Yogurt was originally sold in pharmacies as a medicine for digestive issues.

The transformation of yogurt into a commercial product began with Isaac Carasso in 1919. Inspired by the high life expectancy of Bulgarians, Carasso sought to address the widespread digestive ailments affecting children in Barcelona after World War I. He named his company Danone, which was the nickname of his son, Daniel.Carasso's work was heavily influenced by Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ilya Mechnikov of the Pasteur Institute in Paris. In 1907, Mechnikov published 'The Prolongation of Life,' where he proposed that lactic acid bacteria could prevent putrefaction in the gut. This research laid the scientific foundation for what we now call probiotics.During this era, Danone yogurt was produced using cultures from the Pasteur Institute and was sold exclusively in pharmacies in stoneware jars. Doctors frequently prescribed it to treat dysentery and other intestinal disorders. It was not until the 1920s and 1930s that the product expanded into grocery stores as a general food item.The transition from medicine to food was accelerated when the company moved to France in 1929. By adding fruit and sweeteners, manufacturers successfully shifted public perception from a sour remedy to a delicious health food. Today, the global yogurt market is worth over $100 billion, yet its origins remain rooted in early 20th-century microbiology.