Categories for Probiotic Updates

After Spain has recently allowed the use of the term probiotic invoking the mutual recognition principle, and  Denmark has started to discuss this topic in the national Parliament, asking for a European clarification on the use of the term, the Netherlands also intervene to define the use of the term probiotic in food and food supplements.  On Friday the “Nutrition and Health ...

Let us introduce you to the most famous probiotic of all, Lactobacillus acidophilus. Lactobacillus acidophilus is one of the most commonly recognized species of probiotics – it deserves a star on the microbiome walk of fame. The name Lactobacillus acidophilus means “acid-loving”. Made famous for their presence in fermenting dairy products these teeny, tiny microbes ...

In the letter of Maurizio Koch, MD, and Lucio Capurso, MD,  published on Gastroenterology in December 2020,  the Authors comment on two clinical recommendations of the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) and bring additional arguments for the use of probiotics in the prevention of Clostridioides difficile infection, and on acute gastroenteritis in children, which are based on ...

The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) will accept the use of the term “probiotic” on the labels of food and food supplements produced and commercialized in the country. AESAN states  that the  Commission’s Guide to the Implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 is not legally binding and there are different interpretations by ...

The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) brings together global leading scientific experts, and has shifted the paradigm for how probiotics and prebiotics are studied and understood. Their recent series of highly enjoyable explainer videos represents an example of scientific communication and education. Scientists classify probiotics the same way they classify all living ...

The new situation will facilitate the more comprehensive understanding of the importance of the lactobacilli and a more detailed and reliable communication. For maintenance of continuity within the QPS list, all the strains belonging to a previous designed Lactobacillus species will be transferred to the new species. Both the previous and new names will be ...

It is important to notice that probiotic effects are usually strain-specific, and well-characterized probiotics are safe for the general healthy population. The microbiota is a fascinating study topic and we are indeed only now starting to understand what the microbiota means for us, and the role probiotics can play. Probiotics can be, and are already, ...

The recently published Clinical Practice Guidelines on the role of probiotics in the management of gastrointestinal disorders by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) contains some interesting points on the role of probiotics, but also requires some clarifications. Probiotics should not be seen as the magic solution, just as drugs are not solving all the medical ...

Can probiotics contribute to support the immune system?  The results of several studies point out that the use of selected strains of probiotics, certain prebiotics and specific combinations thereof (synbiotics), can support the immune system. Maintaining a healthy immune system allows the body’s defense system to fight pathogens such as viruses. There is a general ...

It finally happened! Today the nomenclature of the genus Lactobacillus has been revisited. The new situation allows a much more comprehensive understanding of the importance of the lactobacilli and a more detailed and reliable communication. Read more Today the nomenclature of the genus Lactobacillus, together with some other related taxa like the pediococci, leuconostocs, fructobacilli, ...