Packaging system and probiotic dairy foods

The consumption of foods containing probiotic cultures has greatly increased over the past years as a result of their benefits to human health. Along with other factors, the choice of the packaging material plays an important role in maintaining viable counts of these microorganisms at sufficiently high levels to assure their therapeutic activity throughout shelf-life. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the main issues related to the importance of the packaging system and/or materials on the stability of probiotic dairy foods.