https://info.chr-hansen.com/ModesOfActionFeedInfo
1 July 2021 – Chr. Hansen Animal Health & Nutrition has decided to offer its probiotics expertise gathered from decades in the lab and on farms, and in close cooperation with customers, nutritionists and vets, for free.
A few weeks ago, the company launched a four-course, self-learning programme to improve the understanding of probiotics and how they work. It is accessible to all business professionals and can be completed in the privacy of their home or office.
“At Chr. Hansen, we’ve spent decades understanding exactly what makes an effective probiotic, and our data and assays provide scientific evidence that probiotic organisms are acting through various modes to support their hosts. We’ve taken what we know about the modes of action of probiotics and created a series of four courses, each containing series of short lessons, freely accessible to all,” said Marcelo Lang, Global Marketing Director, Animal Health & Nutrition, Chr. Hansen upon the programme’s launch on 27 May 2021.
“The use of probiotics in animal production has shown that it may benefit digestion, animal performance and the immune system – but we also know that it’s not easy to choose the right probiotic. Not all of them work the same way. Which one is right in the specific situation? To make the best choice, you need to understand different modes of action,” he added.
To get a better understanding of the programme and its potential for more optimal use of probiotics, we recently asked Marcelo Lang to answer a few questions.
[Feedinfo] Mr. Lang, why is choosing the right probiotic not always easy?
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[Marcelo Lang] Choosing the right probiotic is not always easy for three main reasons: first, while there are many probiotic suppliers, few have invested the time and money needed to really understand how those so-called “good bacteria” work. Second, the information that is available is either too technical and laced with jargon, or else it is too simplistic and “dumbed-down”. Finally, some nutritionists have told us they have been exposed to information about the modes of action of probiotics many years ago and found it incomplete or unconvincing. However, those same nutritionists have not kept up to date with recent advances, such as how probiotic bacteria interact with feedstuffs, with other microbes, and with the host animals. We are confident that when those professionals review the material we’ve put together, they will gain a new, more accurate and comprehensive view of how probiotics work and how much good bacteria can benefit the animals under their care. |
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Marcelo Lang[Feedinfo] Can you give us an idea of the amount of scientific data amassed over the years by Chr. Hansen and customers, which is available in the programme?
[Marcelo Lang] Our knowledge of the modes of action of probiotics in food-producing animals grew out of two strategic initiatives. The first one is the innovation initiative, by which our scientists developed new lab techniques to select the strains with the highest potential for use as probiotics. The second one is the customer-centric initiative, by which our product and field teams work directly with food animal producers to solve their problems. Out of these two initiatives, we gain tremendous insight on how probiotic bacteria work in animals. Such a large body of knowledge is confirmed by dozens of new papers, presentations and technical bulletins published every year, as well as hundreds of lab assays that analyse and measure how probiotic bacteria exert their beneficial effects.
[Feedinfo] Besides modes of action, does the programme measure economic performances between different strains used in specific situations or challenges faced by each food animal production system?
[Marcelo Lang] The focus of this programme is on elucidating and demonstrating the various modes of action. Where appropriate, we use examples from our own collection of bacteria strains to demonstrate how the effects vary from one strain to another. As we like to say, strain matters, meaning, not all products will have the same effect in the animal, even if they have the same species of bacteria. On the other hand, the scope of the learning courses doesn’t include evaluation of different probiotics in the performance of animals. This could be the theme for the next series of self-learning courses perhaps.
[Feedinfo] Why are you making this “proprietary” work free and available in the public domain, and therefore open for the competition?
[Marcelo Lang] All the information provided in the courses is already publicly available as scientific papers, oral presentations, or technical bulletins. What is different in this case is the online format that permits the participant to learn at their own pace and convenience. As for our competitors, we don’t mind if they decide to take the courses, just as we wouldn’t mind if they sat at one of our presentations during an industry conference or scientific symposium.
[Feedinfo] After the four courses, and after the participating nutritionists and vets have given you the specifics of their herds/flocks, what kind of guarantees from Chr. Hansen do they get in terms of probiotics understanding and product recommendations should they ask for some? Are you likely to recommend probiotic strains which are not part of the Chr. Hansen portfolio but may potentially be better fits in some specific cases?
[Marcelo Lang] The four courses cover all aspects of the modes of action of probiotic bacteria and are not product specific. Where appropriate, we provide several examples based on data obtained in our investigations, either as part of the innovation or the customer-centric initiatives. Since we stay strictly within our knowledge when making recommendations to customers and most of our lab and animal studies involve our own strains, it is very difficult for us to make recommendations of products or strains that we don’t know enough. Luckily, Chr. Hansen has the largest commercial collection of bacteria in the world, and several of them are among the most extensively studied by scientists everywhere, so we can always make recommendations of strains that we know well.
[Feedinfo] As a case study, theoretically, what conclusions would a nutritionist at a pig farming company in a cold Siberian climate be able to draw from the programme compared to a nutritionist working at a Moroccan poultry farm near the desert?
[Marcelo Lang] Nutritionists, veterinarians and all other food animal professionals who take the courses will learn in detail the three main types of effects that probiotic bacteria exhibit. In interactions with feedstuffs, they will learn how probiotics improve digestibility of fibre and solubility of protein, as well as how some probiotics can convert carbohydrates into volatile fatty acids, thus increasing acidity of the intestinal contents and making that environment less favourable to pathogenic bacteria. In interactions with microbes, they will learn how probiotics directly inhibit growth of potentially harmful bacteria both in-vitro and in-vivo. They will also learn how probiotics outcompete pathogenic bacteria in the gut and impact the microbiome, promoting eubiosis and minimising dysbiosis. Finally, in Interactions with the host, they will learn how probiotics improve the gut barrier function, improve absorption and modulate the immune system. With such a diverse array of effects, nutritionists and veterinarians can take advantage of probiotic products regardless of where they are, be it in the cold steppes of Siberia or in the Sahara Desert.
[Feedinfo] Thanks to programmes like this, is Chr. Hansen confident that one day optimum probiotic nutrition can be achieved systematically for all animal production globally?
[Marcelo Lang] Probiotic bacteria have been part of human and animal health long, long before we even recognised it. With recent advances in science, driven in part by the interest in finding alternatives to routine use of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent common infectious diseases in food-producing animals, adoption of commercial probiotic products is growing fast for all animal categories, from broiler chickens to pigs, dairy and beef cattle, and for pets as well. The pressure to produce more animal protein with less reliance on antibiotics and other chemical compounds will continue for many years to come. We are confident that helping industry professionals gain knowledge on the modes of action of probiotics will enable them to make better choices for the animals under their care.
To sign up to the programme, visit the Modes of Action website.
Published in association with Chr. Hansen
