The Science
Virae is a food supplement. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The statements below reference published research on the BLIS K12 and M18 strains and are not a promise of individual results.
Your mouth is an ecosystem, not a surface.
Over 700 bacterial species live in the mouth at any given time. Some are protective — they keep odour-causing bacteria in check and help maintain a neutral environment. Others, when they overgrow, produce volatile sulfur compounds: the molecules behind bad breath, tongue coating and that stale taste. The issue usually isn't cleanliness. It's balance.
This matters because roughly 85% of chronic bad breath originates in the mouth itself — most often the tongue coating — rather than the stomach. That's exactly where an oral probiotic works, and exactly where a swallowed capsule cannot.
The two strains
BLIS K12 (Streptococcus salivarius K12)
Originally isolated from the mouth of a child with a notably healthy oral microbiome, K12 is the most-studied probiotic strain for the oral cavity and upper respiratory tract. It works by colonising the surfaces of the mouth and throat and producing natural antimicrobial proteins (BLIS — bacteriocin-like inhibitory substances) that help crowd out odour-causing bacteria.
BLIS M18 (Streptococcus salivarius M18)
A related strain studied for supporting the bacterial balance around the teeth and gums. Used alongside K12, it broadens where the protective effect reaches.
Both strains are licensed from BLIS Technologies (New Zealand), a publicly listed biotech company that has spent over 20 years researching probiotic strains for the mouth and throat.
What the published research shows
- Sulfur compound reduction: In the foundational clinical trial, around 85% of the K12 group showed substantial reductions in volatile sulfur compounds (the molecules that cause the smell), versus roughly 30% on placebo.
- Lasting effect: In a study on patients with orthodontic braces, sulfur-compound levels stayed reduced up to three months after participants stopped taking the lozenges.
- Broad response: In a later trial of 208 children, add-on K12 supplementation reduced oral malodour in virtually every child studied.
Why a lozenge — not a capsule
This is the design decision the whole product rests on. A slow-dissolving lozenge sits in the mouth for several minutes, letting the strains make direct contact with the tongue, gums and throat — the surfaces where they need to colonise. A capsule is swallowed and dissolves in the gut, long before the mouth gets anything from it. Different target, different delivery.
The format, in numbers
6 billion CFU per dose · BLIS K12 + M18 in a single lozenge · one nightly, after brushing · vegan · no alcohol · no artificial dyes · made in the Netherlands.