Danone has disclosed a fermented dairy formulation in which galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) remained stable for 51 days at 10°C. The result, reported in WO2025032353A1, comes from a process that converts milk’s lactose into prebiotic carbohydrates while probiotic bacteria ferment the product.
The finding addresses a practical manufacturing challenge: how can producers generate prebiotics during fermentation without having those ingredients consumed or degraded before the product reaches consumers?
Danone’s approach combines a lactose-converting enzyme with selected probiotic cultures. The patent reports that the resulting GOS remained available throughout the tested fermentation and storage conditions.
The more interesting question for dairy manufacturers is whether this approach can deliver consistent GOS levels without adding unnecessary complexity to production.
How Is Danone Producing Prebiotics During Dairy Fermentation?
Traditionally, manufacturers can enrich dairy products by adding separately produced prebiotic ingredients. Danone’s patented approach investigates producing GOS directly from lactose already present in the milk.
The process uses beta-galactosidase, an enzyme capable of converting lactose into other sugars. Through a reaction known as transgalactosylation, the enzyme transfers galactose units between carbohydrate molecules, producing GOS.
At the same time, lactic acid bacteria, particularly Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus paracasei, ferment the milk.
This creates two simultaneous activities: enzymatic conversion of lactose into GOS and bacterial fermentation of the dairy substrate.
The main challenge is keeping the newly formed GOS intact.
According to the patent, the acidic conditions during fermentation help prevent L. paracasei from consuming the GOS. The inventors propose that these carbohydrates could subsequently serve as a growth substrate for the bacteria under the less acidic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract.
This could allow manufacturers to produce a synbiotic dairy product containing both probiotics and prebiotics through the same manufacturing process.
However, the experiments primarily demonstrate carbohydrate production and stability. They do not establish improved gut-health outcomes in consumers.
What Does Danone’s Dairy Fermentation Patent Protect?
The invention is described in WO2025032353A1, Symbiotic Fermented Milk Products Containing a Probiotic and Storage-Stable In Situ Produced Galacto-Oligosaccharides.
The application identifies Compagnie Gervais Danone as the applicant, claims priority from August 4, 2023, and was published on February 13, 2025.
A related international publication, WO2025032004A1, and the associated Chinese publication CN122514301A describe the same underlying research direction.
The published claims focus on a composition containing three essential components:
- A milk substrate containing lactose.
- A suitable lactic acid bacterium, particularly L. casei or L. paracasei.
- Beta-galactosidase with transgalactosylation activity to convert lactose into GOS.
Additional claims address fermentation methods, enzyme inactivation, added dietary fibers, and the resulting dairy compositions.
The disclosures identify specific probiotic strains, including L. paracasei CNCM I-1518 and CNCM I-3689, and describe options for controlling residual lactose and final fiber content.
What makes the claimed approach distinctive is the coordination between enzymatic GOS production and bacterial fermentation.
The published applications do not establish exclusive rights over GOS production in dairy products generally. Their potential protection depends on the particular claimed compositions and methods, as well as the status of relevant national applications.
What Did Danone’s Fermentation Experiments Show?
Danone’s patent includes two experimental compositions produced using milk substrates, probiotic cultures, and a GOS-generating enzyme.
The results provide useful information about fermentation duration, lactose conversion, and the stability of the resulting GOS.
| Experimental parameter | Composition A | Composition B |
| Fermentation temperature | 37°C | 37°C |
| Fermentation duration | 120 hours | 111 hours |
| Residual lactose after fermentation | 1.19% | 1.52% |
| GOS behavior during fermentation | Reported as stable | Reported as stable |
| Final product storage test | Not reported | GOS stable for 51 days at 10°C |
Source: WO2025032353A1, Examples 1 and 2. Results reflect the disclosed experimental conditions.
Why the 51-day stability result matters
Producing GOS during fermentation is only useful if the resulting carbohydrates remain available in the finished product.
Danone’s second experiment addresses that concern.
After fermentation, Composition B was blended with a syrup to prepare a final product containing 43% fermented composition and 57% syrup.
The researchers monitored GOS levels during storage and reported no relevant change over 51 days at 10°C.
The patent also describes enzyme inactivation as the composition reaches approximately pH 3.8, limiting further enzymatic changes to the carbohydrate mixture.
These findings suggest that fermentation acidity and enzyme control can help preserve the intended GOS composition.
However, the storage result applies to the tested blended product. It does not establish identical performance across other formulations, temperatures, or probiotic strains.
There is another manufacturing consideration: the experimental fermentations lasted 111-120 hours.
That is a substantial processing period for a dairy production line.
Longer fermentation could affect vessel availability, production scheduling, and manufacturing costs. Whether Danone’s approach can achieve comparable GOS levels in shorter cycles remains an important research question.
Could Producing GOS During Fermentation Change Dairy Manufacturing?
Producing GOS within the dairy formulation offers an alternative to purchasing and adding pre-manufactured GOS ingredients.
But the manufacturing implications are more complicated than simply eliminating an ingredient-addition step.
Externally produced GOS allows relatively direct control over ingredient dosage and composition. In-situ production depends on several interacting process variables, including lactose availability, enzyme activity, temperature, fermentation duration, and pH.
These variables determine how much GOS forms and how much lactose remains.
Manufacturers must also account for probiotic survival, texture, flavor, and the consistency of the final product.
Danone’s patent describes adding other fibers, including polydextrose, after fermentation. This indicates that in-situ GOS production can complement conventional ingredient addition rather than necessarily replacing it.
The process may offer flexibility in formulation design, but its economic value remains to be established.
Comparative manufacturing trials would be needed to determine whether producing GOS during fermentation reduces ingredient costs, improves processing efficiency, or offers other measurable advantages over existing methods.
How Are Competitors Approaching GOS Production in Dairy Products?
How Are Competitors Approaching GOS Production in Dairy Products?
While Danone focuses on producing GOS in refrigerated probiotic dairy products, competitors are exploring different processing approaches.
Chr. Hansen: Keeping GOS Stable Without Refrigeration
Chr. Hansen’s patent EP4305185A2 focuses on maintaining GOS stability in heat-treated fermented dairy products stored at room temperature.
The process uses beta-galactosidase to produce GOS, followed by heat treatment at approximately 70–85°C to deactivate the enzyme. Experiments reported GOS stability at 25°C for up to 180 days.
The key difference: Danone focuses on refrigerated products containing live probiotic cultures, while Chr. Hansen explores GOS-containing dairy products suitable for ambient storage.
Coca-Cola: Combining GOS Production with Lactose Reduction
Coca-Cola’s patent WO2023102101A1 investigates producing lactose-free dairy products enriched with GOS.
Its process combines lactase, which breaks down lactose, with beta-galactosidase, which helps convert lactose into GOS. The patent describes GOS concentrations of 0.5–3.8 g/100 mL and residual lactose below 0.2 g/100 mL as formulation targets.
The key difference: While Danone focuses on GOS production during probiotic fermentation, Coca-Cola targets both lactose reduction and GOS enrichment.
Together, these patents show three distinct manufacturing priorities: probiotic compatibility, ambient-storage stability, and lactose reduction.
What Does the Competitor Comparison Reveal?
| Company | Main technical challenge | Patent approach |
| Danone | Generate GOS during probiotic fermentation and retain it | L. paracasei fermentation with transgalactosylating beta-galactosidase |
| Chr. Hansen | Preserve GOS during ambient storage | Acidic heat treatment to inactivate the enzyme |
| Coca-Cola | Produce GOS while reducing residual lactose | Coordinated use of lactase and transgalactosylating beta-galactosidase |
The three approaches address different aspects of dairy processing: culture compatibility, storage stability, and lactose removal.
For manufacturers, this suggests that the most suitable technology depends on the intended product format and processing requirements.
For IP teams, comparing enzyme systems, process conditions, and claimed compositions is more useful than comparing GOS-containing products alone.
These examples represent selected patent documents, not a comprehensive competitive landscape.
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Where Could Dairy Fermentation Research Go Next?
Danone’s patent leaves three practical questions for formulation developers.
Can GOS production be achieved in shorter fermentation cycles?
The reported experiments lasted more than four days. Testing shorter fermentation periods could help determine whether comparable GOS concentrations can be obtained without compromising the process.
Can alternative probiotic strains preserve GOS in the same way?
The experiments emphasize L. paracasei. Other strains may metabolize the produced carbohydrates differently, affecting GOS retention and final product composition.
How stable is the formulation under different storage conditions?
The 51-day result was obtained at 10°C. Different storage temperatures, temperature fluctuations, and longer shelf-life requirements would need separate validation.
Another worthwhile investigation is the comparison between GOS produced during fermentation and GOS added as an external ingredient.
Such studies could reveal meaningful differences in carbohydrate composition, processing requirements, texture, or product stability.
For manufacturers, these findings could inform decisions about internal process development, enzyme suppliers, and technology partnerships.
For IP teams, the same research would need to be considered alongside relevant enzyme patents, fermentation methods, strain-specific claims, and national patent-family coverage.
Finding an alternative processing route does not by itself establish freedom to operate.
What Danone’s Patent Reveals About Functional Dairy Development
Danone’s fermentation research demonstrates a practical approach to producing prebiotic GOS from milk lactose while retaining those carbohydrates in a fermented dairy formulation.
The reported 51-day stability result provides a useful starting point, although the extended fermentation duration and specific storage conditions leave important manufacturing questions unanswered.
The competitor patents show that other companies are addressing different parts of the same technical challenge.
Chr. Hansen has investigated GOS stability during ambient storage, while Coca-Cola has focused on combining GOS generation with lactose reduction.
The common issue is process control.
Producing GOS is only one part of developing a functional dairy product. Manufacturers must also manage the final carbohydrate composition, processing efficiency, culture compatibility, and stability throughout storage.
For dairy manufacturers, meaningful differentiation will depend on delivering consistent GOS content through a process that is technically reliable and commercially practical.
Know Which Food Technology Patents Could Become Products
Danone’s approach to producing GOS from milk’s own lactose shows how fermentation could create new opportunities in functional dairy products. But a patent filing alone does not tell us whether a technology is commercially ready.
That requires looking beyond the invention itself.
Our patent intelligence analysis examines the technology behind each filing, compares it with competing approaches, and identifies the technical and commercial challenges that could influence adoption.
For example, Danone is exploring GOS production during probiotic fermentation, while Chr. Hansen focuses on ambient-storage stability and Coca-Cola combines GOS production with lactose reduction. Each approach presents different opportunities for dairy manufacturers.
The goal is to distinguish promising research from developments that could influence future products.
Track the patent activity, understand what competitors are developing, and identify which technologies deserve closer attention.
