Chicago, IL—In a new perspective paper published in Advances in Nutrition, the Global Prebiotic Association (GPA) contributes to the advancement of the prebiotics space and on-going conversations within the industry by offering an updated and fresh science-based industry perspective. “The GPA’s mission is to steward responsible growth of the prebiotic category globall,” shared Len Monheit, GPA Executive Director. "It is also to recognize established and emerging benefits, and the prebiotic definition, as well as the discussion of prebiotic effect represents a huge milestone for us as an organization."
Defining prebiotics
Truly understanding prebiotics includes a firm grasp on the definition. Organizations like the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have laid the groundwork for establishing early definitions of prebiotics. In its report, GPA has provided two updated definitions of prebiotics and prebiotic effects to include recent advancements in gut biology, metagenomics, and prebiotic research. The key changes to the definition include retiring the concept of selectivity and instead adopting two new concepts: prebiotic effect and performance benefit. This new definition extends the scope of prebiotics to include new ingredients (e.g., non-carbohydrates), various formulations (e.g., topical), and non-gastrointestinal microbiomes (e.g., skin, urogenital, etc.) relevant to both human and animal applications. GPA says these updated explanations uphold scientific validity and rigor across all aspects of the prebiotic definition and also intend to reduce the ambiguity that exists within the scientific community, industry, regulators, healthcare providers, and consumers.
“While prebiotics can be leveraged to promote health, a lot of confusion remains among consumers and other stakeholders around the term prebiotic and what exactly is a prebiotic effect,” shared Edward Deehan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "This position paper is a significant achievement for the prebiotic category and GPA, as it provides a sound regulatory and scientific perspective that will help bring clarity to and advance the category."
Understanding prebiotics
Knowing the health and performance benefits of prebiotics as well as its mechanisms of action are fundamental for comprehending their role in today's dietary practices. Before presenting its new definitions, GPA led scientific literature reviews and discussions with industry and scientific experts from its membership group. That same team developed Standards of Evidence to determine established, novel, and emerging prebiotics, a tool intended to be used by members to assess ingredients or products and as a resource for technical papers and programs like SGS Nutrasource’s NutraStrong Prebiotic Verified standard that validates the quality and efficacy of prebiotic ingredients.
Gauging impact
The position paper takes the information that has been available for quite some time and adds important points to not only enhance clarity, but make it palatable to a much wider audience. Santa Al Antwan, Regulatory Affairs Associate at SGS Nutrasource and co-author of the paper, explained the importance of the initiative: “The value of this paper lies in its presentation of insights from key stakeholders – prebiotic industry professionals and scientists – who frequently engage with the public and recognize the importance of clear, precise terminology in definitions. Through GPA’s initiatives, the aim from this paper is to serve as a catalyst for uniting efforts from academia and industry to advance the field of prebiotics in the years to come.”
