India to issue probiotic guidelines
"Probiotic food is an emerging category in India and with the number of probiotic foods making a foray into Indian market, it becomes imperative to establish guidelines to regulate them," the former director general of ICMR, N K Ganguly, told the symposium.
He said the guidelines would cover efficiency, safety and health claims and define probiotic parameters.
"Stringent labelling of the probiotic product, shelf life and storage conditions would prevent companies from misleading the consumers," he said.
Probiotics are nutritional supplements of live micro-organisms considered to be good for health.
Professor Gregor Reid, former president of the International Scientific Association of Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), said: "Besides playing an important role in digestive, immunological and respiratory functions, probiotics could have a major effect on alleviation of infectious diseases in children, women and other high risk groups."
