Use of indigestible oligosaccharides to reduce the incidence of otitis media in humans

摘要

A method is provided for reducing the incidence of otitis media in infants and young children by enterally administering indigestible fructooligosaccharides. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for reducing the incidence of otitis media comprising administering to humans an indigestible fructooligosaccharide selected from the group consisting of 1-kestose, nystose and 1-.sup.F -B- fructofuranosyl nystose . The indigestible fructooligosaccharides can be produced through enzymatic synthesis, chemical techniques or isolated from plant materials and are administered in the form of a nutritional product, candy, tablets, chewing gums, lozenges, milk products, yogurts and the like. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the fructooligosaccharides have a DP of 2 to 20 and still more preferably are the fructooligosaccharides FG.sub.2, GF.sub.3, and GF.sub.4.