IPA believes that “the consumer will need well balanced sources of information to be able to make an informed choice”
It is important to notice that probiotic effects are usually strain-specific, and well-characterized probiotics are safe for the general healthy population.
The microbiota is a fascinating study topic and we are indeed only now starting to understand what the microbiota means for us, and the role probiotics can play. Probiotics can be, and are already, a big part of a healthy way of life for many consumers. The consumer will need more balanced sources of information to be able to make an informed choice. This was not happening in a television program in the USA, “60 Minutes”, where they recently posed the question “Do Probiotics Actually Do Anything?” The piece was aired on June 28, 2020 and it contains some inconsistencies and ignores the specificity of probiotics and the range of effects recognised by the scientific community.