TABLE 1.

Regulatory definitions of prebiotic dietary fiber and other qualifying compounds.

Regulatory agency	Definition of Prebiotic Dietary Fiber	Definition of other qualifying compounds as Prebiotics
United States-Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA)	Synthetic or isolated non-digestible (soluble or insoluble) carbohydrates made up of monomeric units ≥ 3, and possessing physiologic effects that are beneficial to human health	Biologically-based group of foods conferring health benefits on the host
Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO)	Carbohydrate polymers comprising of monomeric units (10 or more) that resist hydrolysis by the endogenous enzymes that naturally occur in the human small intestine	Non-viable food components that confer health benefits on the host by modulating beneficial gut microbiota
Food for Specified Health Use (FOSHU), Japan	Principal food ingredient that is officially approved to claim its physiological effects on human body (Brown well et al., 2012)
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)	Non-viable food ingredient that confers health benefits to host by modulating the gut microbiota (Definition adapted from the FAO/WHO)
Health Canada	Term “prebiotic” is allowed only for products that are required for an approved health claim
Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI), India	Non-viable food ingredient that provides health benefits to host by modulating the gut microbiota (Definition adapted from the FAO/WHO)