Abstract
Recent acquisitions about the role of the microbiota in the functioning of the human body make it possible to envisage an increasing use of beneficial microbes, and more particularly of probiotics as well as their metabolites, as nutritional supplements. National and EU authorities are engaged in assuring the safety and quality of food supplements and in defining rules to assess and communicate their efficacy on human health. The quality of probiotics, intended as strains’ identification, viability, and stability over time, is a crucial factor of credibility with consumers and health professionals. Analytical technologies for the quality control of probiotics must also be adapted to new preparations, such as those including new multistrains complex combinations. Accredited laboratories face this relevant challenge on a daily basis. Through its close collaboration with the laboratory commissioned to produce the specifications for its ESLP quality label (identification and quantitative analyses) together with its scientific committee, the ESLP has been focusing on this issue for 10 years. Recently, as part of the internationalization of the ESLP quality label, a new and unique initiative in Europe for the evaluation of the quality of probiotic preparations has been carried out. The collaboration between two accredited laboratories in Belgium and in Italy represented a concrete example of supranational collaboration in the assessment of the quality of probiotic preparations. Results show that both laboratories are in line as expected in terms of performance. Common approaches to the qualitative assessment of probiotic preparations, especially for complex and composite recipes, in terms of number of strains and included substances, should be encouraged and promoted all over the EU.
Highlights
AAT-Advanced Analytical Technologies Srl, Fiorenzuola d’Arda, 29017 Piacenza, Italy; Abstract: Recent acquisitions about the role of the microbiota in the functioning of the human body make it possible to envisage an increasing use of beneficial microbes, and more of probiotics as well as their metabolites, as nutritional supplements
The ESLP label does not provide in any way a quality scale between labeled products nor does it disqualify products that do not wish to participate in the trials proposed for granting the label
The products are sampled randomly in the market, and the ESLP quality label is granted after qualitative and quantitative microbiological analysis based on the specifications defined by the ESLP Scientific Committee
Summary
Regulatory standards about probiotics greatly differ among countries. More and more multi-strains probiotics entered the market in the last years. The recent rapid growth of the e-commerce, registered as from 2019, participates in changing the rules: data, EUR 108 million of probiotics were bought online by consumers in the EU (excluding UK) in 2019 with nearly 80% including health claims on pack on their website (Lumina Intelligence www.lumina-intelligence.com, access on 10 February 2021). It is possible in Denmark to use the word “probiotic” on labels. This, together with the recent Spanish decision, will probably create a domino effect with more and more countries joining the group of the here above-mentioned countries
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