Probiotics and Health Claims: Hurdles for New Applications?

INTRODUCTION: The initial outcomes of regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 are in some cases encouraging but in others of some concern to microbiologists, and there are now both new and old hurdles for the research community to consider in the future. The positive aspects of this evolution include the introduction of a regulatory framework within which research and development activities can operate more safely in order to generate new knowledge and products. The negative aspects are that the scenario is not yet fully developed and there is concern that excessive regulation could hinder innovative research. This chapter reviews some of the hurdles posed by the first EFSA opinions on probiotic claims and some perspectives for future basic and applied research and to overcome these hurdles are presented