Objective: based on reports available to adhere to the recommendations for the labeling of probiotic products on the evaluation of these products in developed countries. In the Gulf region, there is a paucity of data on the characterization of probiotic products and the absence of local guidelines for marking. This study, conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and represents the first evaluation of probiotic products in the Arabian Peninsula.
Probiotic products were purchased without a prescription from a variety of sources, including pharmacies and health food stores and supermarkets across the United Arab Emirates: Methods. All products are listed and to identify the information on the type of product preparation, and recorded information described.
Results: A total of 37 probiotic products, based on milk 15 were identified 22 non-dairy-based. Dairy products consist of two 12 yogurt fermented dairy products and milk powder children. Most dairy products are not in the form of capsules (n = 16). While all dairy products have given any information about the strain of organisms living organisms microparticles and the number of those present at the time of production, and are providing this information for a single product made from milk. The strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus most common probiotic organisms that have been identified. However, a probiotic product contained intestinal fecal (750 million bacteria in a capsule) as a component. With the exception of the main non-dairy product ,, it was all claims of health-related structure / function, according to the nomenclature of the United States Food and Drug Administration data.
Submitting
Probiotics are defined as live microorganisms which when administered in adequate quantities, confer beneficial health effects (1.2). In recent years, there has been an increase in research on probiotics, as well as growing commercial interest in the concept of food supplements / food probiotic. It is kept dairy products, including yogurt and fermented dairy products and cheese in the forefront of the development of probiotics. Probiotics are now a large part of the functional foods market, which is still staggering exponential market growth in the amount of $ 120 million a month to appear (3). Yogurt with the addition of live probiotic strains are already available in the market and a number of these products, which has emerged as a leader in the European market, traded at the international level is also located.
And it is often associated with the commercial exploitation of the concept of probiotic with unsubstantiated claims of beneficial effects. As probiotic products are not considered drugs, but as dietary supplements, which until now have not been subject to the same stringent standards on the effectiveness, quality control, labeling and consumer information as it normally applies to pharmaceuticals. In 2002, a Working Group FAO / recommends that the following information is disclosed by the World Health Organization on the label of products probiotic: the genus, species and numbers of viable minimum each strain of micro-organisms at the end of life strain and label, serving size suggested to give the effective dose to demand probiotics health-related, claim (s) Health data, storage and proper contact information companies to consumers (1). According to reports in the literature that there are differences in the labeling information provided probiotic products available in different countries with different degrees of inaccuracy in the information, which reflects the lack of an international consensus (11.4). However, these reports are based on the assessment of probiotics products in developed countries, and so far, there is still a paucity of data on the products available in developing countries and the degree to which the guidelines for marking FAO / WHO in these emerging markets (12). This study, conducted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and represents the first evaluation of probiotic products in the Arabian Peninsula.
