Probiotics: Towards demonstrating efficacy

PROBDEMO, a multi-centre European research project, began in 1996 with the aim of demonstrating that probiotic micro-organisms can positively effect human health in rigorously conducted human clinical studies. These studies, now completed, have shown that some probiotics can influence the composition of the intestinal microbiota and modulate the host immune system with measurable benefits to health, including the control of atopic eczema in infants with food allergy. Considerable promise was also demonstrated for the use of selected probiotics in controlling inflammatory bowel disease, and infections in children and the elderly. The scientific approaches to selecting and evaluating probiotics that were demonstrated in the PROBDEMO project provide a model for food manufacturers to move further towards demonstrating efficacy for their probiotic products. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.