Probiotic verification: A completely different kind of food ingredient

USP is the non-governmental, non-profit authority responsible for setting standards for the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC), a compendium of ingredient monographs and tests to ensure the quality, purity and safety of more than 1,100 food ingredients. Among its latest draft standards is a new appendix on probiotics,Microbial Food Cultures Including Probiotics, which sets out testing to confirm probiotic identity, purity and microbe count, to ensure product safety, as well as authenticity of health claims.

Kristie Laurvick, scientific liaison at USP, told FoodNavigator-USA: “The challenges surrounding probiotics start with the fact that they are a completely different kind of food ingredient, because they are a living organism…We would like to help industry formulators and users of probiotics determine what they are using. It’s the strain level that’s of most interest to probiotic users because health benefits are specific to a very particular strain.”​

She stressed that USP’s standards do not aim to verify health claims about the purported benefits of specific probiotic strains, but simply that manufacturers receive the probiotic they pay for.

“The differences between two different strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus can be very small, but can make a very big difference in the human body,”​ she said. “We are most concerned with defining the strain and defining enumeration techniques…More food companies are finding ways – and trying to find ways – to incorporate them into products that could be consumed by a larger population.”​

USP’s director of food standards, Markus Lipp, added that for food manufacturers, verifying the strain and microbe count is important for protecting brand reputation.

“The one organism is good in yogurt but it really doesn’t work in baked goods or whatever,”​ he said. “…The manufacturer might ask, how can I make my product with a new ingredient? There might be potential for money saving or added value…The value is in the brand, so the wrong claim affects the brand value.”​

Unscrupulous…or less educated​

Laurvick added: “We recognize probiotics as a high value food ingredient…Consumers are willing to pay a little more but in a sense it invites people who are less honest, or just less educated, into the industry …If a non-authentic or adulterated product enters the marketplace, it can give a product a bad name.”​

The latest draft FCC standards are open for comment​ until March 31.

USP has teamed up with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) to stage a workshop in early May on the characterization and identity of probiotics in foods. More information on the event is available by clicking here.