MFDS Approves New Probiotic Which Alleviates Menopausal Symptoms

As reported by Food News ^[1] on Oct. 10, 2019, Lactobacillus acidophilus YT1 Probiotics obtained MFDS approval for use as a raw material in health functional foods.

Effects of Lactobacillus Acidophilus YT1

Lactobacillus acidophilus YT1 was developed by a research team from the Korea Food Research Institute ^[2] (KFRI) aiming to minimize menopausal symptoms.

Doctor Kim, the leader of the team stated, “We found that treatment with L. acidophilus YT1 could alleviate menopausal symptoms, such as increased pain sensitivity, depression, body fat, and bone loss in menopausal women, which suggests it could be developed as a functional food and probiotic for elderly women health. (reference: Attenuating Effects of Lactobacillus Acidophilus YT1 on Menopausal Symptoms in Ovariectomized Rats (P20-014-19), NCBI ^[3]) During human clinical trials it was shown to ameliorate the symptoms measured by the Kupperman Index.”

Currently, there are no representative products in this field in South Korea as reported by Korea media Finomy ^[4], thus the approval of Lactobacillus acidophilus YT1 could be hugely influential and open up new markets. The Minister of the KFRI also said, “Since YT1 is approved as a probiotic to relieve menopausal symptoms, it is expected to be highly demanded domestically. Exporting products to overseas markets will be the next step.”

In 2018, the probiotics market size in South Korea reached 470 billion South Korea Won (USD 390 million), with a YOY growth rate of 8.3%, according to the Korea Health Foods Supplement Management Association ^[5].

Study Data