Actimel
| Company type | Brand |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food and beverage |
| Founded | 1994 in Belgium |
| Products | Probiotic yogurt-style beverages |
| Owner | Danone |
Actimel—marketed as DanActive in Canada and the United States—is a probiotic yogurt-style beverage manufactured by the French corporation Danone.
In 2006, Actimel achieved retail revenues exceeding €1.4 billion (approximately US$1.8 billion).
History
The origins of Actimel trace back to the 1980s, focusing on the development of fermented milk products containing Lactobacillus casei. Its commercial debut occurred in Belgium in 1994. The brand name derives from the Dutch phrase “Actieve melk,” which translates to Active Milk.
Scientific basis
Claims associated with Actimel include lowering the frequency of diarrhea, alleviating rhinitis symptoms in children, boosting immune responses in adults and older individuals, and reducing the length of winter illnesses among seniors.
A 2007 publication in the British Medical Journal indicated that Actimel might be effective in preventing antibiotic-related diarrhea and decreasing occurrences of Clostridioides difficile infections in elderly patients.
Debates surrounding health claims on probiotic foods
On 23 January 2008, a class action lawsuit was initiated in California, accusing Danone Co. Inc. of deceptive advertising regarding probiotic yogurt products (Danactive & Activia) marketed with unsupported health benefit claims. Danone refuted these allegations.
Foodwatch criticized Danone for overstating Actimel’s health advantages, arguing that despite its presentation as a specialty product, it functions as a mass-market commodity.
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) prohibited Actimel television advertisements in both 2006 and 2008 due to misleading assertions. One commercial incorrectly suggested Actimel prevents bacterial infections in children; another claimed "scientifically proven" benefits without providing comprehensive study evidence online. Additionally, a 2009 ASA ruling banned an advertisement stating that Actimel enhances children's immune defenses.
Research by Alexa Meyer from the University of Vienna found no meaningful difference between Actimel and standard yogurt containing live cultures, recommending regular yogurt as an economical option for immune support due to its Lactobacillus bulgaricus content.
Berthold Koletzko of the University of Munich endorses yogurts with live bacterial cultures for managing diarrhea and lactose intolerance, emphasizing that multiple yogurt varieties—not solely Actimel—deliver tangible health benefits linked to probiotic strains such as Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii sp. bulgaricus.
Nevertheless, some studies question the overall health effects of probiotic yogurts; notably, a 2009 article in Nature by Didier Raoult proposed that "probiotic-enriched" yogurt drinks might have contributed to increasing obesity rates over the past twenty years.
In 2007, the European Commission introduced regulations governing health claims across the European Union, with comparable regulatory frameworks under review by Health Canada.