The company said it has been selling its newly launched probiotic, Lacto-Fit Max 19, on home shopping since earlier this month. It said the broadcasts have helped raise awareness of the product and have continued to draw consumer interest. In South Korea’s health functional food market, home shopping is often used as an early distribution channel for key items such as probiotics and red ginseng, particularly among middle-aged and older consumers.
After the broadcasts, attention also turned to the product’s design. The company said some consumers have used terms such as “colon probiotics” and “adhesive probiotics” to emphasize survival through the digestive tract and delivery to the intestines. The company noted those are not official functional names but consumer-coined expressions.
Lacto-Fit Max 19 contains 19 probiotic strains, including Bifidobacterium lactis HN019, known as the HN019 strain. The company said HN019 is a widely used strain that has been studied in connection with improving the intestinal environment. South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety defines probiotics as a health functional food ingredient recognized for functions such as helping beneficial bacteria grow, suppressing harmful bacteria and supporting smoother bowel movements.
The company said the product applies a strain design that considers the intestinal environment from the duodenum to the colon. Compared with its existing product, Lacto-Fit Core Max, it increased the guaranteed bacteria count by about 167% and applied processing technology aimed at improving bacterial survival. It also said it used moisture-absorbing film packaging to reduce losses from humidity and temperature changes and to improve storage stability.
The company said the probiotics market has been shifting away from simple competition over bacterial counts toward emphasizing strain variety, survivability and delivery technology. The Korea Health Functional Food Association has said South Korea’s health functional food market has continued to grow, with probiotics and red ginseng among the major categories.
Chong Kun Dang Health has operated a range of probiotic products under its Lacto-Fit brand for different age groups. The company said the new product is intended to strengthen its premium lineup and broaden consumer choice.
“Even after the broadcast, inquiries about the product’s composition and functionality have continued,” a company official said. “We are seeing a gradual increase in understanding of the product’s features, including its strain design and the environment for colonization.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.