Lallemand Health Solutions’ probiotic strain L.paracasei HA-196 received approval from Health Canada for claims recognizing its beneficial effects to help support healthy bowel habits in adults with irritable bowel symptoms (IBS) at a daily dose of 10 billion CFU (colony forming units).
 
The claim hinges on a recent double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, appearing in Nutrients, in which the strain was administered to 251 North American adults with different IBS subtypes.
 
Based on self-reported symptoms collected by the researchers, participants who took the supplement had increased scores indicating greater quality of life, specifically in areas of emotional well-being and social functioning. Further, bowel movements in participants with IBS-D were reduced in frequency by 21% after 8 weeks of intake, and there was an increase in bowel frequency by 33% in participants who had IBS-C after 8 weeks of intake, both of which are beneficial results.
 
The health claim is “another achievement in the documentation of our strains being acknowledged,” Solange Henoud, global regulatory affairs director at Lallemand, said. “This is the sum of consistent efforts, constant support, and commitment from the regulatory affairs, marketing, clinical, and scientific affairs teams.”
 
In tandem with this regulatory approval, Lallemand also noted that L. paracasei HA-196 has been selected for its complementary action with supplier FrieslandCampina’s prebiotic, marketed as Biotis GOS, for a new bowel support concept. The new product concept PRO-Digest Bowel Support has been designed to promote digestive comfort and improve the day-to-day lives of consumers with occasional digestive disturbances. The product contains 10 billion CFU of the probiotic strain, which is the efficacious dose used in the aforementioned study.