Short answer: both are Akkermansia muciniphila ingredients, but they are handled very differently. Live (viable) AKK is standardized on viable cells (CFU) and needs careful stability, packaging and often cold-chain support. Pasteurized AKK is heat-treated and non-viable, which typically gives it a more stable, easier-to-handle profile and a different regulatory and labeling posture. Choose based on stability, finished format, and your US label and documentation strategy.
Live vs Pasteurized Akkermansia at a glance
| Property | Live (viable) AKK | Pasteurized AKK |
|---|---|---|
| Viability | Viable cells | Non-viable (heat-treated) |
| Standardization basis | CFU (viable count) | Total cell / content basis |
| Stability & shelf-life | More sensitive; needs protection | Generally more stable |
| Cold-chain / packaging | Often required | Usually less demanding |
| Best-fit finished formats | Capsules, sachets with protection | Capsules, sticks, broader formats |
| Regulatory / label posture (US) | Review DSHEA + viability labeling | Review DSHEA + non-viable labeling |
| Documentation | COA, viability/CFU, stability, spec | COA, content, stability, spec |
| Claim posture | Structure/function only | Structure/function only |
Comparison of ingredient forms, handling and regulatory posture only. No disease, weight-management or treatment claims are made or implied.
Choose live (viable) AKK if…
Your product concept and label are built around viable-cell (CFU) positioning and you can support the stability, packaging and cold-chain requirements.
Choose pasteurized AKK if…
You want a more stable, easier-to-handle ingredient, broader format flexibility, and a non-viable labeling approach for your US launch.
Documentation & how to verify
Request a Certificate of Analysis (COA), viability/CFU or content data, specification sheet, stability data and strain identity documentation. All Nutrition BioTech ingredients are produced within an ISO 22000 and GMP-certified quality system — see our certifications.
Identity and Standardisation: What to Specify on a COA for Akkermansia muciniphila
Akkermansia has no CAS number — it is an organism, not a molecule — so identity is carried by strain designation, culture-collection accession and sequence accession rather than by a chemical identifier. These are the fields to put on a specification and to ask a supplier to match.
| Identity field | Value for the reference type strain | Why a formulator asks for it |
|---|---|---|
| Species | Akkermansia muciniphila (family Akkermansiaceae, phylum Verrucomicrobiota) | Species-level identity; a genus name alone is not a specification |
| NCBI Taxonomy ID | 239935 | Unambiguous machine-readable species reference |
| Type strain | MucT — species described in Derrien et al., Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 54:1469–1476 (2004), PMID 15388697 | The strain against which the species itself is defined |
| Culture-collection accessions | ATCC BAA-835T; CIP 107961T; DSM 22959; CCUG 64013; JCM 33894; BCRC 81048 | Six deposits of the same type strain — different catalogues, one organism |
| 16S rRNA sequence | GenBank AY271254 | Basis for identity confirmation by sequencing |
| Whole genome | GenBank CP001071 (A. muciniphila ATCC BAA-835, complete genome) | Reference for whole-genome-sequencing identity checks |
| Form | Live (viable) or pasteurised (heat-treated, non-viable) | The form changes the assay, the unit and the regulatory position |
A strain designation identifies the reference strain, not automatically the lot in the drum
ATCC BAA-835 and its sister accessions identify the type strain of the species. A supplier quoting that designation is telling you which organism the material is meant to be; it is documentation — a strain-identity report, ideally sequencing-based — that tells you the lot actually is it. Ask for the identity method by name (16S rRNA sequencing or whole-genome sequencing) rather than accepting a designation on its own. For our own Akkermansia grades the designation is stated per our specification, with strain-identity documentation available under buyer review.
Authorisation is strain-specific and form-specific
In the EU, pasteurised Akkermansia muciniphila was authorised as a novel food by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/168 of 8 February 2022 under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, and entered on the Union list established by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2470. That authorisation covers the pasteurised form of the MucT strain (ATCC BAA-835, CIP 107961). It is not a blanket authorisation for the genus, for other strains, or for the live form. Conditions of use were subsequently amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/391 of 23 February 2026.
The authorised maximum intake levels are expressed in cells per day: 3.4 × 1010 cells/day for adults, and under the 2026 amendment 3.0 × 1010 from age 14 and 2.1 × 1010 from age 12, in food supplements and in foods for special medical purposes. Pregnant and breastfeeding women remain outside the authorised population.
An EU authorisation is not a US market position
Those EU figures are the most detailed public specification framework that exists for this ingredient, which is why US formulators reach for them — but an EU novel food authorisation confers no United States status. In the US, the route for a dietary supplement ingredient not previously present in the food supply is a new dietary ingredient notification under section 413 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and 21 CFR 190.6, filed at least 75 days before introduction into interstate commerce, or an independent GRAS conclusion for the intended use. Confirm the position for your own finished product with your regulatory counsel: the EU numbers above are a specification reference, not a US clearance and not a dosing recommendation.
A pasteurised grade needs two numbers, not one
Because a pasteurised grade is deliberately non-viable, a colony count cannot express its potency — a correctly pasteurised lot should grow nothing. EFSA’s safety assessment of the pasteurised novel food was conditioned on viable cells sitting below the limit of detection, stated as fewer than 10 CFU/g. A pasteurised specification therefore carries two distinct results: a total-cell count (the potency number, in cells/g) and a viability result (the confirmation-of-inactivation number, in CFU/g). A COA showing only one of the two is incomplete.
Cells/g and CFU/g are different units and do not convert into one another. A live grade quoted in CFU and a pasteurised grade quoted in total cells cannot be compared on a single headline number, and a quote reading only “1011/g” without naming the unit and the method cannot be evaluated at all. Ask which count, by which method.
Working a daily dose back to a raw-material specification
The unit matters because the arithmetic runs through it. If a formulator is designing a finished supplement to the EU authorised adult maximum of 3.4 × 1010 cells/day and the raw material is specified at 1 × 1011 total cells per gram, the material required per daily serving is 3.4 × 1010 ÷ 1 × 1011 = 0.34 g, i.e. 340 mg/day. At the 2.1 × 1010 level the same material gives 0.21 g, i.e. 210 mg/day. Halve the specified cell count and both figures double — which is why the cells-per-gram number, and the method behind it, drive capsule size and format feasibility long before anything else does. Run the calculation on the figure on the actual COA, not on a marketing range.
The same discipline applies to every quote you put side by side — see how to compare ingredient quotes — and to reading the document itself, covered in how to verify a supplier COA. For stability data on either form, how to read a stability report sets out what a usable protocol looks like.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between live and pasteurized Akkermansia?
Live AKK contains viable cells standardized by CFU; pasteurized AKK is heat-treated and non-viable, usually with a more stable, easier-to-handle profile. The right choice depends on your format, stability needs and labeling strategy.
Which is more stable for a stick pack or capsule?
Pasteurized AKK is generally more stable and format-flexible. We can share stability and packaging notes for your specific format.
What documentation do you provide for Akkermansia?
COA, viability/CFU or content data, specification sheet, stability data and strain identity documentation on request.
Can I request a sample to evaluate both?
Yes — request samples, minimum order quantity and lead time via our contact page.
View the Akkermansia (AKK) ingredient → | Request a sample, COA or spec →
Does Akkermansia muciniphila have a CAS number?
No. CAS Registry Numbers are assigned to chemical substances, and Akkermansia muciniphila is a microorganism. Its identity is carried instead by strain designation and culture-collection accession (ATCC BAA-835, CIP 107961 and DSM 22959 all denote the type strain), by NCBI Taxonomy ID 239935, and by sequence accessions such as GenBank AY271254 for the 16S rRNA gene. A supplier offering a CAS number for Akkermansia is describing something other than the organism.
Does the EU novel food authorisation cover live Akkermansia?
No. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/168 authorised the pasteurised form; the live form is not covered by it. Authorisation in this category is specific to both the strain and the form. An EU authorisation also does not establish a United States position for either form — that runs through a new dietary ingredient notification under 21 CFR 190.6 or a GRAS conclusion for the intended use.
How do I compare a CFU number against a cells-per-gram number?
You cannot compare them directly, because they measure different things by different methods. CFU/g counts cells able to form colonies and applies to live grades; total cells/g counts cells present whether or not they are viable, and is the potency basis for pasteurised grades. On a pasteurised lot both appear, for different reasons: total cells as the potency figure, CFU as evidence that inactivation worked (EFSA’s assessment used fewer than 10 CFU/g, the limit of detection). Ask any supplier to state the unit and the method beside every count.