EFFECT OF MILKS INOCULATED WITH LACTOBACILLUS-ACIDOPHILUS OR A YOGURTSTARTER CULTURE IN LACTOSE-MALDIGESTING CHILDREN

Dairy products containing live bacteria that possess lactase activity are used for dietary management of lactose maldigestion, The efficacy of acidophilus milk and the effect of consuming unfermented milk that had been inoculated with yogurt bacteria have not been examined in chi ldren. We compared scores for breath H-2 excretion and symptoms of 20 lactose-maldigesting children following ingestion of 250 ml of uninocu lated milk with two identical milks inoculated with 10(10) cells of La ctobacillus acidophilus or with a commercial yogurt starter culture co ntaining 10(8) cells of Lactobacillus lactis and 10(10) cells of Strep tococcus thermophilus. Nine of 10 subjects who were symptomatic follow ing ingestion of uninoculated milk experienced a reduction in symptoms following ingestion of milk inoculated with L. acidophilus, without a decline in H-2 excretion. Five of 6 subjects who were symptomatic fol lowing uninoculated milk had decreased symptoms and a significant redu ction in H-2 excretion following milk inoculated with the yogurt cultu re. For lactose-maldigesting children, milks inoculated with L. acidop hilus or with a yogurt culture were associated with decreased symptoms compared with those with uninoculated milk.