IPA Global is a non – profit association which has been in existence since 2001. Over time, the association has evolved building its membership to what is today over 100 member companies originating from close to 30 countries. IPA has become and is recognized as “The Global Voice of Probiotics” ®
As the probiotic industry grew so has the importance to have a voice and ear close to the ground in all regions of the world. The IPA board of directors did recognize the need for such a structure and nothing was more demanding of this than in the European regulatory environment. For over ten years now, the probiotic sector struggles with using “contains probiotics“ in Europe. There is no harmonized approach among EU member states which is the source of complexity within the EU. Nevertheless the use of the term probiotic is a reality and in today’s world and very much in practice in Europe. This lack of harmonized approach created the opportunity to form a European office in Brussels that is IPA Europe with the goal to develop a solution for the labelling of probiotics in food and dietary supplements. Prompted by a restrictive interpretation of the term “probiotic” as a health claim and the absence of a legal /regulatory definition of “probiotics” the European office was finally opened in December of 2015.
- IPA Europe is the European chapter of IPA, the International Probiotics Association and is based in the European district in Brussels.
- The IPA Europe mission is: to gain the acceptance of the term “probiotic” throughout Europe as a defined category, and to create a favorable environment for probiotics in Europe.
- To see some of IPA Europe’s initiatives, please follow this link
If your organization is part of the probiotic industry and would like to have a seat at the table when probiotic initiatives are being discussed and evolve for the future of our sector globally, then it is integral you are part of our membership.
To join IPA and IPA Europe and access all the member benefits the new member application can be found here – https://internationalprobiotics.org/about/join/