Background. Consumer interest in healthy food contributes to the development of functional products which, due to active ingredients they contain, are supposed to provide health benefits. Fermented milk beverages, classified as functional food, are among the products which consumers choose most frequently. They are appreciated mainly due to their taste, as well as beneficial  nutritional and health-promoting properties. The aim of the study was to evaluate the survivability of the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG probiotic strain in a model fermented beverage with the  addition of (1) fibre or (2) β-glucan and (3) without additives and to assess the quality of these products during refrigerated storage.
Results and conclusion. It was demonstrated that fermented milk beverages provided a good medium for the growth of probiotic bacteria. The number of viable bacterial cells in all beverages  during the entire storage period was higher than the minimum dose recommended for probiotic products. Moreover, the overall sensory quality of both the fermented milk beverage with the  addition of β-glucan and the control sample was similar. The study conducted confirms that β-glucan can be used to develop a fermented milk beverage with a large number of probiotic bacteria  (>7.5 log cfu/ml). In addition, the designed beverage meets the definition of functional food because one serving (200 ml) contains 3 g of β-glucan, which is believed to have beneficial  properties reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and for which a health claim can be made.