Sorry? Obtained from what? Yes, baby poop can be very valuable. At least that is what a group of Spanish scientists from the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (IRTA), who have developed a project to prepare probiotic sausages with bacteria obtained from baby poop.
They received for this job a Ig Nobel Prize, a parody made by the Harvard University of the Nobel Prizes and which aims to "celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative and stimulate interest in science, medicine and technology."
Researchers Raquel Rubio, Anna Jofré, Belén Martín, Teresa Aymerich and Margarita Garriga managed to isolate several strains of potentially probiotic lactic acid bacteria from the feces of healthy babies and, after cultivating them, use them to ferment cured sausages.
Among all the strains investigated, we selected 'Lactobacillus rhamnosus CTC1679', which has allowed obtaining a potentially probiotic sausage reduced in salt and fat, with sensory characteristics similar to those of the traditional product.
The news is impressive, but it is not that the baby poop is going to eat, which can lead to confusion. Bacteria come from bowel movements, but have been isolated, processed and then used to ferment sausages taking advantage of their benefits. We need to know how babies have been fed, we imagine that with breast milk, since we know that it promotes the proliferation of good bacteria in the baby's intestine.
And what use can be given to a sausage made from bacteria obtained from baby poop? According to IRTA, thanks to this innovation, people who cannot consume dairy products could include probiotics in their diet.
