Commercial probiotic products in public health: current status and potential limitations

Abstract

Consumption of commercial probiotics for health improvement and disease treatment has increased in popularity among the public in recent years. The local shops and pharmacies are brimming with various probiotic products such as probiotic food, dietary supplement and pharmaceuticals that herald a range of health benefits, from nutraceutical benefits to pharmaceutical effects. However, although the probiotic market is expanding rapidly, there is increasing evidence challenging it. Emerging insights from microbiome research and public health demonstrate several potential limitations of the natural properties, regulatory frameworks, and market consequences of commercial probiotics. In this review, we highlight the potential safety and performance issues of the natural properties of commercial probiotics, from the genetic level to trait characteristics and probiotic properties and further to the probiotic-host interaction. Besides, the diverse regulatory frameworks and confusing probiotic guidelines worldwide have led to product consequences such as pathogenic contamination, overstated claims, inaccurate labeling and counterfeit trademarks for probiotic products. Here, we propose a plethora of available methods and strategies related to strain selection and modification, safety and efficacy assessment, and some recommendations for regulatory agencies to address these limitations to guarantee sustainability and progress in the probiotic industry and improve long-term public health and development.

Keywords:

• Antibiotic resistance gene
• clinical infection
• label compliance
• probiotics
• regulatory frameworks

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 82060638 and 82160766) and “Double 10-thousand plan” of Jiangxi Province (innovation and technology professionals as the high-end talent). The graphical abstracts were all created with BioRender software (biorender.com).

Author contributions

Conceptualization, T.C., B.T. and D.L.; writing-original draft, D.L.; writing-review and editing, T.C., B.T., D.L., F.W., D.Z. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

All data generated during this study are included in this published article

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 82060638) and the Double Thousand Plan of Jiangxi Province (High-End Talents Project of scientific and technological innovation).