The most frequently asked questions, answered.
If you have any questions that are not answered on this page, please contact us.
About Yogumel
Should the sachets be kept refrigerated?
Yes. Yogumel powders need to be kept refrigerated between approximately 3 and 8 °C. That is why you should keep them in the fridge. This ensures that the live lactic ferments retain their properties and allow you to make yoghurt or kefir in optimum condition.
Yogumel sachets have a shelf life of 6 months when properly stored at the recommended temperature.
What does Yogumel being a clean label mean?
Clean label products have clear labels. The labels must be transparent and honest, so that they are easy for the consumer to understand.
Yogumel products are free of additives that are harmful to your health. You will see that we do not add any preservatives, colourings, gums, gelatine or sugar to our yoghurts.
We believe that the consumer should be free to choose which products to buy knowing what ingredients are in them. That is why the labelling should be truthful and easy to understand.
Is it expensive to make yoghurt at home with Yogumel?
No, not at all! In fact, it costs €0.25 per yoghurt, less than the cost of an average yoghurt in the supermarket. This price is the sum of the cost of Yogumel, the cost of the milk and the average energy cost of the oven, yoghurt maker or food processor. So, by making yoghurt at home not only do you save on plastic and improve your health, but your wallet will notice it too!
How much plastic do I save by making my yoghurts with Yogumel?
1.5 kg of plastic per person per year. If there are four of you in the house, for example, you would be saving the planet on average around 6 kg of plastic.
What’s the difference between a yoghurt and a probiotic yoghurt?
Both yoghurts and yoghurts enriched with probiotics have live lactic ferments, which allow you to make tasty, high quality and healthy yoghurt.
Moreover, the Yogumel Yoghurt Probiotic range, including Yogumel Digestion and Yogumel Defences, contains probiotics with clinically tested patented strains as essential ingredients that provide specific benefits for your health:
- Yogumel Digestion contains three billion clinically tested added probiotics per yoghurt. It contains a patented formula with three bacterial strains (P. acidilactici KABP™ 021 L. plantarum KABP™ 022, L. plantarum KABP™ 023), with a triple action mechanism to promote digestive health.
- Yogumel Defences contains one billion clinically tested added probiotics per yoghurt. Specifically, it contains Vitamin C and a very powerful probiotic strain for immune health (L. plantarum DR7).
Why is making yoghurt at home with Yogumel safer?
If you have ever made yoghurt at home, you will know that it has traditionally been made using another yoghurt as the base. The problem is that by using an already made yoghurt we are reusing lactic ferments that are already aged (they have already undergone fermentation processes several times). Since they are not fermenting for the first time, they are less potent, producing a yoghurt of lower quality and worse consistency.
In addition, reusing lactic ferments increases the risk of cross-contamination, i.e., the growth of unwanted fungi or bacteria in the yoghurt.
In contrast, Yogumel contains fresh, active, full-strength lactic ferments that are freeze-dried alive following the highest quality and safety standards. Ferments in the perfect quantity that will do their work (ferment the milk) for the first time in your home.
That’s why with Yogumel you can make high quality yoghurt with guaranteed food safety, unlike other traditional methods.
Where can I buy Yogumel?
You will find us in the Naturitas online shop.
About yoghurt making
Should the yoghurt jars be sterilised?
This is advisable because this will eliminate possible unwanted bacteria or microorganisms that have come into contact with the jars. Sterilisation will give you greater safety when making yoghurt at home.
To do this, simply wash the jars in the dishwasher at a high temperature. Alternatively, you can also boil the jars in a pot with plenty of water. The easiest way, however, is to put them in the dishwasher as normal.
Why do I need to wait 10 hours to make yoghurt?
Live cultures need a minimum time to be able to ferment the milk. To obtain yoghurt with a good consistency and taste, the mixture should remain at 45 °C for about 10 hours. To maintain this temperature, you can use a yoghurt maker, food processor or oven.
Leaving the oven on for 10 hours at 45 °C is completely safe and has a very low energy consumption of about 30 cents.
Can yoghurt be reused to make more yoghurt?
Reusing the lactic ferments present in a supermarket yoghurt for a second fermentation process carries safety risks. These ferments are aged, and the risk of cross-contamination is higher.
Yogumel cultures are freeze-dried alive and fresh and are in their optimal preservation medium. This ensures a safe fermentation process, without the possible growth of pathogenic microorganisms.
Do I need a yoghurt maker to make yoghurt or kefir with Yogumel?
No. An oven or food processor is enough to make yoghurt at home. You do not need any electrical appliances to make kefir. The production process is very simple, you only need to follow four steps and allow a little bit of time.
Is it difficult to make yoghurt at home?
No. In fact, it is a very easy process. You just need to plan a little, as it takes a while to make. But it is not complicated at all.
There are different options for making it. We recommend making your yoghurts in a yoghurt maker, in the oven or in a food processor.
If you have children at home, we encourage you to make yoghurt with them!
Is it important to maintain that temperature while it is being made?
Live cultures perform lactic fermentation in a specific temperature range (yoghurt between 40 and 45 °C, kefir between 22 and 25 °C). Below these temperatures, the lactic acid bacteria are preserved, but will not produce yoghurt or kefir. If the cultures are subjected to a much higher temperature, they become inactive and die, losing their properties. It is important for the mixture to be kept at around the specified temperatures, to achieve a yoghurt or kefir with a good consistency and flavour.
How is kefir made with Yogumel?
Kefir is made in a similar way to yoghurt:
- Dilute the contents of one sachet of Yogumel Kefir in one litre of milk.
- Let it ferment at room temperature (between 22 and 25 °C) for 24 hours.
- Enjoy authentic kefir
How is yoghurt made with Yogumel?
It’s very easy, as there are only four steps:
- Dilute the contents of one sachet of Yogumel in one litre of milk
- Divide the mixture into glass jars
- Leave to ferment at 45 °C for 8-10 hours
- Chill the yoghurts in the fridge
You have the option of fermenting the yoghurts in a yoghurt maker, but also in the oven or food processor.
The science behind Yogumel
Who is behind Yogumel?
We are AB-BIOTICS, a biotechnology company specialised in microbiota with over 20 years of experience. At AB-BIOTICS we are dedicated to the research and development of probiotic solutions for a wide range of indications, including skin, paediatric, immune, digestive, brain and heart health.
You will find our products as food supplements or pharmaceuticals around the world, under our own brand. We collaborate with our customers (pharmaceutical industry) to bring the public science-based probiotics that improve health and well-being. Yogumel is a project born from the desire to innovate and bring our technology to consumers of dairy products in Spain and Portugal.
At AB-BIOTICS we have ensured that Yogumel contains the best ingredients:
- Properly produced (fresh, live freeze-dried cultures)
- Specific, laboratory-studied bacteria
- Unique and patented probiotics with clinical evidence for digestive and immune health.
What scientific evidence supports Yogumel?
Yogumel is made exclusively from unique and patented probiotics with clinical evidence for digestive and immune health:
- Lorenzo-Zúñiga V, Llop E, Suárez C, Alvarez B, Abreu L, Espadaler J, Serra J. I.31, a new combination of probiotics, improves irritable bowel syndrome-related quality of life. World J Gastroenterol. 2014 Jul 14;20(26):8709-16. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i26.8709. PMID: 25024629; PMCID: PMC4093724.
- Barraza-Ortiz DA, Pérez-López N, Medina-López VM, Minero-Alfaro JI, Zamarripa-Dorsey F, Fernández-Martínez NDC, Llorente-Ramón A, Ramos-Aguilar GA. Combination of a Probiotic and an Antispasmodic Increases Quality of Life and Reduces Symptoms in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Pilot Study. Dig Dis. 2021;39(3):294-300. doi: 10.1159/000510950. Epub 2020 Aug 18. PMID: 32810850.
- Lorén V, Manyé J, Fuentes MC, Cabré E, Ojanguren I, Espadaler J. Comparative Effect of the I3.1 Probiotic Formula in Two Animal Models of Colitis. Probiotics Antimicrob Proteins. 2017 Mar;9(1):71-80. doi: 10.1007/s12602-016-9239-5. PMID: 27832441.
- Cano-Contreras A, Pérez-López N, Minero-Alfaro JI, Medina-López VM & Reyes-Huerta JU. Efficacy of probiotic I3.1 symptomatic improvement in patients with lactose intolerance. Neurogastroenterol. Motil. 31, 1–51 (2019).
- Chong, H. X. et al. Lactobacillus plantarum DR7 improved upper respiratory tract infections via enhancing immune and inflammatory parameters: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Journal of Dairy Science 102, 4783–4797 (2019).
- Altadill T, Espadaler-Mazo J, Liong M-T. Effects of a Lactobacilli Probiotic on Reducing Duration of URTI and Fever, and Use of URTI-Associated Medicine: A Re-Analysis of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. Microorganisms. 2021; 9(3):528. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9030528
What does S. thermophilus and the other Latin names in the list of ingredients mean?
The Latin names appearing in the ingredients list on the Yogumel clean label refer to the specific genus and species of lactic ferments. It is their scientific name. The letters and numbers you see after the probiotic species in Yogumel Defences and Digestion refer to the strain code.
The strain of a probiotic is defined by a code made up of letters and numbers. A strain is a group of bacteria that have the same properties and characteristics. Within the same species of bacteria, there are strains with very different characteristics. This is very similar to having different breeds within the same species of dog. If the strain of a probiotic is not defined in a food or food supplement, the benefits associated with the probiotic may not be present in the final product.
What are probiotics?
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), probiotics are live micro-organisms (mostly bacteria) that, when administered in suitable amounts, have a beneficial effect on consumer health.
They can be found naturally in certain foods, and also exist in the form of medicines and food supplements.
To be considered probiotic, a food or supplement must meet the following characteristics according to the FAO/WHO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations/World Health Organisation):
- Have an identified and investigated mechanism of action
- Have at least one controlled human clinical trial
- Exhibit strain-specific probiotic properties
- Demonstrate a lack of safety concerns
Not all good bacteria are probiotics! They must be backed by science and have clinical studies.
What are lactic ferments?
Live cultures or lactic ferments are a type of lactose-consuming bacteria found in fermented dairy foods. Under the right conditions, lactic cultures turn the lactose in milk into lactic acid (a process defined as lactic fermentation), resulting in yoghurt or cheese. Yogumel cultures are live bacteria with great power to ferment milk, which ensure safe, natural, healthy and sustainable yoghurt production.