Editing Probiotic (section)

== Definition ==
An October 2001 report by the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) defines probiotics as "live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host."<ref name="who">{{Cite web |last=Schlundt |first=Jorgen |title=Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria |url=https://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs_management/en/probiotics.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022161702/http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs_management/en/probiotics.pdf |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |access-date=17 December 2012 |website=Report of a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Evaluation of Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food Including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria |publisher=FAO / WHO}}</ref><ref name="who.int">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70928765 |title=Probiotics in food : health and nutritional properties and guidelines for evaluation. |date=2006 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |others=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Health Organization |isbn=92-5-105513-0 |location=Rome |oclc=70928765 |access-date=2022-10-31 |archive-date=2023-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701214654/https://www.worldcat.org/title/70928765 |url-status=live }}{{page needed|date=January 2024}}</ref> Following this definition, a [[working group]] convened by the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] (FAO)/WHO in May 2002 issued the ''Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 May 2002 |title=Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food |url=ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/esn/food/wgreport2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518131130/ftp://ftp.fao.org/es/esn/food/wgreport2.pdf |archive-date=2017-05-18 |url-status=dead |publisher=Joint FAO/WHO Working Group on Drafting Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food, London, Ontario, Canada}}</ref> A consensus definition of the term ''probiotics'', based on available information and scientific evidence, was adopted after the aforementioned joint expert consultation between the [[Food and Agriculture Organization|FAO]] of the [[United Nations]] and the WHO. This effort was accompanied by local governmental and supra-governmental regulatory bodies' requirements to better characterize health claims substantiations.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

That first global effort was further developed in 2010; two expert groups of academic scientists and industry representatives made recommendations for the evaluation and validation of probiotic health claims.<ref name="Rijkers_2010">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Rijkers GT, Bengmark S, Enck P, Haller D, Herz U, Kalliomaki M, Kudo S, Lenoir-Wijnkoop I, Mercenier A, Myllyluoma E, Rabot S, Rafter J, Szajewska H, Watzl B, Wells J, Wolvers D, Antoine JM |year=2010 |title=Guidance for substantiating the evidence for beneficial effects of probiotics: current status and recommendations for future research |journal=J. Nutr. |volume=140 |issue=3 |pages=671S–676S |doi=10.3945/jn.109.113779 |pmid=20130080 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Shane AL, Cabana MD, Vidry S, Merenstein D, Hummelen R, Ellis CL, Heimbach JT, Hempel S, Lynch SV, Sanders ME |year=2010 |title=Guide to designing, conducting, publishing and communicating results of clinical studies involving probiotic applications in human participants |journal=Gut Microbes |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=243–253 |doi=10.4161/gmic.1.4.12707 |pmc=3023606 |pmid=21327031}}</ref> The same principles emerged from those two groups as were expressed in the "Guidelines" of FAO/WHO in 2002. This definition, though widely adopted, is not acceptable to the [[European Food Safety Authority|European Food Safety]] Authority because it embeds a health claim that is not measurable.<ref name="bridging" />

A group of scientific experts assembled in Canada in October 2013 to discuss the scope and appropriate use of the term "probiotic", adjusting the definition to be "live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host."<ref name="Expert">{{Cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=C |last2=Guarner |first2=F |last3=Reid |first3=G |last4=Gibson |first4=GR |last5=Merenstein |first5=DJ |last6=Pot |first6=B |last7=Morelli |first7=L |last8=Canani |first8=RB |last9=Flint |first9=HJ |last10=Salminen |first10=S |last11=Calder |first11=PC |last12=Sanders |first12=ME |date=August 2014 |title=Expert consensus document. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic. |journal=Nature Reviews. Gastroenterology & Hepatology |volume=11 |issue=8 |pages=506–514 |doi=10.1038/nrgastro.2014.66 |pmid=24912386 |doi-access=free|hdl=2164/4189 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>