A Trip to Yakult Factory

 

 

     We went to visit the Yakult factory at Seremban. The journey to the place was quite long. It took us about an hour to reach there. When we reached there, we entered the huge factory. While everyone was inside, the tour guide explained how Yakult was being process.

Yakult is a probiotic drink made from Lactobacillus bacteria. It was created by Japanese scientist Minoru Shirota. Yakult claims that the name is obtain from jahurto, an older form of jogurto, the Turkish word for "yoghurt".

First, we visit the Seed room. Skim milk, glucose, sugar and water are the main ingredients. Skim milk powder is mixed with sugar, glucose and filtered, sterilized water to make a sweet milky solution. After the ingredients were being mixed, they are sterilized at a high temperature for a short time, destroying any bacteria that may be present. The solution is then transferred to a 6,500-litre culture tank via a closed system of pipes and valves. The bacteria that makes Yakult comes from Japan and stored in the seed tank to multiply. The temperature of the room is 37 Celsius. The purpose of the seed tank is to breed Yakult-Lactic acid bacteria.

Next, we went to the culture room. The temperature of the culture tank is reduced to 37°C and live Lactobacillus strain from the seed tank is added. The solution is allowed to ferment for about one week until the number of Lactobacillus bacteria reaches an ideal concentration. The concentrate is transferred to a 12,000-litre mixing and storage tank. The tank is chilled to around 2° C. Sterilized flavors, syrup solution, vitamins and calcium are added to the concentrate. Prior to bottling, the concentrate is diluted with filtered, sterile water.

Later, we went to the Moulding room. This is where Yakult bottles are made. Also, Yakult made their bottles by themselves. There are three injection moulding machines. They make 7,000 bottles per hour and the temperature is 250 Celsius. The bottles are made from polystyrene. The bottles are then transferred by a tunnel to another place.

Then, we went to the Clean room. This room is where they do microbiological testing. This room is an air tight room. The outside air will pollute the reading and only bacteria are involved. After that, we went to the Quality Control room(QC). In this place, they check about the quality of the factories production.

Next, we went to the Bottle filing and packaging room. The bottles are wrapped with individual bottle labels. Then, they are filled with Yakult, capped with a foil lid, sealed and transferred along the conveyor belt to the packaging facility. The machine can fill 36,000 of bottles per hour. Before being packed, the bottles are being attached with a straw. Then, single bottles of Yakult are sorted into groups of five and shrink-wrapped in polypropylene film. Ten "5-packs" are grouped together and wrapped again in polyethylene film and then heat shrunk, forming a 'carton' of 50 Yakult bottles. In average, they produce 7,200 packs per hour and 720 cartons per hour.

Lastly, we went to the Refrigeration Room. Finished products are kept refrigerated before delivery to stores. In total, the factory produces 322,000 bottles of Yakult per day. According to research, there are 30 billion live bacteria living in each Yakult drink. Also, there are only 70 workers in the factory due to computerize system.

This trip is really interesting. After this trip, I realized that Yakult drink is good for health and I will start drinking it daily.