Probiotics
The beneficial effects of food with added live micro-organisms
(probiotics) on human health and nutrition have been increasingly recognized
by health professionals. Recent scientific work on the properties and functionalisty
of living micro-organisms in food suggest that probiotics play an important
role in immunological, digestive and respiratory functions, and could have
a significant effect in alleviating infectious disease in children and other
high-risk groups.
In view of the growing poularity of probiotic foods, and the
lack on international consensus on the methodology to assess their efficacy
and safety, FAO and WHO initiated work to examine the scientific evidence on
the functional and safety aspects of probiotics in food.
A Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Health and Nutritional
Properties of Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria was convened in 2001,
and an expert working group in 2002 developed Guidelines for the Evaluation
of Probiotics in Food, to identify and define what data need to be available
to accurately substantiate health claims.
These reports provide scientific advice in relation to the safety
assessment of probiotics, general guidance for their for their evaluationand
on specific questions in relation to their pathogenicity, toxigenicity and
allergenicity, as well as to their functional and nutritional properties.
See also
Food and food products > Fortified foods
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