Over the past decade, our understanding of the composition and functions of the human gastrointestinal microbiota has advanced rapidly. We know now that gut bacteria influence host functions both directly and via their metabolites. These insights are reshaping how probiotics, postbiotics (non-viable microbes or their components), and prebiotics are understood, assessed, and developed.
The consumption of live or even dead bacteria to improve human or animal health and wellbeing is increasingly supported by solid scientific evidence, while also raising new questions for safety assessment, efficacy, and regulation. In parallel, new insights into prebiotics, substrates that selectively promote the growth or activity of beneficial microbial groups, are helping to better define their role in the microbiome and in health outcomes.
In this webinar series, Biosafe brings a scientific and regulatory perspective to the evolving microbiome landscape. We explore what current research really tells us, where uncertainties remain, and what companies need to consider when developing and introducing new probiotic, prebiotic, or postbiotic formulations for food, feed, or supplements.
Your gut feelings – should you trust them? The science, safety and regulation of probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics
Speaker: Atte von Wright, Professor Emeritus, Scientific Advisor at Biosafe
Sign up and secure your place. If the time is not right for you, we recommend signing up anyway. We will send a recording of the event to everyone who has registered.
Webinar serie schedule and registration:
Human gastrointestinal microbiota and its functions
12 February 2026
This opening session sets the foundation for the series, covering:
-
Origin and development of the gut microbiota
-
The main bacterial groups and their roles
-
Metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiota
-
Interactions with the microbiome and the host
Probiotics, prebiotics and what they actually do
19 March 2026
From definitions to evidence: how different microbiome-targeting approaches work in practice.
-
The concept and modern definition of probiotics
-
Examples of successful probiotics and their documented effects
-
Screening and selection of potential probiotic strains
-
Prebiotics, synbiotics and postbiotics: mechanisms and use cases
Regulatory perspectives on probiotics and microbiome products
9 April 2026
How products targeting the microbiome are classified, assessed, and authorised.
-
Foods, novel foods or pharmaceuticals? Regulatory positioning
-
Health claims in the EU: what is allowed and why
-
When is a product considered a novel food?
-
How the safety of a probiotic is assessed in practice
