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Probiotics for dairy and functional food and beverage
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Monday, 24 July, 2023, 16 : 00 PM [IST]
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Dr Neeraj Mishra
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Probiotics are live microorganisms having the potential to modulate the human immune system, which is why several safety issues during its administration must be addressed.
While at the same time, it is necessary to update, reform, and tighten the policies and regulations for the food manufacturers dealing with such functional foods to protect consumers from false and misleading claims.
Dairy products, including yogurt, fermented milk products and cheese, remain at the forefront of probiotic food development. Probiotics now constitute a sizeable portion of the functional food market, which continues to show exponential market growth estimated at a staggering $120 million per month.
Dairy foods have traditionally been used as carriers for probiotic microorganisms. Therefore, foods such as kefir, milk, yogurts, and cheese have been widely explored as dairy matrices for probiotic bacteria. However, certain sectors of the population such as those allergic to milk proteins, those who are lactose intolerant, and those who are strictly vegetarian, cannot consume dairy products.
Therefore, a need has arisen to offer consumers an alternative to fermented dairy products by exploring new non-dairy matrices as probiotics carriers. However, the viability of probiotic microorganisms is more difficult to maintain in non-dairy matrices than in dairy matrices. The physicochemical parameters must be carefully controlled to guarantee the probiotic viability and to achieve adequate organoleptic properties (mainly aroma and flavour) that can be modified by fermentation.
Nevertheless, to improve the probiotic viability in non-dairy beverages, prebiotics could be used as a supplement. Prebiotics can be defined as “non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of one of a limited number of bacteria in the colon.
Thus, they can improve the gut microbiome by specific beneficial bacteria fermentation in the colon. Foods or beverages that contain probiotics and prebiotics are known as symbiotic foods. Therefore, the proper selection of food matrices as potential carriers of probiotics is an essential factor to consider in the development of probiotic foods.
It is important to ensure the viability of probiotics during processing and storage, to maintain their concentrations at high levels (106–107 colony-forming units (CFU) per mL or g of food) at the time of consumption. It is also essential to ensure their survival during gastrointestinal digestion, and thus a high viability of the probiotics, so that enough reach the large intestine to exert their beneficial effects.
After many years of popularity in the Japanese and European markets, probiotic products are now appearing in new markets, including the Arabian Gulf region. The number and diversity of probiotic products available locally is high compared to other regions. This aptly reflects the increasing level of health awareness and affluence, as well as the cosmopolitan nature of the population.
The provision of strain designation of the probiotic organism and minimum viable numbers at the end of the shelf life are important in determining the true efficacy of the health-related claims of these products. None of the studied products fulfilled all these criteria for labelling, set up in the FAO/WHO recommendation. Most of probiotic products available in this setting contain Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, which are the main genera of Gram-positive bacteria currently characterised as probiotic.
However, L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus were found listed as probiotic microorganisms in several preparations. It is debatable whether these yogurt starter cultures should be considered probiotics.The increasing research on science and innovation has shifted consumer awareness from conventional to functional foods that are more nutritious and healthier. The ideation of functional food is based on the addition of probiotics that promote cognitive response, improved immune system, and general wellbeing.
Probiotics and host immunity
The global food consumption pattern and the emergence of ultra-processed foods have been associated with increased inflammation and other health issues rising to lower immune responsiveness. These dietary changes have been linked to imbalances in the human gut microbiome. The established and well-known action mechanisms of probiotics for boosting immunity by providing protection against the pathogens, secretion of antimicrobial substances, immunomodulation, production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), and competitive action for adhesion and nutritional sources.
Safety assessment
The 420,000 deaths every year are attributed to food poisoning as per the World Health Organization (WHO) report. Part of this is because food which we consume for nutrient delivery, is also suitable hostage to the favourable growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Due to these, consumers are more conscious of future foods with beneficial microbes. Probiotics contain live bacteria that are added to food or food supplements.
General procedure for the safety evaluation of probiotics for application in foods and beverages
Health claims and labelling of probiotic-based foods and beverages
One of the major concerns about probiotic-based foods and beverages is health claims and labelling that are too specific without scientific evidence and facts. They are at times merely used as a gimmick for promotion. It is recommended that the use of the word "probiotic" on only those foods and beverages that contain live microorganisms of well-defined strain with a considerable number of cells that deliver benefits to the host. Clear and precise labelling should be placed on probiotic foods which need to be verified by a regulating body or agency. Failure to do so may result in unwanted health side effects and potential penalties as per the law and legislation.
Regulatory framework and labelling claims associated with probiotic-based foods and beverages
The traditional concepts of sound health have changed dramatically over the years due to increased awareness of consumers towards gastrointestinal health and how it affects the whole body. Focusing on this many food products labelled as probiotics are found globally. The misuse of "probiotic" started to take place for marketing tactics. Hence, many countries enacted a legal framework by establishing agencies with food and labelling requirements, claims permitted and associated penalties to protect consumers from misleading claims.
The rationale was to harmonise the market with a stringent framework that oversights the safety and regulatory aspects of probiotic-based foods and beverages. The broad-spectrum framework to develop regulatory policies and labelling claims for probiotic and probiotic-based foods & beverages include its safety, efficacy, quality control and health claim regulations. When a probiotic makes a health claim for the treatment, therapy, prevention, or diagnosis, it is classified into "drug" as in medical or therapeutic product and regulated as such.
The Gulf market of functional foods is increasing annually, food product development is a key research priority and a challenge for both the industry and science sectors. Probiotic functional foods, being one of the largest markets of functional foods, represent a huge growth potential for the food industry and may be explored through the development of innovative ingredients, processes, and products.
However, it is a challenge to develop probiotic and other functional foods that can both indulge consumers’ eating desire while also providing potential health benefits. Although a great amount of research has been carried out on whey-based functional beverages, some of them are already available in the food markets, whey or buttermilk whey-based probiotic beverages are yet to reach a market value. Results of the scientific studies on probiotic whey-based beverages are promising and these products are expected to find spaces in the functional beverages market soon.
(The author is professor, Amity University Madhya Pradesh.
He can be reached at nmishra1@gwa.amity.edu)
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