Activity - a permanent topic in the probiotic industry

With the popularity of the probiotic consumption market and the maturing of the production process, the number of active probiotics is becoming a weapon for brands to compete for the market

Rapid market growth

On May 29, the Probiotics, Prebiotics and Health Branch of the Chinese Nutrition Society released the "China Probiotics and Prebiotics Consumer Survey Report".

Data show that in 2017, the market size of China's probiotics industry was 55.

However, behind the high growth rate of the market is the lack of perfection of industry standards, resulting in a mixed market for probiotics

Group standard promotes awareness of viable bacteria rate

In the past two years, many group standards have been launched in the field of probiotics: In June this year, the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology released the group standard "General Principles of Probiotics for Food", which was established by Jiangnan University, the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Shanghai University of Science and Technology, and China Foods.

In May of the same year, the China Nutrition and Health Food Association also issued the group standard of the "Classification Specification for the Viable Bacteria Rate of Probiotic Foods", which clarified that when the probiotic food is stored under the conditions indicated on the label for one third of the shelf life, the viable bacteria rate of probiotics ( The ratio of the total number of live probiotic bacteria to the total number of probiotic bacteria added) is greater than or equal to 50.

In November last year, the group standard for "Probiotic Food" led by the China Food Industry Association was released, pointing out the regulatory basis and four technical requirements that the probiotic strains used in "probiotic food" should meet, including: The strain number and Isolated source; identification, preservation and safety evaluation by a third-party institution; whole genome sequencing and support by relevant scientific literature; positive evaluation supported by scientific literature on human or clinical trial research

To sum up, when purchasing probiotic products, pay attention to the two content descriptions on the product packaging, which are the total number of bacteria added and the number of viable bacteria within the shelf life

It is worth mentioning that the group standards are not rigid regulations, but are independently formulated and released by the group in accordance with the standard-setting procedures established by the group for the market to choose voluntarily

Increase the number of viable bacteria to increase brand competitiveness

With the more specific definition of some elements of probiotic quality, consumers will have a more accurate estimate of the number of viable bacteria in probiotic products currently on the market, so that they can truly judge the value of the product

From a trend point of view, some probiotic brands have realized the impact of the activity of probiotics on the terminal market.

In the past six months, many well-known brands at home and abroad have begun to increase the number of viable bacteria to increase their market competitiveness.

With the continuous upgrading of manufacturing technology by domestic probiotic raw material companies, the number of viable bacteria in raw materials has reached trillions of CFU.

Under the condition that the cost is controllable, products with a sufficiently high viable count will be more competitive in the market, and products with a high viable count are also market breakthrough opportunities for new probiotic brands

Promote the healthy development of the industry

In the past two years, probiotic products have begun to touch all aspects of people's lives

However, due to the imperfection of industry regulations and standards, the quality of probiotic products is uneven, and the actual detection value of probiotic "activity" is far from the label value.

Previously, some media reported that some probiotic products sold in the market generally did not mark the number of viable bacteria during the shelf life, but only marked the number of viable bacteria added at the factory, or vaguely marked the "addition amount" and "content"
.
After testing, the number of viable bacteria in some products is much lower than the reference value of 1 million CFU/g (mL)
.

The reason for this situation may be that they adopt either the corporate standard or the "Solid Beverage" (GB/T 29602) standard, which itself has no specific regulations on the number of live probiotic bacteria, or it may be due to the transportation and storage process.
caused by a problem
.
In addition, behind the influx of a large number of enterprises are the low-priced finished products provided by the foundry, which lowers the industry access threshold for brand owners
.

As we all know, the industrialization technology of probiotics is the key to the development and application of probiotics products
.
In the probiotic production process, there are many factors such as insufficient professionalism of R&D and production personnel, low production efficiency, backward preparation technology and equipment, and substandard production environment.
Uncontrollable stability and unguaranteed quality eventually lead to products that cannot be used for industrialized manufacturing
.

　　At present, some domestic probiotic raw material manufacturers have gradually introduced large-scale intelligent manufacturing strategies based on process optimization, and made breakthroughs in key core technologies of production, focusing on how to improve the "high density, high activity and high stability" in the fermentation process.
The production process of probiotics is systematically optimized from the aspects of medium selection, production conditions improvement, post-treatment process optimization, deep-level screening of protective agents, and freeze-drying process upgrades.
Based on modern intelligent regulation and control technology, the production of probiotics will be greatly improved.
The stability of the process, the improvement of production efficiency, and the demonstration of large-scale technology can effectively improve the quality of probiotic raw materials and reduce the cost of raw materials
.

　　At the same time, in the "2021 Top Ten Focuses on the Development of China's Probiotics Industry" released at the 16th International Symposium on Probiotics and Health held this year, the article "Probiotics Highly Active Preparation and Processing Production Equipment" is impressively listed in It can be seen that China's scientific and industrial circles have gradually recognized and accepted high-activity probiotics products, and the industry has begun to strive to accurately focus and focus on solving the practical problems encountered in the development of the high-activity probiotics industry
.

　　In the market environment with huge demand but increasingly serious involution, how to make the probiotics industry achieve healthy development is a topic that enterprises in it need to solve together
.

　　(Comprehensive arrangement by Yang Xiaojing)

　　"China Food News" (06 edition on August 1, 2022)

　　(Editor-in-charge: Yang Xiaojing)