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Soft drinks from Hokkaido, Japan

Katsugen (Hokkaido lactic drink)カツゲン

Soft Katsugen is a sugar-sweetened, non-carbonated lactic acid bacteria drink sold in cartons, almost only in Hokkaido, by Megmilk Snow Brand. It belongs to the Japanese legal class of lactic acid bacteria drinks, made from milk fermented with lactic acid bacteria or yeast and then diluted; the maker states 1.0 % non-fat milk solids, so it is in the class below 3.0 %. The maker publishes no recipe, so the steps follow the national standard for that class.

Fully documentedSoft drinks35 min

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedA factory product; the maker publishes no recipe. The label lists the ingredients but no amounts.
Milk base fermented with lactic acid bacteria[mhlw-nyuto]
Water, boiled before use for dilution[mhlw-nyuto]
Sugars (sucrose, isomerised glucose syrup, starch syrup, glucose) and dairy productsFirst items on the maker's label, with stabiliser (CMC), acidulant, flavouring and caramel colour[megsnow-product]

Total time across the recorded steps: 35 min

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
63 °C

What changes: The milk base is heated to kill stray microbes

Step 1 of 4
Heat-treat the raw materials for the concentrate
Time
30 min
Set
Temperature
63 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: pasteurised milk base.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Soft Katsugen is a sugar-sweetened, non-carbonated lactic acid bacteria drink sold in cartons, almost only in Hokkaido, by Megmilk Snow Brand. It belongs to the Japanese legal class of lactic acid bacteria drinks, made from milk fermented with lactic acid bacteria or yeast and then diluted; the maker states 1.0 % non-fat milk solids, so it is in the class below 3.0 %. The maker publishes no recipe, so the steps follow the national standard for that class. Made in 4 steps over 35 min. The longest step, heat-treat the raw materials for the concentrate, takes 30 min (乳及び乳製品の成分規格等に関する命令 (Ministerial ordinance on…) and runs at 63 °C (乳及び乳製品の成分規格等に関する命令 (Ministerial ordinance on…).

Key numbers
Main step30 minSet[mhlw-nyuto]Heat-treat the raw materials for the concentrate
Temperature63 °CSet[mhlw-nyuto]Heat-treat the raw materials for the concentrate

What makes this one different

Katsugen is a diluted drink made from a fermented milk concentrate, not a fermented milk drunk as it is. At 1.0 % non-fat milk solids it is in the standard's class below 3.0 %, which must carry at least 1,000,000 live lactic acid bacteria or yeasts per mL.

Related ferments

Safety

The national standard requires the raw materials to be pasteurised (63 °C for 30 min or equivalent), dilution water to be boiled at least 5 min, and coliforms to be absent. The maker labels the drink for storage at 10 °C or below and a 15-day shelf life.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms (must test negative under the national standard).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The maker traces Soft Katsugen to a drink sold as 活素 (katsumoto) in 1938, renamed カツゲン in bottles in 1956 and sold in paper cartons as ソフトカツゲン from 1979. Japanese Wikipedia adds that it was first made for the Imperial Army in central China, from Hokkaido concentrate.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [mhlw-nyuto] 乳及び乳製品の成分規格等に関する命令 (Ministerial ordinance on milk and milk products concerning compositional standards), 昭和二十六年厚生省令第五十二号, as published on e-Gov (lactic acid bacteria drink standards)spec
  2. [megsnow2021] Megmilk Snow Brand 2021, news release on 『リボンナポリン®カツゲン®』300ml (product table and history of Soft Katsugen)web
  3. [megsnow-product] Megmilk Snow Brand, 雪印ソフトカツゲン product page (種類別名称 lactic acid bacteria drink, 無脂乳固形分 1.0 %, ingredients, 15-day shelf life, storage 10 °C or below, carton; read 2026-10-30)web
  4. [s1] Wikipedia (ja), ソフトカツゲン (fetched 2026-10-16)wiki