Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing restrictions on use of the term probiotic (a) on food labels and (b) in marketing for foods containing probiotic microorganisms.

‘Probiotic’ is a term commonly used to describe the effect of one or other strains of live bacteria used in food and food supplements. Food information rules require that the name given to a food, or an ingredient of a food, should be its legal name or, in the absence of this, its customary name. In the case of ingredients described as ‘probiotic’ this will be the specific strain of live bacteria used. There are no other specific restrictions within general food information rules.

Regulations governing the use of nutrition and health claims on foods, for which the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has responsibility, protect consumers from being misled by ensuring that any health claims made are backed by substantiated scientific evidence. A health claim is any claim that states, suggests or implies a relationship exists between the product or one of its constituents and health.

Under the Regulation, the term ‘probiotic’ can be considered a non-specific health claim. It can already be used, providing it is accompanied by an approved health claim for the specific strain of live bacteria. No further assessment of merit has been undertaken although the Department for Health and Social Care continues to engage with industry on any potential future application for new assessment. To date DHSC has not received any application for approving claims on specific strains of live bacteria. Companies would be required to include the specific strain in the ingredient listing.