The big industry and regulation stories of 2012
Probiotic claims canned (for now)
The probiotic sector has been dealing with an unfavourable claims situation in Europe for some time, altering or removing claims and now prohibited from even employing the term ‘probiotics’.
The sector is frustrated but continues to engage in research and has been encouraged by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) health claims chief professor Ambroise Martin stating recently that probiotics could win health claims in “1-2 years”.
He said: “There is no problem to accept intermediate people [those that are stressed in some way but not technically sick or diseased] and with the developments in genomic science it is my feeling that we will soon positively assess a specific claim with a specific strain in a specific context, taking into account a specific context and all the opinions that have gone before.”
“… someone could come with a basic dossier about transit time for instance. I have no doubt about this in the short to medium term. It could happen inside one or two years.”
