Safety of commercial products with viable Lactobacillus strains

Twelve blood culture isolates initially identified as lactobacilli were analyzed for their carbohydrate fermentation patterns and compared with isolates from dairy products, including common dairy starter strains and naturally occurring strains in cheese,as well as a pharmaceutical strain. The clinical isolates represented all lactobacillar isolates from 5192 blood cultures in southern Finland (population similar to 2.5 million) From 1989-1994. None was identical to any of the commercial Lactobacillus strains or natural isolates from dairy products. The lack of human bacteremic infections associated with dairy Lactobacillus strains during the 6-year period provides strong support for the safety of currently used products.