Probiotics have garnered considerable attention due to their potential health benefits. To better understand consumer knowledge and behavior toward probiotics, a survey questionnaire was administered among 308 young adults, aged 18-25 years old residing in Metro Manila. While young adults were found to have average knowledge, high familiarity, and average consumption of probiotics, there is an evident knowledge gap concerning the specific functions, dosage, and health benefits of probiotics in food products. Results showed that probiotic knowledge was average with the majority citing books or school and social media as their main source of probiotic knowledge. No significant correlation (p<0.05) was found between age (0.3660) and education (0.5178) with consumer knowledge, and occupation (0.9281) and income (0.4428) with familiarity. Moreover, the consumption of specific products such as buro (0.03851), probiotic drinks (0.02593), yogurt (0.0197), and miso (0.01746) show a significant association with income and consumption. Lastly, factor ranking showed that factors such as price (0.003022), packaging (0.03181), benefits to weight modulation and obesity prevention (4.086e-05), and other health benefits (2.843e-08), influencing consumption and purchase behavior are significantly affected by income while occupation mainly impacts the perceived importance of product availability (0.04394). The findings underscore the potential of probiotics to contribute significantly to public health, advocating for continued research and stringent regulatory frameworks to maximize their benefits while ensuring consumer safety.

Milk is a highly nutritive food that is consumed worldwide. Due to its high perishability, it is often processed into milk powders to extend its shelf-life and stability while maintaining its nutritional value. Skim milk powder (SMP) is one of the most common powdered milk forms. However, in underdeveloped countries, poor and substandard regulations can make SMP and other milk products susceptible to adulteration. This study assessed the physical properties of SMP in the Philippine online and physical retail markets by evaluating their quality and drawing implications about local handling. Twenty-one SMP samples were purchased from various online and physical retail stores in Metro Manila and Cebu City and were assessed based on physical appearance, water activity, tapped and bulk density, and viscosity. The results showed that only one out of 21 samples complied with all standards concerning physical appearance. Water activity varied significantly across brands (p<0.05), ranging from 0.274 to 0.528. Eighteen out of 21 samples exceeded the expected water activity for dried dairy milks. Among brands with multiples samples (n>2), significant variations in water activity were observed, with Farmland exhibiting an 18.82% coefficient of variation and Milkboy at 21.28%. While all samples met the expected range for bulk density, four out of 21 did not meet the expected range for tapped density. The viscosity of the reconstituted samples ranged from 0.95 to 1.33cP at the temperature range of 25.3-25.5°C. Variability in viscosity was also noted among samples within the same brand. These variations may be attributed to their differences in storage, handling, and packaging, which can alter the structure and properties of the SMP. The findings highlight the need for Philippine regulatory bodies to strengthen and establish better monitoring systems and conduct more audits to ensure that imported and repacked SMPs meet standard quality requirements.

In the Philippines, the Barangay Day Care Center program is a state-implemented program created for young children in recognition of their needs in Early Childhood Care and Development. This study explored the on-ground experiences of Barangay Day Care Workers by identifying the challenges that they encounter in running the day care program, the strategies that they employ to solve these challenges, and to describe the reasons they have for continuing to work in the Barangay Day Care Center. Thirty day care workers from selected barangays in Metro Manila were chosen through purposive and snowball sampling as respondents for in-depth interview. Themes were identified, answers to questions were analyzed and grouped according to emerging patterns. Results show that the challenges day care workers encounter involve their collaboration with parents, the barangay and administration, the daily operations of the program, balancing work and home life, and managing children in the classroom. The strategies that they use to mitigate problems are to communicate with parents and administration, seek support from their community and other stakeholders, supplement their income with other means of work, and handle children with warmth and inclusivity. The study found that day care workers continue to work because they love teaching and find fulfillment in it despite its stresses and low financial compensation. The findings of this study give voice to a profession that is culturally undermined. Results may aid Filipino educators improve the state of Early Childhood Care and Development in the Philippines at the barangay-level in low-income communities.

With the persistent increasing demand for yogurt-labeled RTD drinks in the Metro Manila are explored to help in its successful marketing. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and perception of Filipino consumers on the contents of yogurt drinks, assess the attitudes and self-efficacy of Filipino RTD drink consumers and their association with nutritional knowledge, and determine the factors that influence the consumption of RTD yogurt drinks by Filipino consumers. A quantitative survey was administered through Google Forms to consumers (n = 385) of yogurt-labeled RTD drinks who are currently at the collegiate level at universities around the National Capital Region, Philippines. The obtained data was analyzed through the RStudio software. The results of the study showed that among the three (3) levels of knowledge examined, the majority of the respondents exhibited a good level of knowledge on the contents of yogurt-labeled RTD drinks, and they had positive attitudes towards its various features. In addition, respondents exhibited poor self-efficacy such that external factors may easily entice them to purchase yogurt-labeled RTD drinks. Results also revealed that the respondents’ volume of consumption was influenced mainly by their attitudes and self-efficacy, specifically with attitudes related to being trendy and self-efficacy towards cravings for sweets, seeing RTD yogurt drink stalls, and seeing other people drinking RTD yogurt drinks. Thus, these factors would be beneficial in facilitating successful promotion of yogurt-labeled RTD drinks to the Filipino market.

The present study experimentally investigated the effects of temperature and pasteurization time on the survival of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) in tuba. Tuba was pasteurized at temperatures of 52° C, 54° C, 56° C, 58° C, 60° C, and 62° C for I minute to I 0 minutes at I minute intervals. Afterwards, pasteurized tuba were aseptically plated onto an Acetic Acid-Ethanol Medium and incubated at 37° C for 48 hours to facilitate microbial growth. Results revealed that the AAB population in tuba is significantly reduced by pasteurization even at the lowest temperature of 52° C and shortest process time of 1 minute. Furthermore, results showed that the AAB population was generally reduced as both pasteurization temperature and time were increased. This is reflected by the descending D-values of 18.48 minutes, 17.92 minutes, 15.75 minutes, 13.30 minutes, 11.72 minutes, and I 0.42 minutes as the pasteurization temperature increased from 52° C to 62° C. The Z-value was calculated to be a relatively high 37.45° C. This thermal resistance can be attributed to the presence of environmental stresses during fermentation, thermotolerant bacterial strains in composition, and the presence of oils and fats, proteins, and sugars in tuba, which essentially serve as protective barriers against heat. Despite the relatively high thermal resistance of the target microorganism, pasteurization was found to be effective in reducing the number of AAB in tuba. It is a cheap and accessible preservation method that is suitable even for the traditional mananggiti in the rural areas of the Philippines. Among the parameters, HTST pasteurization of tuba is preferred as it is more effective against thermally resistant AABs, requires less overall energy, and helps retain more bioactive compounds compared to L TL T pasteurization.