Probiota is a group of microorganisms that are claimed to provide health benefits when consumed.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) 2001 defines probiotics as live micro-organisms that, "...when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host." Following this definition, a working group convened by the FAO/WHO in May 2002 issued the “Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food”. This 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. The same principles emerged from those groups as the ones expressed in the Guidelines of FAO/WHO in 2002. This definition, though widely adopted, is not acceptable to the European Food Safety Authority because it embeds a health claim that is not measurable.

A consensus definition of the term probiotics, based on available information and scientific evidence, was adopted after a joint Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and World Health Organization (WHO) expert consultation. In October 2001, this expert consultation defined probiotics as live micro-organisms that "...when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” The FAO/WHO consultation was also a first effort towards the assessment of probiotics efficacy and resulted in May 2002 in a document named Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food. This effort was accompanied by local governmental and supra-governmental regulatory bodies requirements to better characterize health claims substantiations.

A group of scientific experts assembled in London, UK, on October 23, 2013, to discuss the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic. The meeting was motivated by developments in the field since 2001. The panel's conclusions were published in June 2014.

Probiotics must be alive when administered. One of the concerns throughout the scientific literature resides in the viability and reproducibility on a large scale of the observed results, as well as the viability and stability during use and storage, and finally the ability to survive in stomach acids and then in the intestinal ecosystem. Probiotics must have undergone controlled evaluation to document health benefits in the target host. Only products that contain live organisms shown in reproducible human studies to confer a health benefit can actually claim to be probiotic. The correct definition of health benefit, backed with solid scientific evidence, is a strong element for the proper identification and assessment of the effect of a probiotic. This aspect represents a major challenge for scientific and industrial investigations because several difficulties arise, such as variability in the site for probiotic use (oral, vaginal, intestinal) and mode of application.

This symposium is one of the top-ranked meetings in the field of probiota in China. Through participating in it, you can learn more about the processing of technologies, the whole industry and the market of star probiotics, probiotic discovery, probiotics research, probiotic product development in China. Welcome to this academic banquet! Bioon will try our best to provide an excellent platform for you to communicate with China's first-class experts and senior managers, as well as to expand your business in China!