フィリピン・セブ留学　しほしほのブログ

日曜日。

Yahoo Japan！のニュース でヤクルトに代表される日本で開発されて普及した「乳酸菌飲料」が「国際食品規格委員会（ＣＡＣ）」総会で、が、新たな食品の国際規格として採択された。

との記事を見ました。

日本はもちろんの事、 世界中で愛される ヤクルトにふと思いを馳せて見ました。

電化製品、エコ商品、車などなど、日本と言えば！というものは多くありますが、

世界に浸透している食品の代表といえば、これ

「ヤクルト」 なのではないでしょうか。

ここ フィリピン でもヤクルトの人気は絶大です。

スーパーでは5本入りのパックが40ペソ（80円）。

小さな店（サリサリストアー）なんかでは一本売りで、8ペソ（16円）でも売っています。

その浸透率は半端なく、 本当に、 庶民の 庶民 にまで浸透しています

ヤクルトおばさんも健在で、下町、裏道、色んな所で見かけます。

プロバスケットのスポンサーもしているらしく、バスケの試合の中継には、マスコット君がよく映ります。

かくいう私も、毎朝の朝食の締めはこのヤクルトくん。

セブポットの ヒロさんのブログ にもヤクルトネタ発見！

フィリピンの大手ラジオ局のWEBにはこんな 記事 も。

「どうしてヤクルトのボトルはこんなに小さいんだ？」

以下抜粋です。

This is our first article from the Just Curious series, which aims to answer interesting questions that are usually taken for granted.

MANILA, Philippines - If you grew up drinking Yakult, you've probably asked this question at least once.

And you're not alone -- this question has been discussed in several blogs , social networking sites , and forums through the years. 

Just recently, some 68,000 people in the Philippines banded together in Facebook for a common wish -- for Yakult to sell their products in 1-liter bottles .

David and Goliath. A cola can is more than 5 times the size of this 80-ml cultured milk drink.

Despite the huge demand for bigger doses of this cultured milk drink, however, Yakult still comes in a very small serving -- not even half the size of a cola can -- and it has been like this for over 70 years. 

How come Yakult officials still won't budge? Abs-cbnNEWS.com did a little research, and here's what we found out.

Reasons

So why is the Yakult bottle so small?

Is too much of it bad for you? Is it because of the price? Or is it just that company officials never really thought about it?

According to data from Yakult's companies in Malaysia and Australia , the cultured milk drink only comes in small bottles to avoid contamination. In other countries, Yakult is sold in 65-ml and 100-ml bottles.

(NOTE: The Yakult Philippines website -- if there is one -- can't be found by search engines)

Yakult has only one flavor in all countries across the globe, except in Singapore where it's sold in 3 more variants -- orange, grape and apple.

"A smaller bottle is more hygienic. A larger bottle that is not finished might be kept open, thus a bigger risk of infection with other bacteria," Yakult Malaysia said.

"Opening and closing a larger bottle on numerous occasions can result in a decrease in the number of live probiotic bacteria due to the introduction of various air-borne bacteria. This is undesirable because bacteria have the potential to compromise the quality of Yakult," Yakult Australia said.

Yakult has long claimed that each serving of their probiotic drinks contains billions of Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain, which is said to be one of the strongest strains of beneficial bacteria.

One small bottle is enough to keep people healthy each day so there's no need to sell Yakult in bigger servings, the two companies said.

"If Yakult were provided in a larger bottle, people may drink more than needed, and while this is not harmful at all, it can be more expensive," Yakult Australia said.

There you go, we hope those statements from Yakult's two companies answered your question.

Who knows, Yakult may come up with a way to prevent contamination in bigger bottles in the next few years? We'll keep you posted.

こんな風に記事になってしまう位、大人気のヤクルト。

ここセブにも支社があり、ここから配達がされているとの事です。

ヒロさんのブログから抜粋すると、

セブだけで 8万本 のヤクルトが売れ、ヤクルト一本に 800万個 の乳酸菌がいるとか！

すごいですねぇ・・・・

まさに皆の健康を守る、強い味方ですね！

余り乳製品の多くないフィリピンですので、留学中はこれを飲んでお腹も元気に行きたいですね！！！