Commerical Probioitc Composition

Probiotics—living microbial organisms consumed to benefit health—are sold over-the-counter for a wide range of indications. Because many probiotic formulations are considered dietary supplements rather than medications, their contents are not strictly regulated. It is unclear whether these products always contain the advertised bacteria or whether these bacteria are still viable when they are ingested by the consumer. The goals of this study are to determine the composition of a subset of commercial probiotic products using 16S rDNA sequencing.