ZURICH, SwitzerlandThe International Probiotics Association (IPA) is taking registrations for the 4^th IPA World Congress, to be held May 9-11, 2014, in Athens, Greece. Co-hosted by the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Foods, the three-day event will feature sessions on all facets of the probiotic industry, including science, marketing, product development and clinical research. In addition, regulatory sessions will feature speakers from EFSA, who will help further the dialogue regarding guidance of probiotics in Europe. Attendance is expected to double from the previous World Congress.

The IPA World Congress will be featured in a supplemental issue of an indexed journal, Beneficial Microbes, which will publish the scientific abstracts presented during poster sessions at the conference.

This is truly a grand and exciting event for the International Probiotics Association and probiotic industry in general," says Ioannis Misopoulos, director general, IPA. Not only do we feature top researchers discussing the hottest topics regarding probiotics, but we are also very proud to feature speakers from EFSA at this World Congress, which is a testament to International Probiotics Associations continuous efforts to work with regulatory bodies from all over the world. Its not a coincidence that the 2014 World Congress is being held in Greece, a country not only rich in history and beauty, but also the origin of one of the fastest growing categories of yogurts in the world, which also happens to be one of the original delivery systems for probiotics," Misopoulos says. We expect registration to fill up quickly, and encourage those who plan to attend to register as soon as possible."

For more information and to register, go to ipaworldcongress.com.

IPA will provide special travel grants for students coming from low-income countries.