markets it as HOWARU Bifido. It is sold in a variety of commercial probiotics, among them Tropicana Products Essentials Probiotics, Attune Wellness Bars and NOW Foods Clinical GI Probiotic. Fonterra has a yogurt that is sold in New Zealand called Symbio Probalance, where the strain is labelled as DR10.