Probiotics hit the spreads fixture

The company behind what it claims is the world's first probiotic butter, is launching it in Tesco Ireland this month.

The butter, which scooped the Best New Irish Dairy Product award at the IFEX food and drink exhibition held in Dublin this year, is the brainchild of Sheila and Tom Butler, who have been making dairy products at their farmhouse near Balla, in County Mayo since 1990.

Sheila's (Mayo) is reluctant to disclose how it makes the butter, which is marketed under its Cuinneog brand (Irish for 'churn'), but says tests show its active ingredients are still alive after nine weeks, giving it enough shelf-life for supermarket distribution.

With the same fat content as the company's standard butter, the probiotic version claims to boost immune response, inhibit the growth of 'bad' bugs and increase nutrient availability by breaking nutrients down into smaller, more easily absorbed compounds.

The brand has been stocked in selected Dunnes, SuperValu and Superquinn stores in the Irish Republic for about eight weeks, and hits shelves at Tesco early this month, says Sheila Butler. "Probiotics are a notoriously hard food additive to work with. The development and testing phase alone took around two years to complete.

"The biggest issue is shelf-life, ensuring that the probiotic butter does not revert back to standard country butter. The 'friendly' bacteria need to be in high enough concentration at the end of the shelf-life for the butter to be classified as probiotic."

The UK market for probiotics, the so-called 'friendly' bacteria that promote gut health and improve immune function, is worth £143m, according to market researcher Mintel.