Kefirs are fermented beverages containing yeast and bacteria produced by the fermentation of water or milk with kefir grains. Because microorganism density may influence a product's health benefits, label accuracy regarding viable bacterial density and taxonomy of fermented foods is important. In this study, the microbiota of 5 commercial kefir products were measured quantitatively using standard plating techniques and characterized using high-resolution, long-read 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. To enumerate viable lactic acid bacteria, 2 lots of each product were plated on de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe agar upon opening and following 14 d and incubated under anaerobic and aerobic conditions. Results revealed that 66% of products with a guaranteed count of colony-forming units per gram overstated microorganism density by at least 1 log, with only product E exceeding 1 × 109 cfu/g. Sequencing results demonstrated moderate product label accuracy in regard to taxonomy, yet several products contained bacterial species above the minimum detectable threshold (0.001% relative abundance) that were not included on the labels (e.g., Streptococcus salivarius, Lactobacillus paracasei). Our results demonstrate a moderate level of labeling accuracy for commercial kefir products intended for human consumption. Regulatory agencies and consumers must continue to scrutinize these products and demand a higher level of accuracy and quality.
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