2008年11月7日星期五

Visit to Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd.

Today, we have visited Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd.


When we arrived, we noticed a large logo with ISO 9001 certification in the entrance of the factory.


At the beginning, Yakult managers introduced the history and the benefit of Yakult product.
Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd. has begun operations since 1969. For more details of its history, please visit at http://www.yakult.co.jp/english/htm/index03.html .


The founder of Yakult is Dr. Minoru Shirota who succeeds in culturing and utilizing lactic acid bacteria (Laciobacillus casei strain shirota).


Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (LCS) is a probiotic bacterium used in the production of fermented milk products and lactic acid bacteria preparations.
The composition of Yakult is including Water, Sugar Syrup, Fructose Syrup, Fresh Milk, Skimmed Milk Powder, Yogurt Flavor and Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota.


Benefits of Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota:
1) Promotion of Healthier Intestinal Activity to Improve Bowel Movements
2) Prevention of the Intraintestinal Growth of Harmful Bacteria
3) Prevention of Intestinal Putrefaction by Inhibiting Production of Harmful Substances


After introduction, we tasted the fresh Yakult.

Then we visited the Seed Tank and Production Line.




During the visit, some information is very interesting and summarized as follows:
1) Seek Tanks are used for incubation of LCS.
2) LCS will be killed at over 62oC and stop growth at refrigerator.
3) Productivity of their production line is 700,000 bottles per day (8hr / day)
4) The plastic bottle (using Polystyrene – PS) is produced by Yakult. They are molded at very high temperature, at about 250oC. After molding, they will be sent for disinfection using UV.
5) For assuring each batch with good quality, QC tests results are confirmed before the products sent to the market. Further, samples of each batch would be retained for 30 days (i.e. the shelf life) under room temperature.
6) The seal film is not only made by aluminum fold. It consists of seven layers and the last layer is a plastic film which helps to seal the bottle under microwave heating.
7) Milk powder is purchased from Australia which is guarantee without Melamine (C3H6N6).
8) How much sugar in each bottle? It is about 14g.
9) There are three pack size of Yakult, i.e. 100ml, 80ml and 60ml, for example, for Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan respectively. Why different size is packed? It is because of marketing consideration.

Finally, HKSQ chairman (Dr. Albert Tsang) presented a HKSQ flag to the representative of Yakult.


Before leaving, we took a group photo for memory.


There are some more interesting photos shown below.




I brought two package of Yakult in supermaket after this visit.

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