Sour milk as medicine is ancient. The modern word probiotic was reshaped in the late twentieth century to mean live microbes with a benefit claim.
Regulators then asked for strain IDs and trials. Marketing did not always follow.
Timeline
A Nobel laureate links lactic microbes to longevity ideas in Paris.
Lilly and Stillwell use probiotic for substances that favour microbes — a meaning later narrowed.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG becomes a much-studied strain with a public code.
Live microorganisms, adequate amounts, health benefit — the sentence labels still quote.
Working-group guidelines push strain identification and safety dossiers.
The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics restates the 2001 core.
Cochrane-style reviews show benefit in some diarrhoea settings and uncertainty in many others.
Defined consortia enter drug-style pipelines, separate from yoghurt aisle branding.
History is also yoghurt vats, kimchi jars and pharmacy shelves.
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