Howaru Restore Probiotics
HOWARU Restore is a multi strain probiotic blend sold as a freeze dried powder concentrate and formulated for gut microbiota recovery, in particular the restoration of the intestinal community after a course of antibiotics. The composition combines Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei Lpc-37 with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strains Bl-04 and Bi-07, dosed at a fixed ratio so that the finished blend carries a declared count for each organism.
The powder is cream to light beige, free flowing, and carries the faint fermented odour typical of freeze dried lactic cultures. Potency is expressed as colony forming units per gram rather than as a chemical assay, and the concentrate is diluted with maltodextrin or microcrystalline cellulose to the strength a formulator specifies.
Handling is decided by viability rather than by solubility. The dried cells are strongly hygroscopic, and moisture pickup is the main route by which count is lost, followed by oxygen and heat. The blend is dosed in a dry room, packed under nitrogen in foil laminate, and held refrigerated. It disperses in cold water but is never carried through a pasteurisation or drying step, since either inactivates the culture.
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- Function
- Probiotic
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Cream to light beige free flowing powder |
| Odour | Characteristic, faintly fermented |
| Viable Count | Conforms to declared potency, typically 10 to 300 billion CFU/g |
| Strain Ratio | Four strains present, each at the declared proportion |
| Identification | 16S rRNA sequencing and pulsed field gel electrophoresis |
| Loss on Drying | ≤ 5.0% |
| Water Activity | ≤ 0.20 |
| pH (10% suspension) | 4.0 to 6.5 |
| Lead | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 1.0 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count, non probiotic | ≤ 1,000 CFU/g |
| Yeast and Mould | ≤ 100 CFU/g |
| E. coli | Absent in 1 g |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g |
Common Markets Grades
The blend is sold as a standardised powder, declared at a set CFU per gram at manufacture with a viability overage designed to hold the label claim to the end of shelf life. Typical standardisations run from 10 billion to 300 billion CFU per gram, and the weaker strengths are carrier diluted versions of the same fermentation biomass rather than a different product.
Particle size is held within a narrow band so the powder blends evenly with excipients and does not segregate in capsule and sachet filling. An agglomerated grade is available where dusting is a problem on high speed lines, and lipid or protein coated microencapsulated versions are produced for matrices with meaningful water activity or where gastric survival is part of the specification. Dairy free, gluten free, non-GMO, kosher and halal documentation accompanies the standard trade grades.
Applications
- Adult capsules and tablets positioned for post antibiotic gut recovery, where the dry powder is blended with excipients under controlled humidity
- Single dose stick packs and sachets, the format that best protects viability because each dose sits inside its own foil barrier
- Chewable tablets and paediatric powders, using microencapsulated grades to survive compression and saliva contact
- Fermented dairy and drinking yoghurt, added after heat treatment as an adjunct culture alongside the acidifying starter
- Plant based drinks on oat, soy or almond bases, where the strains carry the live culture declaration rather than performing the fermentation
- Nutritional and meal replacement powders, whose low water activity suits long term culture survival
- Gummies and pressed confectionery, which need a coated grade to tolerate the water activity of the finished piece
- Two part combination products with prebiotic fibres such as inulin or galacto-oligosaccharides, blended dry immediately before filling
Regulatory Status
In the United States the species in the blend are used in conventional foods on GRAS conclusions and are marketed as dietary ingredients under the dietary supplement framework. Statements about restoring or maintaining intestinal flora are structure and function claims subject to supplement labelling rules, not authorised health claims, and the strain identity and viable count declaration are the main regulatory obligations on the label.
In the European Union live cultures of this kind are treated as food ingredients rather than as additives, so no E number applies. The species carry qualified presumption of safety status at species level in the EFSA framework, while the word probiotic remains restricted on labels in most member states because no health claim for these cultures carries authorisation. The joint FAO and WHO guidelines for the evaluation of probiotics in food provide the internationally recognised basis for strain characterisation, viability declaration and labelling, and Codex has no strain specific standard covering the blend.
Manufacturing Process
Every strain in the formula is grown separately, because each has its own optimum temperature, oxygen tolerance and medium. A working seed vial is expanded through flask and seed fermenter stages into a production fermenter charged with a fermentable carbohydrate, a nitrogen source such as yeast extract or a dairy free peptone, and mineral salts. The vessel is run anaerobic for the bifidobacteria and microaerophilic for the lactobacilli, with pH held near neutral by automatic alkali dosing so the culture is not stopped by its own lactic acid.
At the end of growth the broth is concentrated by continuous centrifugation or by membrane filtration to a thick cell cream, which is blended with cryoprotectants, usually sucrose, trehalose and a protein or hydrocolloid, to stabilise the membranes through the freezing step. The cream is pelletised in liquid nitrogen or frozen on trays and freeze dried until residual moisture reaches the low single figures. Each dried biomass is milled, assayed for viable count, then the four strains are blended with carrier to the declared ratio and potency and packed under nitrogen.
