Great find Lynn - thanks!
I see that both article No.1 and No.3 contains contributions by my great colleague from my Chr.Hansen days; Mrs. Lone Andersen (quote) "...demonstrated the ability of mix of a traditional starter culture, Bactoferm T-SPX (Chr Hansen), and the potential probiotic cultures of L. casei LC-01 and Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12 to ferment meat product."
I actually didn´t want to enter this debate about yogurth as starter culture, because I think the topic demands some deeper (scientific) insight and perhaps its about time for me to tap Lone on the shoulder and try to persuade her to make an insider statement for you folks.
The fact is (as Lone Andersen has proven in several tests) that some pro-biotic strains will survive well in a fermented sausage and contribute positively, while others won´t because they succumb to the pH drop and/or salt concentration.
Another factor is the total cell count: Usually you add (a.e.) 2x10 in 11 (sorry guys - can´t type the elevated 11 in this editing program) to be sure that the added "good" bacteria will be numerous enough to dominate over the indigenous "bad" bacteria. Which actually
may happen if the cell count of the added culture is too small, and the meat is just a bit too contaminated with that unseen kribble-krabble.
Now: How will you be able to know the total cell count in the the splash of yogurt that you consider adding ?
Well, I´m just asking - and don´t expect
me to come up with an answer