Digesting Oneself from Within

I read a short piece on probiotics in the Metro paper commuters see each morning on public transit, such as my own local DC metro trains. I actually read this story online, but I imagine many commuters too notice of it on their rides into cities across the US and Canada.

The title, The Wild West World of Probiotics, was enough to perk my ears. Well eyes, really. It started fair enough, with a foundation of the many products up and down the grocery aisles with some sort of marketing as to their probiotic content. Enter a Yale University gastroenterologist and his categorization of said supermarket aisle as a Wild West situation for consumers interested in probiotics. Its a buzz word, something a lot of people are touting, but there is a lack of quality control, the paper quoted him as saying.

Thankfully, the Metro discloses this Yalie is a spokesperson for a probiotic supplement right before they quote him saying, essentially, that supplements rule due to their ability to label and deliver a reliable probiotic count per dosage. Then they have him saying, Because (probiotics) are not regulated by the FDA, these food products are suited for maintaining general health. Thats right; a supplement spokesperson said FDA does not regulate probiotics. Whether he meant supplements or foods, hes wrong either way, of course.

The professor responsibly added probiotics arent meant to treat a serious digestive illness, but the damage in saying they are not regulated has been done. This persistent myth is very difficult for the supplement industry to combat, let alone having someone w ho represents a supplement perpetuate the untruth in a statement like this. Does he realize he is hurting the very industry he is representing, at least relative to probiotics? I hope he just misspoke in an attempt to include the FDA not intended to cure or treat disclaimer. Otherwise the irony is amazingly frightful.