Bacteria were the first form of life to develop within the evolution. Since the very beginning, they have been existing in symbiosis with all living organisms; they form the inherent foundation supporting the biological balance on Earth. Most people have but a weird notion of bacteria, predominantly categorizing them as pathogens, because they often manifest themselves on the background of menacing circumstances - for example, in cases of stomach pain, diarrhea or inflammation. However, bacteria are beneficent at least to the same extent as they are harmful. In the absence of bacteria, the Earth would lack humus and plant growth. In this respect, bacteria had prepared the great transformation of nature. In the human body’s micro environment, they play a very important role as well – not only as helpers in the intestinal digestion processes, but also as guarantors of healthy environment in every pit of the body and throughout the mucosal and skin surfaces. There are many evidences showing that mitochondria are descendants of the bacteria that came to supply our cells with energy. Some scientists think that cells, at an early stage of evolution, took up energy producing bacteria in order to use the results of their work, thus obtaining corresponding "dividends".

Growing importance is attached to the possibility of using beneficent bacteria to fight the pathogenic ones assumed many years ago. Beneficent bacteria, if provided with appropriate conditions, can displace or eliminate pathogens. Probiotics (the Greek words "pro" and "bios" mean respectively "for" and "life") are the specific alive organisms that, after active entering the intestine in sufficient amounts, cause positive effects on health status. Probiotics should be distinguished from prebiotics preparing the intestine for special bacterial growth and synbiotics, which are a combination of probiotics and prebiotics.

The designed purpose of probiotic food products and food additives is to regulate the activities of intestinal flora, support the body and preserve the beneficent symbiosis. Probiotics have a long history. Already in the beginning of the last century, Russian biologist Ilya Mechnikov discovered that special health-improving properties of such fermented food products as yoghurt, kefir or sauerkraut are due to just the probiotic Lactobacillus cultures. The probiotics currently available in the German market are based on lactic acid bacteria (i.e., lacto- and bifidobacteria). While remaining in the intestine, they carry out a great deal of work with the use of their mechanism of pathogen displacement and preserving the place for beneficent bacteria. Without lactic acid bacteria, the intestinal flora would have been in a dysbalanced condition (i.e., in the condition of dysbiosis). However, the conducted studies have shown that probiotic dairy products are able to cause their positive effects on the intestinal flora only if used every day for a long time. Besides that, the effect often becomes noticeable only after many months of their use. In view of this, simultaneous use of probiotic food additives that are able to cause quicker, more intensive and more sustained effect on the intestinal flora is expedient. In the German market, this king of probiotics has not been available or was represented by but few of them. Leading positions in this market segment are occupied by Japan, China, USA and Russia who are using various Bacillus species.