Conclusions
The field of probiotics is growing quickly in the United States, as is evidenced by the increasing interest of industry, consumers, and researchers. As professionals embrace this burgeoning area, they need to approach it in a manner that will ensure that product formulations and communications about these products are done responsibly and with the primary objective to benefit consumers. Both the science and its limitations should be communicated with precision. Improper use of the term “probiotic” and failure to recognize the importance of the dose specificity and strain specificity of effects is a concern. There is a great need for controlled studies in humans to further document the health benefits of probiotics as part of the human diet. Important target groups for such studies include healthy people, people at elevated risk for developing a disease, and people searching for dietary-management techniques to control symptoms. All these groups would benefit from publicly funded research of probiotics as foods or supplements. Probiotics could also be studied for use as drugs.