According to the director of the virology laboratory at Timone in Marseille, yogurts and other dairy drinks loaded with probiotics that we have been consuming for nearly 20 years bear significant responsibility for the obesity epidemic affecting children.
The probiotics that Danone adds in large quantities to various yogurts are, according to the brand’s claims presented on television, supposedly meant to “strengthen” immune defenses. There are over 1 billion per container of Activia or Actimel.
The interesting part is that these “active and live” bacteria, according to Danone, are the same ones that have long been used in industrial farming as growth promoters to fatten pigs and chickens more quickly.
A pig given probiotics gains 10% more weight.
In other words, Danone encourages raising our children the same way they have tested with pigs or chickens—not so far from the reality of other products. But these are foods.
In fact, earlier this year, researchers had the idea to compare the intestinal flora of obese and non-obese individuals. And the former were fed probiotics—the very ones found in “Activia” yogurts.
Didier Raoult comments: “Growth promoters used in (animal) farming have been authorized for human consumption without considering what the effect would be on children.” Consequently, he has called for studies to determine the precise role of ALL dairy products in the childhood obesity epidemic.
Moreover, it is not only children who are victims of this action: “numerous women have been found to be ‘plump’ despite being undernourished, desperately trying to lose weight by limiting themselves to several yogurts a day and a few snacks.” And, to their frustrating disappointment, they continued to gain weight and became increasingly tired and fragile…
Finally, independent whistleblowers have managed to mobilize official services before the scandal could explode into public view.
This is how they have just put pressure on the Danone group, forcing it, in the delicate terms of major newspapers, “to revise its copy” (A giant like Danone—that is negotiated).
It must be realized, however, that this could be a severe blow to the lobby, as the Actimel Europe and Activia Europe groups together are worth more than 15 billion euros out of Danone’s total revenue of 15 billion.
But let us not worry about this company, because between its discreet and intelligent advertising withdrawal maneuvers and the addiction of many consumers, there is not really “fire on the lake,” while we wait for them to invent another “fashionable salad” for us.
*Didier Raoult is a professor of microbiology and specialist in infectious diseases. He directs the Research Unit for Emerging Infectious and Tropical Diseases (URMITE) in Marseille. At 58 years old, he was awarded the Grand Prix Inserm 2010 for his body of work on pathogens and his discovery of giant viruses.
It is obvious that this situation has destabilized and called into question the credibility of these products—one need only search Google ‘activia’.