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Baby poop to make sausages?

Researchers in Spain claim to have created a healthier sausage using probiotic bacteria found in baby poop.

The researchers conducted a study that involved isolating specific strains of bacteria from infant bowel movements -- one of the strains they discovered was particularly excellent at developing flavour and made the sausage more nutritious, reports LiveScience.

Keep in mind that the researchers didn't use actual feces in the sausages, they simply isolated a tiny strain of bacteria and reproduced it in a petri dish.

And before you scrunch up your nose in disgust, know that we already eat plenty of probiotic bacteria, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, derived from human fecal matter in things such as yogurt, buttermilk, milk, fruit drinks and fermented whey-based drinks.

Most sausages already use bacterial fermentation to give the meats a red colour, chewy texture and characteristic tangy flavour. The bacteria also acts as a preservative and prevents the spread of unhealthy germs.

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"Probiotic fermented sausages will give an opportunity to consumers who don't take dairy products the possibility to include probiotic foods to their diet," says study co-author Anna Jofré, a food microbiologist in Girona, Spain.

Jofré and her team examined six strains of bacteria in making sausages, three derived from the soiled diapers of infants and three commercially developed strains. They used infant feces because bacteria is more prevalent in it than in adult feces.

The researchers believe one strain in particular derived from baby poo holds the most promise for commercial use.

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"We ate them, and they tasted very good," Jofré tells LiveScience.

As Slate reports, Lactobacillus bacteria which is commonly used in dairy products was developed in 1983.

"Some probiotics—not all, but some—are isolated from feces," Mary Ellen Sanders, a consultant in probiotic microbiology, tells the online magazine. "It used to be a tenet of the field of probiotics that you wanted to isolate [bacteria] from human sources, because the thinking has always been that that would increase the likelihood that they would have beneficial physiological effects in humans."

What are your thoughts on probiotics derived from feces in your food? Sound off in the comments below.