Dive Brief:
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Recent studies published in the journal Cell found standard probiotics taken as supplements or in products such as yogurt and kefir aren't as effective as claimed. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel reported that probiotics can keep an individual's gut microbiome from returning to a normal state after taking a course of antibiotics, and individual responses to probiotics can vary widely.
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Advocates have taken issue with those findings, according to NutritionInsight. George Paraskevakos, executive director of the International Probiotics Association, said that other studies have shown the value of probiotics, both in preventing gastrointestinal problems and treating them.
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Paraskevakos questioned the methodology of the studies and said a probiotic product was used with 11 strains that weren't itemized. "This raises issues in terms of how the study was set up, and what was claimed. To then publish outcomes that were against the probiotic industry resulted in the mass media sensationalizing it," he told NutritionInsight. "There’s a lot of evidence of how probiotics are beneficial. Not only in a general sense, but also for aspects such as gastrointestinal health. The amount of studies published over the past years about very specific health benefits is incredible."
Dive Insight:
Consumer awareness of probiotics has dramatically increased during the past decade, thanks in part to huge advertising campaigns from Danone’s Activia and other yogurt brands. Although yogurt still leads the probiotics market, other products with the microorganisms — including juices, confectionery items, baked goods, and even wine and beer — are gaining popularity.
Health-conscious consumers are looking for products that can promote healthy gut bacteria, so probiotics have become an important functional food and beverage ingredient. But as they start showing up in all kinds of products, manufacturers need to be careful not to let their labeling claims get ahead of the science.
International Probiotics Association Executive Director George Paraskevakos acknowledged as much when he told NutritionInsight that probiotics are "not a magic bullet" to health.
"However, anybody publishing or commercializing a product with a specific health benefit must make sure that what that benefit is justified with science. Emerging trends in probiotics are originating from what we are seeing in the science," he said.
Still, these new studies call into question whether the conventional wisdom about the benefits of probiotics is correct and suggest that individual differences in the gut microbiome could make taking them less effective.
It's hard to know who's right about the effectiveness of probiotics until more specific research is done into individual responses. These latest studies didn't examine the clinical effects of probiotics, according to Bernard Corfe, a University of Sheffield molecular gastroenterologist who wasn't involved in the Israel research.
He told the Guardian this work helps researchers understand why there are "massive variations" between probiotic studies on the whole and the individual participants. Delivering a tailored probiotic therapy could be problematic, he added.
"I think that for people with chronic conditions, trial and error is still probably the quickest way of getting their answer," Corfe said.
Barring more conclusive findings — and research on a larger group since the two studies only had 36 participants in total — it's difficult for manufacturers to know how to convince consumers their probiotic products are doing the job as advertised. Continuing debate only seems to suggest that probiotics are a trendy ingredient that may not be workable in every application.
However, International Probiotics Association President and Ganeden CEO Michael Bush stressed the importance of testing to Food Dive last year. He said they are always testing — and Ganeden has published 27 peer-reviewed studies on the efficacy of their GanedenBC30 strain.
The future of probiotics continues to look positive. The global probiotics market reached $34 billion in sales in 2015, according to a report from BCC Research, with the food and beverage industry accounting for 73% of that, or $24.8 billion. Globally, the probiotics market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 7.3% during the next few years and reach a value of about $74.7 billion by 2025.