Patent ID: 7772212

Claim:
A composition for decreasing the population numbers of pathogenic bacteria in a bird's intestine, said composition comprising a commercial avian food and two or more isomaltooligosaccharides, wherein each isomaltooligosaccharide has at least one α-1,4 linkage and at least one α-1,6 linkages, has a degree of polymerization between 2 and 7, and has maltose at the reducing end; wherein said isomaltooligosaccharides are produced by fermentation of sucrose in the presence of maltose, in a sucrose:maltose ratio of about 2:1, by Leuconostoc mesenteroides ATCC 13146; and wherein the isomaltooligosaccharides are at a concentration from about 0.1% to about 20% w/w food.