The Global Prebiotic Association (GPA), a non-profit raising awareness of the benefits of prebiotics, announced the publication of its perspective paper aimed at revisiting the concepts of prebiotics and prebiotic effect. The new paper, published in Advances in Nutrition, provides a science-based industry perspective, advancing the prebiotics category and on-going dialogue within the field.

A clear grasp of prebiotics, including their definition, health benefits, and mechanisms of action is fundamental for understanding prebiotic use and benefit. GPA acknowledges the foundational contributions of organizations like the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in establishing early definitions of prebiotics. Building on this, GPA led literature reviews and facilitated discussions among experts within its membership to propose definition updates. As a result, GPA now presents two updated definitions, for prebiotics and prebiotic effect that integrate recent advancements in gut biology, metagenomics, and prebiotic research.

The primary changes to the prebiotic definition include moving away from the concept of selectivity and introducing two new aspects: prebiotic effect and performance benefit. In collaboration with its membership, GPA is developing Standards of Evidence to determine established, novel, and emerging prebiotics, a tool to be used to assess ingredients or products and as a resource for technical papers and programs like SGS Nutrasource's NutraStrong Prebiotic Verified standard that validates the quality and efficacy of prebiotic ingredients.

GPA's updated definition encompasses new prebiotic ingredients (e.g., non-carbohydrates), various formulations (e.g., topical), and non-gastrointestinal microbiomes (e.g., skin, urogenital, etc.) for both human and animal applications. These updates will uphold scientific validity and rigor for the prebiotic definition, reducing ambiguity and ensuring clarity and utility for the scientific community, industry, regulators, healthcare providers, and consumers.