Lallemand targets children and teenagers with new probiotics range

29 Aug 2017 --- Lallemand Health Solutions is to unveil its range of probiotics for children and teenagers at Supply Side West, held from 25 to 29 September. The company offers specific probiotic strains and formulations combined with specifically designed delivery forms and flavors to target the needs of children, teenagers and health conscious parents.
Three key areas can be addressed with well documented probiotic strains: immune defenses, stress and oral health. This approach will be presented in more details at the Probiotics Resource Center on 27 September at 2:40 by Isabelle Champié.

“The benefits of probiotics on gut health and immunity [are] now well documented in a preventive approach, through a balance of the gut microflora,” Bérengère Feuz, Lallemand’s Marketing Manager, tells NutritionInsight. “In the area of stress, there is some evidence of specific strains’ effects on physiological and psychological signs of stress. The oral cavity (mouth, gum, teeth) harbors rich microflora, and some probiotics have shown benefits on prevention of dental plaque formation, for example.”

“In our probiotic portfolio, we have identified specific strains and formulations documented for each of these areas by in vitro data on their modes of action and clinical data,” Feuz adds.

This new development comes as both the US and Canadian authorities have approved Lallemand Health Solutions’ formula ProbioKid and three key probiotic strains for use in young children (US GRAS status for infants and children; Health Canada’s approval for children from 3 months old with immunity health claims).

The company will also showcase its range of complete probiotic solutions for other specific areas, namely gastro intestinal health, immunity, stress and mood balance (brain gut axis), women’s health, oral health and active people.

A mature microbiota is achieved after three years old, recent studies have demonstrated. Yet kids and teens face specific challenges where probiotics can play a role.

“We have identified and worked on specific areas: first and above all, natural defenses,” Feuz tells NutritionInsight of these challenges. “Immunity clearly improves with [age] and [in the first years of life] children are prone to common infections. Gut discomfort is also frequent, especially in teenagers; in children, occasional constipation is the most common disorder. Diet imbalance [like poor fruit/veg intake] is also common, especially in teens, and it is proven to have a direct effect on microflora composition.”

“The other areas we have identified more specifically in teens are stress (and with the increased data on [the gut-brain] axis we know the microbiota is involved there) and skin health […] it has been shown that 54 percent of individuals with skin imperfection have significant alterations in the gut flora,” Feuz adds. “And last, oral health: as kids are growing, dental hygiene is not always properly implemented. Moreover, it has been shown that teens are more prone to dental/gum health issues.”

Speaking about Lallemand’s upcoming R&D goals, Feuz says: “We [are continuing] work in various areas, as the more we learn about the microflora and probiotics the more potential arise[s]. We [are looking] into innovative areas, for example, the gut-brain axis, but we [are also not losing] sight of probiotics’ primary area of evidence, gut health. For example, in children: [at the end of] 2013 we started a large-scale multicentric study led by Dr. Stephen Freedman of the University of Calgary and Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, involving as many as 900 children. It aims to evaluate the efficacy of Lacidofil in the treatment of acute gastroenteritis in children admitted to the emergency department. This long-term study was recently completed, and we are now expecting the results.”

By Lucy Gunn and Paul Creasy