Archive for category: News

Publication of paper reporting increased mortality in study of six-strain blend of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium on infectious complications in patients with severe pancreatitis. ISAPP reacts. Earlier ISAPP response to the pre-publication press release can be found here.

Free webinar on “Probiotics and their Role in Gut Health” sponsored by “Natural Products Insider.” Robert Hutkins, Ph.D., Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska will present.

Qualified Presumption of Safety: The European Food Safety Authority just issued report describing an opinion on the QPS approach to safety of microorganisms used in foods. “Introduction of a Qualified Presumption of Safety (QPS) approach for assessment of selected microorganisms referred to EFSA – Opinion of the Scientific Committee.” See: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1178667590178.htm

Announcing the publication of an issue paper sponsored by CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, www.cast-science.org) which comprehensively covers the field of probiotics. Authored by four members of the ISAPP board of directors (Drs. Sanders, Gibson, Gill and Guarner), this paper was written with a lay audience as at target. Announcement.
Click here to download this article for free.

A Probiotic Council within the National Yogurt Association (www.aboutyogurt.com) has been established. This council is intended to be the voice of industry as it relates to standards
and regulatory issues for probiotics, at least as they related to dairy foods. This is an important development because it leverages the significant resources and expertise in regulatory affairs of the NYA trade association to promote appropriate standards for probiotics in the US. Press release.

A non-commercial, educational DVD produced by ISAPP President Dr. Gregor Reid and Danone (Paris, France) which illustrates how probiotics function in vivo is available now in 12 languages. See press
release

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), an NIH funding agency, forms Product Quality Working Group to assess quality of natural substances, including probiotics and prebiotics, that are subjects of research.

2001 FAO Report: Probiotics in food health and nutritional properties and guidelines for evaluation
Download report

A booklet titled “Pediatrician’s and Gastroenterologist’s Guide to Using Probiotics” written by Jon Vanderhoof, M.D. and Eamonn Quigley, M.D. was published by Health
Point Press. For information, email: Booktalk@nullsbcglobal.net

The World Gastroenterology Organization publishes “Practice Guideline: Probiotics and Prebiotics.” Click here.

On March 28, 2008 the International Probiotics Association announced its intent to offer a quality seal for probiotic products that meet its standards for content and substantiation of health benefits; the seal will be available on products in 6-8 months.

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?
n=84289-international-probiotics-association-probiotics

FAO publishes technical report on prebiotics addressing definitions, substantiation and characterization issues (January 29, 2008). Report