Microbiological evaluation of 10 commercial probiotic products available in Poland

The aim of this study was to analyze the quality of 10 commonly available commercial probiotic products used in Poland. These items were tested for the total viable bacterial count, and for identifying the isolated strains. This was performed using the Polymerase Chain Reaction method. The results showed that five of the tested products had not the applicable number of viable bacteria declared by manufacturer. Moreover, not all declared probiotic strains were found in three of the tested products during analyses. It is clear that a regular control of probiotic products needs be introduced that can guarantee its beneficial properties.