It has been suggested for some time that a healthy intestinal microflora can have a beneficial effect on the overall health of humans. To improve the intestinal microflora "probiotics"are used for instance as food supplement. Probiotics are preparations containing beneficial bacteria and yeasts such as Lactobacillus. A similar effect can be obtained using"prebiotics". Prebiotics are nondigestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth and activity of"friendly"bacteria already present in the intestine.

It has now been found that lactitol can be used as a prebiotic in a formulated food product or supplement. The present invention provides for the use of lactitol in the preparation of a nutritional preparation for improving intestinal microflora. Until now, only the effect of a daily dose of 20 g lactitol and higher was tested for the treatment of specific diseases like hepatic encephalopathy.

The nutritional preparation of the invention preferably contains 5 to 15 g lactitol per daily dose. It has been found that an amount lower than 5 g per daily dose does not result in a beneficial effect. An amount above 15 g lactitol per daily dose is difficult to process in a portion size of a food product. Preferably the preparation contains 7.5 to 12.5 g lactitol per daily dose, in particular 10 g.

The preparation according to the invention is used to improve intestinal microflora, in particular intestinal health in general. It has been shown that this preparation can increase the amount of healthy bacteria, in particular Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria.

The preparation is preferably administered to healthy humans and can be used for the prevention of intestinal infections, colon cancer, diarrhea or in enhancing immunity.

The preparation of the invention can be a food supplement, a food product or a complete food. In a food supplement the lactitol can be administrated as such, for instance in a tablet or powder. Other beneficial components can be added to the food supplement or food such as vitamins and minerals.

The food product of the invention can be a conventional food product to which the lactitol has been added. Examples of such products are candy bars, candy, dairy products, bakery products, etc.

Example To test if lactitol in a food product improves the gut microflora of healthy people, 10 g of lactitol was administered to 25 healthy subjects every day for a week. The lactitol was administered in a chocolate bar. As a placebo, a sugar containing chocolate bar was administered to another group of 25 persons. The test was performed as a double blind randomized test.

From the test persons faeces were collected on day 0 and 7. In these faeces the amount of different bacteria was counted, see Table 1. It was significantly proven that 10 g lactitol a day increased the amount of bifidobacteria in the colon. The increase in the amount of bifidobacteria has been defined as a prebiotic effect.

Table 1 Bacteria Placebo 10 g Lactitol 0 7 0 7 Total aerobes 6.75 6.98 6.76 6.88 Cliforms 5. 77 6. 22 5. 92 5. 62 Anaerobes 11. 58 11. 96 11. 77 11. 91 Lactobacilli 3. 80 3. 75 3. 70 3. 86 Bifidobacteria 9. 48 9. 62 9. 37 10. 05