Editorial hot topic: prebiotics and probiotics: delivering therapeutics as dietary components

The functionality of dietary components, beyond provision of inherent nutritional benefits, has in relatively recent times become the focus of both lay and scientific interest. The imagination of the public has been captured by the concept that diet has a significant impact on health. The belief that one’s quality of life can be enhanced through manipulation of patterns of food intake has resulted in “prebiotic” and, most especially, “probiotic” becoming common or garden household terms, no longer scientific jargon