Probiotic kills a young child .. Has the collapse of the halo started?

With the growing global use of probiotics - microorganisms that can provide benefits for human health when consumed in a certain amount - and ads that aggressively promote their products, we have to wonder whether it is time to re-evaluate the validity of these products?

This comes in the wake of the death of a child who has been infected with fungal infections after using probiotics supplemented with fungal infections.

For thousands of years, humanity has been consuming food rich in live bacteria. For example, the use of yoghurt dates back to at least 5,000 BC. In Korea, kimchi, a fermented vegetable, has been consumed for thousands of years.

Probiotics are found in substances such as yogurt, kefir (fermented milk), thyme (a fermented soybean product), kimchi and miso (a fermented soybean product).

In contrast, currently living microorganisms are added to the number of products promoted and they offer a range of health benefits. It is noted that the innovative methods of advertising, coupled with the demand for food containing bacteria suitable for the gastrointestinal tract, most of the factors involved to revive the market probiotics.

It may come as a surprise that in order to sell a food product containing these living microorganisms, there are no legal restrictions to provide proof that this is indeed beneficial to health and safe, according to Tim Newman's article in Medical News Today.

This week, the American medical journal Gamma published an article saying the current situation in the sector was dangerous.

This article, written by Dr. Peter Cohen, a member of the Cambridge Health Association at the Harvard School of Medicine in Boston, noted the proven benefits of probiotics.

For example, it has been shown that the substance "Sakaromisz Polardi" (sugar fungus) helps to treat some types of diarrhea in children, and reduce the recurrence of the infection of "Clostridium" difficult in adults. Despite these examples, Dr. Cohen confirms that the substances used in these foods and supplements have not proved their health benefits, nor have they proven harmful.

Allegations
The authors claim that manufacturers claim that probiotics supplement the health of the respiratory system, heart and arteries, reproductive functions and mental health.

"Despite this information, there has been no long-term clinical trial to prove whether probiotics have health benefits for people who have no problems," Dr. Cohen said.

Although he has not yet found evidence that there are health benefits, the law allows manufacturers to tell consumers that their products "support the immune system" and promote the health of the digestive system. More worrisome, they are not required to place product information on possible side effects and negative effects.

the potential risks
Over the years, many cases have been recorded indicating that there may be negative aspects of food containing probiotics. These risks may include the presence of fungus in the blood and bacteremia, which means the leakage of these fungi or bacteria into the bloodstream.

People with weak immune systems - including young people and adults - are at greater risk as these organisms eventually evolve to affect the human body.

Because the observed negative effects are not reported when many probiotics are involved, the magnitude of the problem is not known. Besides the risk of infection that can be caused by the consumption of probiotic-containing foods, there is also the risk of taking contaminated products or of poor quality.

Although the Food and Drug Administration of the United States imposes strict safety measures on the manufacture of these products, these procedures are not always respected.

Over the years, many cases have been recorded indicating that there may be negative aspects of food containing supplements from probiotics (Deutsche Welle)

Failure
According to Dr. Cohen, one of the sampling operations included about 656 establishments during the year 2017, and found excesses in more than half of them. "These abuses were not trivial," he said. "Most of them are related to the failure of companies to determine the source and extent of the fineness and composition of the final product."

This potential risk returned to attention following the incident of the 8-year-old child, who was exposed to fatal fungal infection after using probiotics contaminated with fungus.

Dr. Cohen points out that although compliance with the Food and Drug Administration's instructions will help reduce the risk of contamination of these products, it will not be sufficient to ensure that the probiotics themselves are completely safe.

He called on the authorities concerned to impose additional safety tests, particularly focusing on the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes. At the moment, we do not know how consuming bacteria that carry new types of genes will affect our body's antibiotic resistance in the future.

In addition, Dr. Cohen finally wrote a letter urging consumers and doctors not to simply assume that the writing on the back of the Probiotics Supplement had enough information to make sure that the consumption of these microorganisms was worth the risk.