Actimel does not reduce diarrhea for frail

Written by Sandeep Nehra

EFSA, European Food Safety Authority Food on Wednesday rejected arguments that Danone established a link between consumption of Actimel and reducing the risk of diarrhea in the elderly in hospitals, according to a news group.

“EFSA considers that the positive elements of the case presented by Danone in August 2009 are not sufficient to establish a causal link proven between the consumption of Actimel, containing the L. casei DN114 001 , and reduced risk of diarrhea associated with the presence in the gut of the bacterium Clostridium difficile in elderly patients with antibiotic treatment in hospital, “said world number one fresh dairy products in its statement.

This opinion was issued under a special regulation on the “reduction of disease factors” and not about communication and marketing of Actimel “for the general public and to all consumers,” said Danone .

Emmanuel Faber, Danone’s chief operating officer, this review “contradicts the results of a series of clinical studies.” The group will provide within 30 days EFSA “arguments basing its position,” the statement said.

In April, the world number one had already announced that he would not extol the health benefits of its products Actimel and Activia with the average consumer. Concretely, it withdrew its application for confirmation of its two products from the European Food Safety Authority food even before it is pronounced, probably fearing to be reset.

This concerned the messages that Danone had for several years around its core products to the general public, unlike that on Wednesday that targeted a population in hospitals.

• AIDS: U.S. experts to market the first preventive treatment
• KFC will pay 6.3 million euros to an intoxicated teenage girl by a chicken sandwich
• United States: a case of mad cow disease in California
• Moderate deficits in vitamin D are common in France
• Removing a dietary supplement containing a hazardous substance