CORRECTED - Kraft expands LiveActive to cereal and drinks

(Deletes "nuts" from headline and "Planters nuts" from paragraph 2; Planters will be promoted as having digestive health benefits but will not have LiveActive label)

By Brad Dorfman

CHICAGO, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Kraft Foods Inc (KFT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is expanding foods it says promote healthy digestion, but some analysts are not sure consumers are ready for prebiotic fiber -- the additive used in the new products.

The company plans to expand the LiveActive brand in January with new Crystal Light drink mix sticks, and a new breakfast cereal, according to Amy Wagner, senior director of integrated marketing at Kraft.

Kraft, which has been using health and wellness claims as a way to boost sluggish sales, has already had some success with LiveActive cheese snacks and cottage cheese.

The new products use prebiotic fiber to help promote regularity, not the probiotic cultures consumer might be more familiar with, a change that analysts said could confuse shoppers.

"Prebiotic, probiotic, I think that's a meaningless distinction for consumers," said Bob Goldin, executive vice president at Technomic, a food and restaurant research and consulting firm.

Foods and vitamins with probiotics have been a growing market, with sales of $954 million in the 52 weeks ended Dec. 1, up 42.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the Nielsen Co, which tracks data in the U.S. food, drug and mass merchandiser channels, excluding Wal-Mart.

Of that, $729.8 million was from yogurt and yogurt drinks, Nielsen said.