Our parent company, Cultech Ltd, was established in 1994, by two microbiologists, Drs Nigel and Sue Plummer, to investigate the potential for friendly bacteria in humans. Since the company’s inception, Nigel, Sue and the team at Cultech have been researching the human microbiome and friendly bacteria and Nigel launched ProVen in 2012 to bring our own Lab4 bacteria blends to the public.

ProVen Biotics was created by our current CEO, Dr Nigel Plummer who is a microbiologist and world-renowned probiotics specialist. Dr Plummer is committed to adding to the body of science and research evidence supporting the use of friendly bacteria in helping to prevent illness in humans, having first studied the positive effects of friendly bacteria on piglets being fed antibiotics in the late 1980s and early 1990s and realising their potential value for supporting human health. Dr Plummer has spoken to healthcare professionals at events all over the world over the past 30 years and is widely recognised and respected as one of the world’s pre-eminent probiotics experts.

We have our own research laboratories and a large team of research scientists, who continuously work to understand more about how our bacteria blends influence the microbiome and thus other systems within the body, including digestion, immunity, athletic performance, mental health, mood, metabolism and quality of life. We invest more than £500,000 into our research every year and to date (August 2024) have undertaken more than 60 research studies, including in vitro, in vivo, and human clinical trials, and published over 100 research papers on Lab4 and/or the gut microbiome.

All ProVen friendly bacteria products utilise
our own strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria in blends known as Lab4 and Lab4B. We have further combined our extensively researched Lab4 bacteria consortium with other bacteria and yeast strains to create two additional blends, known as Lab4P (with Lactobacillus plantarum) and
Lab4S (with Saccharomyces boulardii)

We own the whole manufacturing process for our products – from conception to finished products. We develop and research the
products, ferment the strains, manufacture the products and deliver them to customers (wholesalers, retailers and direct to individuals via our website).

Many of our products are those used in our
clinical research trials – using the same combination of friendly bacteria
strains at the same dose as the products we then go on to manufacture and include
here on our website. Some products are not directly used in the research, but
still contain our proprietary trademarked Lab4 bacteria blends, which have now
been shown to support health via more than 30 clinical trials with humans, undertaken
over several weeks, months and/or years.

The strains used in ProVen Biotics were originally isolated from the gut microbiota of healthy humans and screened for appropriate characteristics and safety. They are naturally present in our intestines, but their numbers can be reduced due to the stresses of our modern lifestyle. The Lab4 species are included in the Qualified Presumption of Safety(QPS) list developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is regularly reviewed and updated.

The human gut microbiome is made up of trillions of bacteria, most of which form part of the protective mucous membrane in the large intestine. The small intestine contains fewer bacteria species and numbers, although this is still estimated to be hundreds of billions for an average person. As the small intestine is the site of action of both antibiotics and friendly bacteria (pro-biotics), we believe that low doses of less than 5 billion friendly bacteria are unlikely to have a major impact on the composition and functionality of the small intestine microbiome.

Part of the stated goal of the ProVen Biotics brand is to show people that friendly
bacteria really can benefit family health. Part of this goal means that we offer products for all family members, from new-born babies to old age, including pregnancy, toddler, child and adult products in our range.

The stomach is an acidic environment, and friendly bacteria need to be able to survive this to reach the microbiota in the intestines. ProVen Biotics are held in suspension in their various formats until they reach the gut and have undertaken studies to ensure that the
bacteria are reaching the intestines where they can be utilised.

The proprietary TriPhase and
StabilityMax technologies used to manufacture ProVen Biotics, guarantee the stated number of live bacteria in each of the products to the expiry date of the product. As well as a unique three-stage manufacturing process, we utilise 'gas-tight' packaging and 'overage' of bacteria to ensure this stability.

As a long-term expert manufacturer of friendly bacteria, ProVen Biotics was one of the first companies to develop the capability of guaranteeing high potency products, stable for 18-24 months, at room temperature conditions. Our manufacturing processes are optimised to increase stability of the bacteria at
every stage

ProVen Biotics are manufactured in our own facility to NSF Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for Dietary Supplements, and food safety standards with quality control testing throughout all processes. GMP requires that a manufacturer must meet specific standards
and checks to ensure products are consistently high in quality.

The human gut contains thousands
of different strains of live bacteria (from different groups and species) and
multi-strain products have been shown to work synergistically to support this
diversity. The Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium groups (genera) of friendly bacteria are the most studied and ProVen Biotics contain two
strains of each group and additional strains when suited to a particular product.

The strain designation numbers for each of the individual strains of bacteria used in each Lab4 blend are clearly labelled in brackets after the strain's name. For example, Lab4 contains four
strains: Lactobacillus acidophilus (CUL60), Lactobacillus acidophilus (CUL21), Bifidobacterium bifidum (CUL20), Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis (CUL34)

All reputable and researched friendly bacteria strains will be deposited at a recognised culture collection and allocated a unique accession number to ensure the strain’s authenticity - the Lab4 strains are deposited at the National Collection of Industrial, Food and Marine Bacteria (NCIMB).

Safety is a key consideration when choosing any supplement. As well as having a vast number of ongoing customers of ProVen products (including babies, children and pensioners), ProVen Biotics are continuously scrutinised in our ongoing research programme and were specifically approved for use in a trial with pregnant mums and their new-born
babies and shown to be safe for use by these vulnerable groups.

None of the ProVen Biotics products contain artificial colours, flavours or reservatives. Full details of the ingredients for each product can be found on the product info page.

The ProVen Biotics friendly bacteria strains and blends are all gluten and dairy free. All ProVen Biotics products are also gluten free, although our Baby Breast Fed and Toddler products contain GOS (galacto- oligosaccharides), which are derived from lactose (the sugar in milk) and cannot be claimed as free from all dairy ingredients.

Our manufacturing facility is 100% free of genetically modified organisms. We do not handle genetically modified ingredients and will never include them in our products.

ProVen Biotics is part of Trustpilot, an independent and therefore unbiased review service, and all our online customers are asked by Trustpilot to provide honest feedback about our products and the experience they had when purchasing from us.