Following years of success in the European Union, Europe’s probiotic foods and supplements industry is expected to experience a €130 million decline over the next five years.

The pronouncement comes from Euromonitor’s Health and Wellness Editor Ewa Hudson ahead of the presentation she will be delivering at next week’s Probiotech & Microbiota 2013 conference in Brussels.

Ms Hudson spoke exclusively with NutraIngredients to inform them that Europe’s probiotic industry decline was likely caused by the “recent health claim ban” and a “flat economy.”

Ms Hudson said that it was expected that the probiotic industry would drop from €5.13 billion in 2012 to €5 billion by 2017, and that a decline was already apparent.

The terms “pre” and “probiotic” were banned in Europe only on December 14 2012, following a ban on some health claims that some companies are yet to comply with.

The news of the sector’s slowdown in Europe has come as a “shock”, just a year after Euromonitor had predicted 25 per cent growth between 2011 – 2016 for the probiotic industry in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is believed to be the fourth largest probiotic market behind China, the United States and Brazil.

NutraIngredients Probiotech & Microbiota 2013 conference will be held on February 5 and 6, 2013 in Brussels. Euromonitor will be releasing an updated report on Europe’s probiotic foods and supplements industry following the conference.

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