A voice at the table: shaping the probiotics field

International Probiotics Association (IPA)

There are a few non-profit organizations globally that play a crucial role in the probiotic sector, each dedicated to promoting scientific collaboration, regulatory standards, agreements, consumer education and others. One of the most prominent is the International Probiotics Association (IPA), a global non-profit organization which unites the probiotic sector’s stakeholders including but not limited to experts from academia, scientists, healthcare, industry, regulatory bodies, and consumers. Recognized as the Global Voice of Probiotics®, IPA’s mission is to promote the safe and effective use of probiotics worldwide. In 2022, the IPA expanded its scope to include pre-, and postbiotics. Today, IPA serves as a unified voice for all these categories, driving regulatory alignment and supporting industry best practices. To support its members across various aspects of pre-, pro-, postbiotic development—from production to market—IPA has established multiple working committees.

Winclove’s involvement in IPA

As an active member of IPA, Winclove holds a key position on the Board of Directors—a group of global industry leaders, scientists, and regulatory experts responsible for shaping IPA’s strategic direction and uphold its mission. With a diverse range of stakeholders, the Board guarantees balanced decision-making. We are proud that Coline Gerritsen, our Chief R&D Officer, was recently elected to the Board, where she contributes both with scientific expertise and industry insight.

“IPA is the collective voice to push progress and innovation in the field of probiotics” says Coline. She first joined IPA through the Scientific Committee, holding her role as a scientist at Winclove and aiming to contribute to collaborative scientific publications. “Later, when I joined Winclove’s board, it felt natural to also become part of IPA’s board of directors, allowing me to help shape its direction”.

As a board member, Coline represents the interest of Winclove and other IPA members, ensuring a unified voice cross the industry. She contributes to key strategic decisions, such as prioritizing global regulatory challenges, defining quality standards and aligning with emerging scientific developments. “This is a rapidly evolving field. Working with living microorganisms presents significant regulatory challenges” she explains. “Legislation must adapt to innovations, such as new strains, to ensure high-quality products. The dynamic nature of living organisms makes regulatory oversight complex, leading to stringent legislative requirements. Educating regulatory bodies is essential to facilitate appropriate and informed policymaking”.

Looking ahead, IPA is preparing for the future of the field by broadening its scope, strengthening scientific dialogue, and increasing its presence across international markets. “Organizing trade fairs and congresses, such as the IPA World Congress in partnership with Probiota, allows IPA to play a key role in shaping industry discussions” Coline mentions.

Beyond the board: committees contributions

Winclove’s involvement does not stop at board level. Our team plays an active role across several IPA committees, helping to strengthen the scientific, technical and educational foundation of the association.

• Scientific Committee: Mariya Petrova and Coline Gerritsen contribute to this committee, which ensures scientific integrity, encourages collaboration, and supports IPA’s scientific reputation. Through task forces, the committee monitors emerging issues and reviews scientific content for accuracy.
• Technical Committee: Wiola Marut and Maili Zimmermann represent Winclove here, contributing to important work such as advanced lactic acid bacteria enumeration standards and exploring alternative CFU methods. The committee is currently developing guidelines for detecting microbial contaminants in probiotics.
• Education & Communication Committee (ECC): Karen Koning and Mariya Petrova are part of this committee, where they help to produce global educational content—including infographics, blogs, and media contributions—to support IPA initiatives, regulatory outreach, and community education through collaboration and knowledge-sharing.
• Postbiotic Committee: Mariya Petrova recently joined this very new committee, where she contributes to help advance postbiotic science.

Winclove’s active participation in the IPA committees is not symbolic, it allows us to stay at the heart of probiotic science and regulation, shaping the standards that define our field. By contributing directly to this organization, we not only reinforce our front runner position but also help ensure the integrity, quality and credibility of probiotics worldwide.

As Probiotic Science Liaison, Mariya Petrova plays a pivotal role. She serves as our central point of contact for all IPA-related activities. “Through our involvement with IPA, Winclove acts as the voice of our partners- advocating on their behalf and keeping a close watch on developments that matter to all of us”, Mariya explains. “I joined IPA to be part of a collaborative community and contribute to advancing industry-led science”.

Mariya’s involvement began within the Scientific Committee, where she helps drive the development of high quality, peer-reviewed publications that move the field forward. “We are currently writing five scientific articles covering topics like probiotic mechanisms of action, novel in vitro methods, and next-generation strains—efforts aimed at strengthening the scientific foundation of probiotic research”, she shares. As part of the Scientific Committee, she is also an active member of the Critical Response Task Force, which ensures the accuracy of publicly shared research, and of the Strategic Task Force, responsible for delivering strategic plans for the committee. As part of ECC, Mariya works to translate complex science into impactful resources for healthcare professionals and end users. “I help develop resources that are not only scientifically sound, but also globally accessible,” says Mariya. She regularly writes and reviews IPA blog posts for the global community. You can read some of her blogs here.

Organizations like IPA are key to move the field forward, “The probiotic field faces many challenges, including accurately counting and identifying probiotic cells” Mariya highlights. Regulatory alignment is an ongoing process, “defining postbiotics and next-generation probiotics remains complex. Gaining approval for probiotics as novel foods is also an ongoing hurdle, and designing effective clinical trials continues to be a key area of debate.”

A voice at the table for science, standards and you

Our active involvement in IPA allows us to help shape industry standards, stay ahead of regulatory developments, build trusted collaborations and support global awareness of probiotics. By contributing to the scientific, technical, and educational committees, we enable dialogue across stakeholders and support the creation of much-needed standards that ensure the probiotic field remains trustworthy, evidence-based, and future ready.

This not only fuels our product innovation but also reinforces our role as a reliable partner in the probiotics field. Through our engagement with IPA, we effectively advocate for our partners, keeping a close watch on industry trends and developments that impact us all. Being a Winclove partner means having access to more than high-quality probiotic formulations—it means having a voice in the future of the field. And through our active role in IPA, we make sure that voice is heard.