ABSTRACT
Recently, worldwide interest has rapidly and signifi cantly increased in the therapeutic and preventive effects of functional foods such as yogurt, which deliver “friendly” probiotics and prebiotics to the host through daily oral intake. The probiotic market has recently expanded beyond yogurt to an increasing variety of foods, beverages and supplements. In a market research report [Probiotic Market (2009-2014)] by the company MarketsandMarkets, the global probiotic market is predicted to grow at a compounded average growth rate of around 13% from 2009 to 2014, and will be worth US$ 32.6 billion by 2014, with Europe and Asia accounting for nearly 70% of total revenues. Although the probiotics market in the USA is relatively undeveloped compared to European and Asian countries, it was
valued at about US$ 1.1 billion in 2010, with an annual growth rate of 7.1% in sales. With predicted future worldwide increases in health-conscious consumers, there will be a concomitant increase in the demand for functional foods relating to probiotics and immunobiotics.
