Probiotics in Infant Formula

Naturally occuring and administered probiotics
Breast milk, far from being sterile, contains on average as many as 600 different species of probiotic bacteria, including Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. These are some of the first microorganisms that newborns come into contact with and contribute to the initial establishment of the microbiota in the newborn’s gut, which is crucial for the subsequent development of the immune system. Some of their benefits cannot be artificially generated but industry is doing its best to create formulae with properties mimicking that of human breast milk.