Comment on Probiotics, Stevia Standards

USP has opened up the latest edition of its Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) for public comment. Some of the highlights really touch upon hot button areas of the natural products industry, including probiotics and stevia. As probiotics find their way into more types of food, owing to growing consumer demand, manufacturers need the right tools and information for testing to ensure safety and identity of the strain. The FCC compendium includes essential specs such as: such as identification and enumeration (microbe count), as well as intended uses in food, safety, regulatory status and purity of probiotics and other microbial food cultures.

A similar comprehensive specification offering is included for stevia glycosides. Jeff Moore, Ph.D., senior scientific associate in the department of standards development at USP, explained for years the industry focused on rebaudioside A (reb A), but formulators are increasingly interested in the other glycosides; there is already a monograph for reb A in FCC, but  the new edition contains a steviol glycoside monograph to  cover this broader range of stevia-derived ingredients, including mixtures of different steviol glycosides.  Of note is a newly developed method for separating and measuring all nine glycosides, which up until now has proven difficult. USP said will have seven reference standards available to support the monograph in the near future.

The comment period opened Dec. 28 and runs through Mar. 30. To view the proposed edition and submit comments, visit USP's FCC Forum and register. It's free, and this could prove to be extremely valuable information for you and the entire industry, especially in this climate of strict GMPs and increased testing requirements. (not to mention economic adulteration).