Activia Ingredients

The Dannon Co. makes Activia, and it is available throughout the world. Because is a cultured yogurt product, you should not eat Activia if you are lactose intolerant or sensitive to milk products. Advertised as a beneficial probiotic food item, Activia contains several ingredients that may improve your health. If you have a gastrointestinal condition, consult your physician before trying the brand.

Live and Active Cultures

Activia contains live and active cultures, commonly called probiotics. They are beneficial microorganisms -- friendly or good bacteria -- that occur naturally in the human digestive tract. Activia has Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus and Bifidobacteria lactis, also known as Bifidobacteria regularis, according to Dannon.

Milk

The ingredients in Activia can vary depending on your selection of either nonfat or low-fat, as well as the specific flavor. The first ingredient is always either cultured Grade A nonfat milk for regular Activia, and cultured Grade A reduced-fat milk for Activia light, according to Dannon.

Additional Ingredients

Additional ingredients for regular Activia include fructose, water, sugar and less than 1 percent of whey protein concentrate, modified cornstarch and corn starch, gelatin, malic acid and sodium citrate. Nonfat Activia uses aspartame to replace sugar.

Flavor-specific products include natural vanilla flavor for vanilla; blueberries, carmine and natural flavor for blueberry; strawberries, carmine and natural flavor for strawberry; cherry, carmine and natural flavor for cherry; mixed berries, carmine and natural flavor for mix berry; natural flavor, annatto extract and black carrot juice concentrate for peach; and plum and carmine for prune, the manufacturer lists.

Activia offers a line of fiber yogurt that includes rolled white wheat flakes, red wheat bran, rolled oats, agar agar, vitamin D-3, annatto extract and turmeric. Activia Fiber is available in the flavors peach and cereal, vanilla and cereal, and strawberry and cereal.

Health Benefits

The probiotics in Activia may help to improve digestion by encouraging regularity and the complete breakdown of food not fully digested, according to Allison Tannis in her book, "Probiotic Rescue." Lactic acid bacteria, such as Lactobacillus bulgaricus, help digest lactose in the small intestines, Tannis adds. The manufacturer claims that regularly eating Activia as part of a balanced diet can help regulate your digestive system in two weeks.