Danone- big company, known to the market since 1992. The products manufactured by the company are familiar to many families, since the components of Danone are 19 well-known brands, including: Rastishka, Theme, Aktual, Malysh, Malyutka, Summer Day and others.

The Danone product range is wide and varied. The offered products are aimed at both children and adults. The number of tastes is diverse, so everyone finds something for themselves among them. At the same time, the company does not stand still, does not stop there, constantly developing and offering new ideas.

Some interesting facts

Danone successfully survived the difficult years when numerous successful brands left the market. Subsequently, the company joined forces with Unimilk and began to develop even faster. In 2013, the name was officially changed to the "Group of Companies". At the moment, sales figures exceed the norm, and this is far from the limit.

Popularity Secret

The secret of love for Danone goes back to the beginning of development. Then, in 1992, the company decided that it would create exceptionally high-quality products. Following this direction, Danone continues to gain fans all over the world. People appreciate quality, attitude, worthy choice.

Working in the Danone team is prestigious. Today, the number of employees is more than 10 thousand people, and the figure is constantly increasing. The number of enterprises in the territory of the Russian Federation is 17.

Product range from Danone

On the Russian market The company is represented in the following main areas:

• children food;
• dairy products (milk, cream, milkshakes, yoghurts, curds, sourdough, fermented baked milk, kefir);
• soft drinks.

More than 300 popular products are produced under the brand, which are in great demand among the population. All of them meet the declared standards, are sold in convenient, compact packages, have optimal timing suitability, meet the needs of consumers.

The company constantly monitors this important factor, monitors production at all stages. To bring only the best to the store shelves.

Summing up, we can say that the group Danone companies- market leader. She deserves this status, justifiably. Focusing on the consumer, demand and preferences, the company quickly responds and changes in a positive direction. For this, she is appreciated, trusted and respected. For other Danone companies - good example a role model from whom you can learn a lot.

Who doesn't love yogurt? Delicious, airy, they beckon from supermarket windows. Until recently, the only yogurt in Russia was ordinary kefir with a shelf life of 2-3 days, to which we ourselves added sugar, berries or syrup at will. It turned out to be a wonderful and very healthy drink. Did Danone succeed in repeating this?

The yogurt of this manufacturer is a priori considered useful, as advertising tells us about it year after year. The latest development of scientists, live bifidobacteria, a product that restores digestion and intestinal activity, strengthens the immune system - all these are well-known slogans that we hear from TV every day. Does this product really have such an effect on the body, or is it just a publicity stunt to sell as much as possible? Let's figure it out together. So, meet the product from the company "Danone" - yogurt with live bifidobacteria.

First meeting

There is nothing surprising in the fact that the modern consumer is in no hurry to believe advertising. And the more the manufacturer assures him that the optimal solution to all his problems with digestion is the product "Danone" - yogurt without chemical additives, flavors and dyes, the more the buyer begins to think. Today, there are many lactic acid products on the market, the shelf life of which is more than 30 days, and at the same time, the information on the label says that it can and should be used to normalize digestion.

Not a single beneficial bacteria will live in a closed jar for 30 days, so you can immediately refuse such a purchase. A bright shade, a pungent smell of fruit - it’s better not to give such yogurt to a child, as it will not give him anything but harm. It is in this that the difference between Danone products is manifested. The yogurt made at this production is really natural, it does not contain any dubious additives. But so that you know exactly what you will buy, let's analyze the composition in more detail.

live bacteria

I would like to make a reservation right away, natural Danone yogurt is not a medicine, therefore, if you have serious problems in the field of gastroenterology, then consult a doctor, and not a supermarket. But for the prevention of various diseases, it is perfect. Fermented dairy products will help your digestive system function the way it's supposed to. In the composition in the first place are living cultures. These are varieties of probiotic microorganisms, which are the active components of yogurt.

How exactly do they affect the gastrointestinal tract

What are probiotic cultures? These are special microorganisms that, once in the intestines, survive and help fight harmful, putrefactive and pathogenic bacteria. Thus, you get a double effect. On the one hand, probiotics improve the health of the digestive system by slowing down inflammation in the stomach, and on the other hand, they maintain a balance of natural microflora. You get this effect by regularly eating Danone yogurt.

The natural product does not contain chemicals and dyes, its composition is extremely simple. At the same time, the calorie content of this yogurt is only 83 kcal per 100 g of the product. Now we will continue to consider what it consists of.

sodium citrate

An incomprehensible term on a package with a natural and safe food product introduces a buyer into some confusion. What it is? In fact, this is just an acidity regulator, it acts as a buffer. is widely used in commercial food production and is considered to be completely safe. If to speak plain language, it is the sodium salt of citric acid. It is added to improve the taste, as this ingredient allows you to control the level of acidity of the final product. And again, we are convinced that we have a natural and safe yogurt. Danone coordinates the composition of its products with such that these yoghurts inspire the greatest confidence of consumers.

Sugar

We know yoghurts as a sweet dessert, although they also come in neutral flavors. However, this brand all comes with added sugar. If you are planning to lose weight, and you are advised to give up sweets, then it is better to choose fermented milk products without fillers. However, the manufacturer, taking care of the end consumer, introduced sugar and fructose into the composition in a 50/50 ratio. No synthetic sweeteners. However, this very moment is the reason for the appearance of negative reviews on the Web, in which consumers accuse the company of producing low-quality products. The fact is that a certain category of people have fructose intolerance. When eating such yogurt, they will experience diarrhea and bloating, as well as pain in the abdomen. However, these are isolated cases, mostly consumers perfectly tolerate Danone yogurt. The price, however, is not too high.

The product is sold within the average price category. On average, a bottle (290 g) of drinking yogurt of this brand costs 46 rubles. The usual dessert product is a little cheaper - about 30 rubles.

Additional Ingredients

Milk fermented with lactic acid bacteria does not have the same consistency as the yogurt that you are used to buying in the store. To achieve this, manufacturers use gelatin. This component gives the yogurt its uniformity and texture, and it also helps to improve the taste and aroma of this product. However, it should be remembered that gelatin is always of animal origin, so it is better for vegetarians to look for a product using agar-agar.

Cornstarch is used to thicken yogurt. It not only makes the mass thicker, but also protects against spoilage at high temperatures. Finally, the composition contains It is in itself useful and natural product, which does not allow harmful bacteria to multiply in yogurt, which is very important for maintaining beneficial microflora and stability of the environment inside the jar.

Special technology

Until now, we have known two forms of yogurt that are presented on the shelves. It is drinking bottled and dessert. In both cases, the finished product was poured into prepared containers. However, meet the new product from Danone - thermostatic yogurt. This is a product that is fermented and ripened directly in the container in which it is sold in the store. It contains only three ingredients: milk, sourdough and bifidobacteria. Inside the package, a unique environment is created that allows milk to ferment. And since the container is hermetically sealed, there is no access to other bacteria, due to this it turns out to abandon various preservatives, even such as citric acid and apple cider vinegar.

There is one more cardinal difference of the new product, which Danone pleased the manufacturer with. the consistency is dense, which makes it possible to refuse the addition of starch and gelatin. Thus, the buyer receives exactly the useful and natural product that helps to improve bowel activity and quickly lose weight. Given the low calorie content of this variety of yogurt (50 kcal per 100 g of product), it is obvious that it is better to use it for weight loss.

“According to research”, “scientists have found out”, “specialists are unanimous in opinion” ... Have you ever wondered who conducts these same studies that are referenced in advertising, and for whose money? Who is interested in this or that product being considered a cure for almost all diseases?.. Let's talk about the loudest scandal of this fall, as a result of which it turned out that all yogurts are equally useless.

Undeserved laurels of glory

Even long before the scandal with Danone, among the mass enthusiastic cries in favor of yoghurts, doubts about the benefits of the product were barely reaching the consciousness of the masses. But the Russians have long considered themselves "hardened" against all sorts of advertising tricks, and the 90s are already far behind. That is why we, imperceptibly for ourselves, again began to believe advertising, especially promoting products for healthy lifestyle life. A rare consumer decided to "dig" deeper and find at least a couple of "no" for a million advertising "yes".

It turns out that the vaunted healthy ones are present not only in yogurt, but also in all other dairy products - the only exception is pasteurized, that is, heat-treated. Secondly, scientists have long known that in the body of an adult, these same bacteria die immediately - due to the bactericidal effect of a number of components of saliva, gastric juice and bile, which bacteria simply cannot withstand.

If you take "live" yoghurts, which food industry practically canonized, then at the slightest deviation from the cooking technology, the bacteria die, but even if they survive, they will last only 30 days in a glass (and even then, provided that you stored it correctly). In addition, a product containing fruits, sugar, flavors and preservatives cannot be called yogurt at all - these components simply should not be there. I'm not talking about dyes, which pose a serious danger to allergy sufferers. As for all the rest, classified as yogurts, they are generally unhealthy, as they contribute to the development of atherosclerosis.

But the one who really should get the laurels of glory is forgotten and abandoned. The absolute leader among dairy products is koumiss. The three most useful besides koumiss are kefir and acidophilus. Yoghurt takes only the fourth place, slightly ahead of curdled milk and fermented baked milk.

And Vaska listens and eats ...

I don’t know if this has affected you, but personally, I can easily imagine the indignation of product buyers seduced by the benefits of Acti Regularis bifidobacteria in Danone yoghurts. I do not remember the commercial that flashed before my eyes with the same frequency in recent years. But I remember how, approaching the showcase with rows of jars, I kept choosing those that "strengthen the body's defenses and return to normal - thanks to the bacteria they contain."

Praise be to American consumers - that's who will not allow themselves to hang noodles on their ears. They read, asked questions, consulted with experts ... and even sued Danone. Note that Danone did not hesitate and immediately agreed to pay the plaintiffs $100 in damages. Given the fabulous profits made during the “deification” of yogurts, these are crumbs from the “master’s table”, however, in the amount of $ 35 million, which will be paid to consumers who bought the product in 2006 and 2007. The answer to the question “what about the Russians?” you know…

Against Danone Co. says the company's readiness to urgently change labels and marketing campaign for products. Obviously, this fact proves that the label and advertising slogans do not correspond to the actual state of affairs.

The state took over

And here consumers waited for the truth. Experts from the European Agency for food security(EFSA) refuted the data on the therapeutic effect of lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, thanks to which yogurts were popularized.

The benefits of probiotic-enriched dairy products are just a publicity stunt that manufacturers have long used to increase sales of their products. This has been proven through a series of studies initiated and carried out by consumer organizations in the European Union. Now, experts check all marketing claims that sound in advertising, because in accordance with European law, the use of unproven medical information about the health benefits of a particular product in advertising is prohibited. By the way, three years ago. The question of whether liar companies will be held accountable for non-compliance with the law remains open ...

By the time the research was released, 30 million consumers believed that yogurt helped "good" bacteria fight and defeat "bad" bacteria in their bodies, according to the agency.

It is all the sadder today to read the results of a clinical study in which 180 ingredients were tested, which yogurt manufacturers positioned as healthy.
The verdict is: 10 supplements have no benefit at all, while the benefits of the remaining 170 are questionable. Two-thirds of advertising claims are generally refuted by experts.

It's curious that French company Danone and the Japanese corporation Yakult - the owners of the most famous brands in the world "Aktimel" and "Activia" - do not give comments on this matter. It is only known that in the spring of this year, manufacturers stopped researching their products. True, they later returned it, thereby postponing the date of publication of the results until 2010. Looks like they decided to wait...

According to the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, the benefits of yogurt are the same as regular kefir. As another advertising slogan says: why pay more?

Livejournal user writes zyalt: Danone recently invited a group of bloggers to their plant in the Chekhov district of the Moscow region to show how everyone's favorite yogurt is made from milk. The plant was built in 2000 and is considered the most modern and powerful among all Danone enterprises in the world! Every year, about 300,000 tons of fresh dairy products are produced here.

1. Yogurt starts with a cow! Amazing, right? Milk is supplied to the yogurt factory from 20 different farms located near the factory. The farms themselves do not belong to Danon, but they monitor the quality of milk very carefully. We were shown one of them.

2. Cows look happy, contented and full. They should make good steaks.

3. Cows don't have names, only numbers. But the pattern of a cow's nose is unique, like human fingerprints.

4. It turns out that cows love winter more than summer. -10 degrees is their favorite temperature. Do you know how long a cow sleeps? You won't guess anything! A cow only sleeps for a few minutes a day! 10-15 minutes and you're done! Here I really want to be a cow sometimes

5. This is a special piece for manure removal. She constantly moves around the barn and rakes manure into a special pit.

6. Calves are kept separately in a manger. Orphans grow up without parents and do not know mother's love at all. This does not prevent them from being curious, playing with visitors and getting scared by any rustle.

7. By the way, just now I’m thinking, how is manure removed from calves? Do not change the straw every day.

9. Several times a day the cows go to be milked. Everything happens almost automatically. Milkmaids only wash the udder and attach the milking machine.

10. Fresh milk is cooled down to 3-4 degrees

12. There is a laboratory at the reception of milk, where they take samples and check that everything is in order with the milk. If any filth is found in the milk, then the entire batch is sent back to the farm.

13. Accidents at work for all the time was countless, information about them hangs on the stands. In general, everything is in order with safety at the plant. All employees must wear bathrobes, hats and special shoes. No jewelry or watches may be worn. Before entering, everyone must wash and then disinfect their hands. They put a protective cap on me, it turned out very funny, but then all the photos were classified.

14. Corridors are like small streets. There are crossings, sidewalks and protective barriers here, for complete happiness it remains to start up a tram here.

15. This is where yogurt is made.

16. It seems to me that no one knows how this happens. It is impossible for a random person to understand this web of pipes.

17. Today, this plant produces yogurts and curds Danone, Activia, Actimel, Rastishka, Danissimo, and others for the whole country plus for export to the CIS countries.

19. Some pipes are signed. By the way, it is used for production artesian water from own wells.

20. All this is controlled from a computer. In general, you will hardly meet people at the plant - all production is automated as much as possible. I think that in 10 years people will disappear from factories altogether and everything will be done by robots.

21. But in this machine a cup is made, filled with yogurt and packaged. Cups are made from colored food-grade plastic.

22. In the first half, cups are stamped, in the second they are filled with yogurt and closed. It is important that everything is done in one place, this prevents bacteria and foreign particles from entering the yogurt.

24. Empty cups.

25. Labels.

26. By the way, once a week each employee of the plant is given a box of yoghurts for the whole family. The main injustice is that they give out the product that you make. Therefore, some families eat only Rastishka, while others drink only Actimel.

28. Danissimo bottling machine.

29. And these are huge jars of jam. They come from a different factory and are added to yogurt. In the foreground is a 900kg tank of chocolate. Would love to put one like this in the kitchen!

30. Rastishka is bottled here.

According to the official statement of the representatives of the Danon brand, the main useful component of Activia is live bacteria. They are specially bred in the company's laboratories. But what do experts in the field say about this?

Although the product itself is called and looks like yogurt, its composition differs from most similar products on the market.

The manufacturer claims that their product helps to lose weight and maintain a natural balance in the digestive system.

Is it really? Let's take a look at the composition of the product and analyze the impact of each ingredient on a person.

The ingredients of the Activia product are:

• cream
• skimmed milk powder
• starter for yogurt
• special bifidobacteria
• sugar and syrup
• caramel
• pectin
• citric acid
• sodium citrate
• dye
• flavoring
• starch

A detailed study of the composition leaves the exact opposite impression than the manufacturer's statement. That's why:

• a large amount of water has been added to the product, which reduces the value of the yoghurt component
• for a product that should promote weight loss contains too much
• artificial flavors, as well as flavorings, raise suspicions of harming the product to the body
• it has been reliably established that starch and milk powder contribute to indigestion

In addition, natural yogurt retains its main beneficial qualities only for a week from the moment of fermentation. And the manufacturer has set an expiration date for this product equal to one month. The dubious claim that yogurt retains its usefulness longer does not convince the contrary.

So do not console yourself with empty hopes that regular use of Activia will bring any benefit to your body. Maybe you won’t get any harm either, but food products containing chemicals still bring a certain extra load.

Is it really so? The main characteristics that nutritionists give to this product are as follows:

• Activia, when used in the first week after fermentation, does not give a greater effect than regular
• declared bifidobacteria have the same properties as bacteria in any other fermented milk product

That is, nutritionists are unanimous in their opinion that these products are no different from ordinary fermented milk products, with the exception of the presence a large number chemical additives.

In addition, a small part of nutritionists are simply sure that eating Activia-like products does more harm to digestion than good. So, such products help the process, like any fermented milk product.

At the same time, constant help to the body in the form of filling with the necessary bacteria from the outside, over time, displaces the natural bacteria of the stomach. That is, the stomach eventually gets used to receiving help from yogurt and ceases to produce its own substances.

So it is better to isolate yourself from the regular use of such products. Of course, on difficult days, when digestion is not in the best condition, it is worth rewarding yours with some amount of this product, but experts do not recommend using it all the time.

Benefits of Activia

In order to avoid undesirable consequences for the body, doctors recommend not experimenting with various products that are advertised as beneficial to health. Clinically unproven ones can always have a detrimental effect on the body, even if they may seem completely harmless in appearance.