Tidbits: Kum-bi-otic, Lord!

Kum-bi-otic, Lord! New from Post, two flavors of LiveActive cereal "for digestive health," "with 3g prebiotic fiber per serving."

Last July, when Mr. Tidbit spotted the cheese sticks that were Kraft's first LiveActive product, he pronounced the "Live" part of LiveActive to rhyme with "give," perhaps because the "e" in "Live" in the logo is much paler than the other letters.

But when he read the package more closely he saw that the cheese contains "a live beneficial culture" (Bifidobacterium lactis) "for digestive health," and the product's website spoke of the wonders of probiotics (live cultures that provide a health benefit). So he concluded that the "Live" part of LiveActive should rhyme with "five."

Kraft's new Post LiveActive, on the other hand, is a dry cereal, not a refrigerated item like yogurt or cheese, so it has no live cultures. So maybe the "Live" part of LiveActive really is pronounced to rhyme with "give." Or maybe it rhymes with "five" on the cheese, but "give" on the cereal.

Anyway, there are no probiotics in the cereal. It has "prebiotic fiber." Prebiotics are ingredients, typically fiber, that stimulate the growth and/or activity of beneficial bacteria (probiotics) in the colon. The ingredient list reveals LiveActive cereal's prebiotic fiber to be inulin, a natural plant fiber.

Maybe the next product will contain neither prebiotics nor probiotics. Maybe it will contain nobiotics and be pronounced "LeaveActive."

What price fish oil? Last week Mr. Tidbit's brain was so enhanced by the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA in fish oil that he raced on to his next item without noting that, at one discount supermarket, fish-oil-enhanced Better'n Eggs Plus "with calcium and omega-3" costs no more than regular Better'n Eggs, but all three Kemps Plus Select milks, with fish oil and/or calcium added, are priced 90 cents per half-gallon higher than Kemps' other Select (non-BGH) milk.

AL SICHERMAN