Bringing a probiotic-containing functional food to the market: microbiological, product, regulatory and labeling issues

Abstract

Properly formulated pro biotic-containing foods offer consumers a low risk, low cost dietary component that has the potential to promote health in a variety of ways. Several such products are available commercially, although markets in Japan and Europe are more developed than in the USA. Once healthful attributes of a probiotic product have been identified, there remain microbiological, product, regulatory and labeling issues to be addressed prior to marketing. Microbiological and product issues include safety, effective scale-up for manufacturing, definition of probiotic activity, probiotic stability in the product over the course of product manufacture, shelf-life and consumption, definition of effective dose and target population(s), and development of quality assurance approaches. Examples of probiotic-containing foods are given. Regulatory and labeling issues are complicated because they differ for each country, but are likewise critical because they provide the means for communication of the product benefits to the consumer. The regulatory climate worldwide appears to be one of caution about overstating the benefits of such products but at the same time not preventing corporate commitment to marketing.

Fermented milks: a historical food with modern applications–a review

“…f Lb. rhamnosus was the only organism present in the product (Sanders & Huis in't Veld, 1999) g Lb. johnsonii þ S. thermophilus were found in the product (Sanders & Huis in't Veld, 1999).…”

“…rhamnosus was the only organism present in the product (Sanders & Huis in't Veld, 1999) g Lb. johnsonii þ S. thermophilus were found in the product (Sanders & Huis in't Veld, 1999). Data compiled from Tamime et al (1995), Tamime (1998), Sanders and Huis in't Veld (1999) and Lee et al (1999).…”

“…delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus were the only organisms identified in the product (Sanders & Huis in't Veld, 1999). f Lb.…”

“…Hence, the issue of health-promoting properties of such products is questionable, and it cannot be assumed that all strains of Lb. acidophilus have or possess the desirable properties of probiotic microorganisms (Salminen et al, 1996b;Hamilton-Miller & Gibson, 1999;Ouwehand et al, 1999); furthermore, not all the commercial probiotic fermented milk products disclose the strain or species used or the actual numbers (Hamilton-Miller, 1999;Sanders & Huis in't Veld, 1999). In some instances, researchers have referred to Lb.…”

“…Some selected studies on nutritional aspects relating to humans have been reported by Oberhelman et al (1999), Alander et al (1999), Lee et al (1999), Kar (1999), Ashar and Currently it is reclassified as B. animalis (Cai et al, 2000). Yogurt starter cultures have been found in the product rather than bifidobacteria (Sanders & Huis in't Veld, 1999). …”