Jon and Sue Collins and their four children ranging in age from 6 to 15 are a healthy small town Nebraska family. Grandma Collins, Jon’s widowed mother who shares their home, is also healthy at the age of 67.

But suddenly last Summer something happened that brought sickness and suffering to the whole family. They all experienced a scourge of fever, severe stomach discomfort with abdominal cramps, seemingly endless watery diarrhea and almost total loss of appetite for food.

Probiotics are dietary supplements and live microorganisms containing potentially beneficial bacteria or yeasts. According to the currently adopted definition by FAO/WHO, probiotics are: ‘Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host’.

The original observation of the positive role played by certain bacteria was first introduced by Russian scientist and Nobel Laureate Eli Metchnikoff, who in the beginning of the 20th century suggested that it would be possible to modify the gut flora and to replace harmful microbes by useful microbes.