In previous decades, the safety of many probiotics available to consumers was based on a long history of safe consumption in humans. However, the range of probiotics is expanding to include non-traditional probiotic strains that might offer health benefits but are not commonly found in food sources and have no history of safe use. A group of industry and government scientists convened under the auspices of the United States Pharmacopeia’s Probiotic Expert Panel recently set out to review current approaches to assessing the safety of probiotics from a scientific perspective, while also looking at what regulators currently require. The newly published paper summarizes scientific frameworks for assessing the safety of probiotics used in foods and dietary supplements, including the importance of comprehensive genomic characterization. The paper questions the value of animal testing for probiotics intended for human use. Further, the paper considers emerging technologies for safety testing as well as how manufacturing practices play an important role in the safety of the final product.
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