Live vs. pasteurized

Pasteurized sounds like a compromise. The science says it's an upgrade.

Here's every piece of evidence behind our choice, and why the cold chain makes live Akkermansia a harder promise to keep.

~1% viability of live Akkermansia muciniphila
in ambient air by 48 hours
(Applied and Environmental Microbiology)
Why live Akkermansia is fragile

Akkermansia is a strict anaerobe.

It evolved to live inside the gut, not in a bottle on a shelf. Published research shows the viability of live Akkermansia muciniphila in ambient air drops to roughly 25% at 24 hours and ~1% at 48 hours (Applied and Environmental Microbiology).

Each step in the supply chain: manufacturer, packager, warehouse, shipping truck, doorstep, your shelf. Each is another oxygen exposure and another temperature risk.
Viability in ambient air 75% 50% 25% 100% 0 hours 25% 24 hours ~1% 48 hours Ouwerkerk JP et al. (2016). Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82(23), 6983–6993. Ambient air exposure, room temperature. CFU counts, n=4 replicates.
What the research shows

Strain sensitivity varies. Some strains collapse within hours.

Oxygen tolerance among Akkermansia muciniphila strains is not uniform. Published research characterizing 71 clinical isolates across four phylogroups found a striking range: some strains retained viable colonies through prolonged air exposure, while others fell below 0.01% viability within just 12 hours. The strain in any given live product depends on the phylogroup the manufacturer works with, and the viability at the consumer's end depends on how well every step of the cold chain held.

Becken et al., 2021 — mBio

Certain phylogroups of A. muciniphila showed less than 0.01% viable colonies after just 12 hours of ambient oxygen exposure in direct laboratory testing.

Ouwerkerk et al., 2016 — Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Even the well-studied type strain declines to ~25% viability at 24 hours and only ~1% at 48 hours in ambient air under controlled conditions.

Marcial-Coba et al., 2018 — Food Function

Survival of A. muciniphila was significantly better when stored anaerobically at 4°C than at 25°C, even over a single month of storage.

Viability in ambient air — the strain gap 75% 50% 25% ~60% Resistant strains at 24 hours ~25% Type strain at 24 hours <0.01% Sensitive strains at 12 hours Becken et al. (2021), mBio, 12(3); Ouwerkerk et al. (2016), Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 82(23). Sensitive strains: AmIV and AmIb phylogroups. These results were obtained under controlled lab conditions. Real-world supply chains introduce additional variables at every step.
The supply chain reality

Every step is a temperature risk.

Manufacturer
→
Packager
→
Warehouse
→
Shipping
→
Doorstep
→
Your shelf
6 oxygen and temperature exposure points before it reaches you

Most supplements are not shipped in temperature-controlled, anaerobic packaging. By the time a live Akkermansia bottle reaches your shelf, the data on what's actually still viable becomes difficult to defend.

Why pasteurized works, and may work better

The form that arrives as labeled.

Choosing pasteurized is not a convenience trade-off. It is a scientifically coherent decision rooted in what the evidence actually shows.

Live form
− Requires refrigeration or freezing throughout the supply chain
− Ambient air viability: ~1% by 48 hours
− Documented viability loss at room temperature even under controlled lab conditions
− What arrives at your gut depends on every step of the cold chain
− Amuc_1100 protein integrity subject to ongoing degradation
Pasteurized — SuperAkki®
✓ Shelf-stable at room temperature, no cold chain required
✓ Inactivated cells — no further viability loss regardless of storage
✓ 30 billion TFU count fixed at manufacturing, consistent with label at delivery
✓ Active components arrive as the label describes, regardless of cold chain
✓ Amuc_1100 is heat-stable, fully preserved through pasteurization
The mechanism

Amuc_1100 survives.
The benefit shows up.

Pasteurization (70°C, 30 min) inactivates the cells while preserving the functional surface structures. Amuc_1100, the outer-membrane protein that mediates much of the gut-barrier effect, is heat-stable. It survives pasteurization intact. No live cells means nothing to degrade in transit. The active components arrive as the label describes, regardless of cold chain.

Depommier 2019 — Nature Medicine

Pasteurized form showed favorable gut outcomes in humans in a direct three-arm comparison, including effects on gut barrier markers.

2021 — Scientific Reports

Pasteurized showed more pronounced upregulation of tight-junction genes than live form in a controlled direct comparison.

2025 — Frontiers in Microbiology

Pasteurized had a stronger effect on Claudin-1 expression than live form, supporting gut barrier structure and function.

We chose pasteurized not as a shortcut, but because the evidence says it's the smarter form.