Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D. Home

An internationally recognized consultant in the area of probiotic microbiology, who for 20 years has helped numerous food and supplement companies develop and communicate about probiotic products
Specializes in technical support for enhancing existing probiotic product lines
Offers perspective on paths to scientific substantiation of probiotic product label claims
Accomplished communicator on probiotics, with numerous written, oral and video pieces
Over 80 peer-reviewed, scientific publications on efficacy substantiation, microbiology and regulatory issues pertaining to probiotics
Over 130 public lectures delivered

Accomplishments

Served on GRAS determination panels
Participated in the working group convened by the FAO/WHO that developed guidelines for probiotics
Served on the World Gastroenterology Organisation Guidelines Committee preparing guidelines for the use of probiotics and prebiotics for gastroenterologists
Served on the Product Integrity Working Group of the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Served as Science Communicator for the Institute for Food Technologists
Participates in an NIH project titled “Federal Regulation of Probiotics: An Analysis of the Existing Regulatory Framework and Recommendations for Alternative Frameworks,” being coordinated at the University of Maryland School of Law
Served on the scientific organizing committees for several conferences exploring different aspects of scientific and regulatory issues for probiotics, including ones organized by New York Academy of Sciences and Federation of Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Participates in committee to develop monograph on “Live Microbial Microbial Food Cultures” for Food Chemical Codex. The monograph is intended to appear in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC provides a compendium of internationally recognized standards for the purity and identity of food ingredients) to assist industry, academics, and other interested stakeholders.

Dairy & Food Culture Technologies

Consulting in the science of probiotics

Highlighted Activities

Video: "Germs with a Positive Attitude," developed by Council for Agricultural Science and Technology.

Video Documentary: "Microwarriors: The Power of Probiotics"

Podcast: "Science & The City" podcast about probiotics. Free podcast ("More Than a Yogurt Cup") available at New York Academy of Sciences website and on iTunes (search "Science & The City")

Free reprint: “How do we know when something called “probiotic” is really a probiotic? A guideline for consumers and healthcare professionals,” published in Functional Food Rev. Download free.

Free reprint: “Guide to designing, conducting, publishing and communicating results of clinical studies involving probiotic applications in human participants” published in Gut Microbes. Download free .

Free reprint: “Assessment of probiotic safety for human use” published in Gut Microbes. Download free.

Free reprint: “Food formats for effective delivery of probiotics” published in Ann. Rev. Food Sci. Technol. Download free.

Free reprint: "Probiotics: their potential to impact human health". Comprehensive white paper co-authored by Sanders, Gibson, Guarner, Gill. 2007. Download free .

Webcast lecture delivered at the American Academy of Family Practitioners convention, 2006. Click here.

Webcast lecture delivered in symposium "Practical Applications of Probiotics in Health and Disease" Presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the American College of Nutrition, 2008. Click here.