I think before people go out and buy probiotics, they need to carefully
consider how this stuff is manufactured.  Bifidobacterium is only found in
the human intestine.  So this bacteria was originally harvested through human
feces and then cloned.  Thus we are being introduced to products that have
never been eaten by humans before this time.  Of interest might be this
article by Marcio A.F. Belen of McGill University in Canada in Trends in Food
Science & Technology written in 1999.
Valerie W. McClain, IBCLC

http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/ld_tfst99mar.htm#toc3

Biotechnology and nutraceuticals

Biotechnology has a key role to play in this new industry. Traditionally, the
application of biotechnology techniques in the food industry focused on the
major energy-providing foods, such as bread, alcohol, fermented starch,
yogurt, cheese, vinegar, and others. More recently, there has been increased
interest in biological! ly active non-nutritive ingredients (or components)
from natural products or foods [<A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib4">4</A>]. Major breakthroughs have occurred and
enormous progress has been made during the past decade in all aspects of
genetic engineering and biotechnology. It has been given high priority by
researchers in the production of probiotics ( <A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib8">8</A>, <A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib9">9</A>, <A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib10">10</A>, <A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib11">11</A><A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#textbox1">Box 1</A>) and the
extraction of bioactive components by enzyme/fermentation technology as well
as genetic engineering technology. Changing values in society, for instance
with respect to recombinant DNA, and the growing need to explore all the
alternative food sources has made the use of this technique in the production
of enzymes and of recombinant microorganisms attractive to the food industry
[<A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib5">5</A>]. For example, due to the shortage of calf rennet, the enzyme used in
cheese-making, the development of recombinant rennet and microbial chymosin
has been seriously undertaken to meet market demand [<A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib6">6</A>]. Recombinant DNA
methods are having a significant impact on enzyme technology applied to the
food industry. Some of the benefits include increased enzyme production
yields, improvement of thermostability and the ability to tolerate large pH
ranges. Genetic engineering has made it possible to isolate particular genes
coding for enzymes, from organisms whose genetics are unknown. Using in vitro
recombination, these genes can be introduced into microorganisms that have
been used in food preparation for centuries. Genetic engineering methods
provide the opportunity to increase gene expresion and so affect product
yield. Enzymes may be produced more efficiently when cloned into a microbial
cell and should be p! roduced under highly controlled conditions [<A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib5">5</A>].
Nevertheless, in Germany, which has the largest food industry among the
members of the European Union, there is consumer distrust of genetically
modified organisms (GMO) [<A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib7">7</A>]. Information on how biotechnology can affect
traditional methods of producing foods and beverages and the production of
nutraceuticals is thus desirable [<A HREF="http://acd.ufrj.br/consumo/leituras/#bib1">1</A>].





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