Q&A with Andrzej Benkowski, Technical Manager, Eurofins
Q: How did you get into this field?
Andrzej: I have a background in both food microbiology and supplement microbiological testing specializing in probiotics.
Q: CRN: Why the focus on supplements?
Andrzej: Our laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin specializes in supplement testing on both the chemistry and microbiology side of the business. The unique properties and the diversity of products in the supplement space require a lot of specialized methods, and that is our focus and where we stand out as experts in the testing field. I specifically work in the probiotics area of our supplement business, and that is my area of expertise.
For probiotic enumerations specifically, what started out as project-based work 15 years ago turned into a routine service offering rather quickly, and our business grew from there. What sets us apart and helped us grow over the years is our insights into the complicated nature of producing and testing probiotic supplements and foods to make sure they are safe and efficacious. Basically: “Is my probiotic safe? Does this probiotic supplement have the right number of bacteria as claimed on the label?”
Q: Do you find that clients of yours understand how to test probiotics, or is it confusing?
Andrzej: For the most part, our clients understand that probiotic testing has its own set of unique challenges, like the method variability and the fact that there are a lot of different options when it comes to enumeration methods. I think a lot of the confusion lies with which method to use for what material, whether it be the strain manufacturer methods, the laboratory’s methods, methods from a standardization body such as ISO or USP, or an alternative method to cultural enumerations all together. Not to mention that regulations for probiotics and the requirements for testing differ from country to country. So, it can be daunting to know which method to use for which product.
And then not all methods are tailored to a particular matrix, like certain dietary supplement formulations or a unique delivery format like a chocolate bar, so ensuring the test method is fit for purpose for a particular product is important as well, and we can help with that. It is useful to understand these nuances between the methods and, of course, to know that these types of cultural enumeration methods have been around for over 100 years and have a good deal of intrinsic variability associated with them. It just adds that much more complexity to it.
The science of probiotics, which is very robust, is still growing and evolving, which I think makes it a really exciting space. And as the industry has evolved, the testing field has evolved with it, as we have seen over the years. The way we are able to evaluate these products on a routine basis has expanded to other platforms, like flow cytometry or quantitative and digital PCR as an alternative to plate counts for probiotic quantification or utilizing more advanced ID techniques such as next generation sequencing to characterize probiotic blends.
Q: Does using these various testing methods give you an advantage compared to other laboratories?
Andrzej: There is some capital involved with the purchase of these pieces of equipment. So, as a third-party testing laboratory, there needs to be some justification for the purchase, and we have had opportunities over the years to expand our portfolio of test offerings as we have identified the need. It gives us options for how we can test our client’s samples. And our clients like options.
Each platform has its own unique capabilities as well. The flow cytometry method we are running, for example, is a viability test. We are able to distinguish live versus dead cells in a product, while a traditional plate method would only be able to determine the live and culturable count.
As for the PCR applications, their power lies in their specificity and their ability to distinguish, at the species or strain level, different organisms in a blend and to be able to quantify them.
Q: So being able to offer your customers testing options gives them access to more data about their products?
Andrzej: That is a great way to describe it. And that is just one aspect. There are some companies that may just be interested in using these alternative methods for release testing. We have clients who do that and that is it. The main advantage there is the quick turnaround time. Because flow cytometry, for example, can give results in real time in a few hours, unlike traditional methods, for which you need to grow colonies on a Petri plate in an incubator, which can take anywhere from two to five days.
Q: Do you ever surprise customers with your results?
Andrzej: That can happen, especially when you find contaminants or potential pathogens. Especially in a finished product or something like that.
But we are very well-versed in the probiotic side, how to deal with unexpected data and then how to troubleshoot and investigate. That really sets us apart.
By far, the most common situation for a probiotic sample is a result below specification. We are testing a lot of probiotic samples every day. So inevitably, there are going to be samples that fall out of specification. And we have a robust process on how to approach that.
Often, there are so many different things that could be happening; it really does come down to the data and understanding the methods. And that is our product: the value that we are providing is the numbers and results on the certificates of analysis to show: “Yes, my product is safe. Yes, it has this number of probiotic bacteria in it.”
Q: I don’t think people, even in our own industry, know how much goes into the integrity of these products.
Andrzej: You may be right. Companies want to do the right thing and they are engaging with cutting edge science to be able to definitively say what is in their products.
And the science continues to evolve, and we continue to understand more about how the gut functions and how our microbiomes affect various aspects of our body. And that is just going to continue to drive the industry forward and push growth. We hope to continue to grow alongside of it.
*The views expressed in this story are solely those of the interviewee, who said he does not officially represent Eurofins corporate, its entities, or subsidiaries.