Challenges of Beneficial Health Claims

Abstract

Probiotic bacteria are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. The different beneficial effects of specific probiotic strains may be translated into health claims. The use of health claims is strictly regulated by legislation worldwide. A common element of those is that substantiation of claims should be based on scientific evidences. Providing such evidences requires a long and expensive procedure, while a number of challenges have to be addressed. Different in vitro and in vivo methods are applied for screening and characterizing the putative probiotic strains. Although these tests may be useful as assessment tools, probiotics must be validated by properly designed human clinical studies. Poor prior selection, as well as the limited capacity of in vitro tests and animal models to mimic the human organization may contribute to contradictions between in vitro findings and in vivo feasibility. This chapter reviews the crucial steps of substantiation of health claims associated with probiotics with special emphasis on the related challenges.