Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Key Takeaways
- Functional metabolites may be a better gauge of probiotic potency than CFUs, as they provide specific health benefits.
- Probiotics dominate the supplement market, but consumer trust in CFU measurement remains low.
- Metabolites like SCFAs and bacteriocins play key roles in gut health, making them more relevant than CFU counts.
- Emphasizing functionality over quantity can help consumers choose the right probiotics for their health goals.
- Ultimately, understanding the metabolites produced by probiotics clarifies their potential health benefits beyond CFU numbers.
A new gauge of probiotic potency and specific health benefits may lie in functional metabolites rather than the industry’s standard CFUs in probiotic measurement.
Gastrointestinal health has become one of the top health categories in the supplement industry, right up there with heart health and general wellness. This is due in part to the continuing advancement of science linking digestive function to overall health. But it also hasn’t hurt that the gut is our most noticeable barometer for day-to-day wellness.
Probiotics, now a part of our daily vernacular, remain a top seller in the category, commanding nearly 60% of total market sales, NBJ reported. However, the last few years have seen some ups and downs in probiotic sales, along with continuing consumer uncertainty about these products, boosted by a rising number of new entrants in the “biotics” category.
That said, consumers seem strongly committed to the use of probiotics, about one-third are actively trying to consume probiotics, and of those, 60% say they try to do so every day, according to data in a 2022 survey from the International Food Information Council (IFIC).1
CFUs Can Be Confusing
However, CFUs in probiotics do present a confusing picture. These products often contain multiple different strains with impossibly long names and tout various numbers of colony-forming units or CFUs. The industry currently relies on CFU measurements to quantify bacterial content and potency in products, but only about 1 in 5 consumers associate CFUs with products that contain probiotics.2
We believe there is a better model for calculating probiotic potency and providing consumers with the information they need to achieve their desired health outcomes. Probiotic CFUs provide an enumeration of viable bacteria, but they offer little insight into the functionality or specific metabolites produced by them. What’s more, the CFU numbers at the point of manufacturing may not represent a viable count at the time of consumption, given the varying stability and shelf life of specific strains.
CFUs as a proxy for potency and selling probiotics based on a variety of different strains packed into a product “is a race to the bottom,” Noah Zimmerman, CSO, explains. “One does not necessarily need more CFUs, but just the right strains that produce health-enhancing metabolites.”
Metabolites vs. CFUs
Functional metabolites are the substances produced by probiotics as part of their normal metabolic activities. These metabolites include, but are not limited to, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bacteriocins, and certain vitamins, all of which play critical roles in microbiome health. SCFAs, for example, are involved in maintaining gut barrier function, providing an energy source for the colon, and exerting anti-inflammatory effects. Bacteriocins can inhibit pathogenic bacteria, contributing to a balanced gut microbiota. Probiotic-produced vitamins, such as vitamins B and K, play crucial roles in metabolic processes and blood clotting, respectively.
In other words, metabolite-driven biotics enable consumers to focus on what the biotic does as opposed to the type of “biotic” or the CFU count. We believe this new focus can provide a road map and clarity for giving consumers exactly the biotics they need to address their health goals.
Noah stated, “It is analogous to a symphony. We don’t judge a symphony by how big the symphony is; we judge it by how good the members are and how they harmonize with the rest of the group. Similarly, we shouldn’t confuse taking a large number of CFUs in a product for high efficacy when that biotic may have a modest amount of a beneficial metabolite and not stimulate the desired mechanisms of action within the GI tract to lead to the desired health outcome. More is not always better, but targeting function leads to real benefits.”
Transferring that example into biotics, he noted, “LP815 is a strain that produces significant GABA [gamma-aminobutyric acid] in the GI tract with a low CFU count. This would be more efficacious for a consumer who requires stress and mood support than a strain that doesn’t produce GABA but has a high CFU count. If consumers only looked at CFUs, they might miss the strain that produces significant GABA,” Zimmerman said.
The big takeaway, Zimmerman added, “is that metabolites provide the functional health outcome, not the number of CFUs.”
“By measuring the actual amounts of these metabolites produced by probiotics,” he continued, “we gain a deeper understanding of their functionality, their potential impact on host health, and provide consumers with more concrete information about the benefits they may expect from different probiotics.”
[1] International Food Information Council. Consumer Insights on Gut Health and Probiotics. August 2022. https://foodinsight.org/consumer-insights-on-gut-health-and-probiotics/
[2] Ibid.