Lactic acid bacteria for preparing fermented food products with increased natural sweetness and high texture

A mutant Streptococcus thermophilus strain,

• wherein the strain is galactose-fermenting,
• wherein the strain carries a mutation in a DNA sequence of a glcK gene encoding a glucokinase protein, wherein the mutation inactivates the glucokinase protein or has a negative effect on expression of the glcK gene, wherein the strain is unable to metabolize glucose;
• wherein the strain carries a mutation in a promoter region of a Galk gene encoding a galactokinase protein;
• and
• wherein the strain carries a mutation in a gene encoding a protein involved in transport of glucose into a cell of the strain, wherein the strain is unable to transport glucose across a cell membrane of the cell into the cell,
• with the proviso that the strain is not the Streptococcus thermophilus strain CHCC16731 that was deposited at Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen under accession No. DSM 28889.