If you’re selling probiotics today, testing isn’t optional—it’s survival.
In 2023, the global probiotic market was worth $87 billion, and by 2030, it’s projected to hit $220 billion.
As the market grows, quality expectations continue to rise. Designing a testing strategy to meet these expectations is more critical than ever. Without a strategic testing plan, you risk consumer distrust, regulatory scrutiny and wasted resources.
But you’re not alone. We’re here to help. With over 35 years of expertise in supplements, food and beverages, we make probiotic testing and regulatory compliance simple.
Why Probiotic Testing Matters
Live cultures are delicate. Sensitive and genetically diverse, probiotics require specialized tests to ensure stability, potency and safety. The proper tests support your claims that your product delivers the promised benefits.
Testing Requirements
Regardless of which testing standards you are operating under, all regulators and industries call for these key checks:
- Potency | Measure how much is present
- Stability | Verify shelf-life and survivability
- Safety | Rule out harmful pathogens or allergens
The specific tests you need depend on where you’re selling in the world.
We offer testing to cover the requirements of:
- FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
- WHO (World Health Organization)
- FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)
- USP (United States Pharmacopeia)
- CRN (Council for Responsible Nutrition)
- IPA (International Probiotics Association)
Potency: How Much Live Culture is in Your Product?
Consumers rely on probiotic products to deliver sufficient live cultures for health benefits, and regulators require accurate and complete labeling.
Testing needs
- CFU (colony-forming units) at the end of shelf life
- Total weight of probiotics in the product (particularly for U.S. markets)
Probiotic enumeration, measuring CFUs in live cultures, is required around the globe per FAO/WHO and USP standards. In the U.S., the FDA has an additional requirement: labels must also report probiotic contents by weight.
We can’t change the FDA rules, but we can help you comply with them.
Stability: Are Your Cultures Shelf-Stable and Viable?
Shelf-life testing is high-stakes.
Live culture delivery depends on shelf stability, survivability and absorption. You must prove your probiotics survive processing, storage and digestion, so customers receive the intended benefits.
Shelf-Stable: The goal of regulatory bodies is to ensure your products contain 100% of the intended probiotics at the end of shelf life. Some require temperature and humidity testing.
Health Claims & Survivability: Stability and adhesion tests verify that strains survive the tough conditions of the digestive system and adhere to the gut effectively.
This testing helps you make accurate health claims by confirming customers receive enough live probiotics to match the amount used in scientific studies.
Starya Labs removes the guesswork with scientifically validated advanced tests simulating shelf-life conditions, gut environments and other tools to help you comply with regulatory requirements.
Safety: Does Your Product Contain Dangerous Pathogens or Allergens?
Once you confirm the right ingredients are in your product, you must also prove harmful ones are not.
Probiotic products include live microbes, so testing for contaminants, such as fungi, salmonella, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, allergens and manufacturing byproducts, is critical.
Regulations
- FDA mandates testing for all impurities, but doesn’t have specific rules for pathogens or allergens
- FASTER (Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research) Act requires clear labeling of 9 common allergens
- FAO/WHO and USP require tests for specific bacteria and fungi, but do not have allergen testing or labeling requirements
With decades of experience testing probiotics and food products, we help you identify and eliminate a wide range of potential issues, so you can ensure your products are safe and compliant.
Why Starya Labs
We’re more than a lab—we’re your partner. We’re ISO-17025 accredited, have three decades of expertise and we use FDA, AOAC, FAO/WHO and USP-validated methods to deliver accurate, reproducible results that regulators trust.
We offer the following services:
- Probiotic potency
- Shelf-life & stability studies
- Probiotic baking lab services
- Custom testing protocols
- New product development & formulation
- Simulated GI Models for bioavailability, release profiles & survivability
- Regulatory guidance for FDA, retailers & international markets
Probiotic testing isn’t just about compliance—it’s about confidence. Consumers trust you with their health. Retailers demand proof. Regulators require transparency. Starya Labs helps you deliver on all three.
Don’t gamble with your reputation. Test your probiotics right with Starya Labs.
Get started today!
Source: “Probiotics Market (2024-2030)”, Grand View Research https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/probiotics-market
