Probiotic and prebiotic foods are the emerging areas of great business potential as far as food/dairy industries are concerned. However there are lot of confusion regarding the labeling requirements for such foods and there must be clarity in the label so that consumers can make an informed choice. Of course there are guidelines that exist in some countries regarding the criteria for deciding whether a particular food can be labeled probiotic based on number of Colony Forming Units per serving. In India no such stipulations exist. This is sought to be rectified by the GOI soon.
"Scientists have said that the Government was in the process of setting up guidelines for probiotic food by January 2010. A team set up by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is setting up the guidelines that would guarantee product safety, quality, reliability and level playing for all companies introducing probiotic products. "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," said N.K. Ganguly, former Director General of ICMR. Ganguly, who was speaking at the Third India Probiotic Symposium in New Delhi, said these guidelines would have a provision for evaluation of efficiency, safety and health claims made by the probiotic foods that are being launched and would define a set of parameters required for a product to be classified as probiotic. "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".
While laying down guidelines is a welcome move, how far the consumer will be able to understand the meaning of probiotics is a moot question. With organized dairy firms like Amul,Markfed Punjab and others entering the value added stream, probiotic dairy products are bound to be in the fore front of such developments. How long it will take the GOI team to come up with practical guidelines for probiotic foods remains to be seen. Sooner it is done, better it will be for discerning consumers in India.
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