Many commercial probiotics are genetically engineered. Unfortunately, most probiotic supplements and foods aren’t as beneficial for us as we’re led to believe. That’s because the healthiest, most potent strains of probiotics are not very stable outside the body. Nature didn’t design them to reproduce and live outside of their natural environment, which is in soil, on the surface of plants, and inside the microbiome of living creatures. In other words, growing, transporting, and storing probiotics properly can be a sensitive process that most commercial companies avoid if at all possible. They’d rather sterilize and homogenize the natural properties out of foods and supplements to make them cheap and easy to produce, as well as shelf-stable. So many of them turn to genetically modified strains that are easier to control using commercial processes. How can you tell if a probiotic is not naturally-occurring? One way to tell if the strains in your supplement or food are genetically modified is to look on the label. Many GMO strains are followed by a number, such as “Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 6086.” This indicates the strain is a proprietary, probably patented, version of microbiota that was engineered by scientists in a lab, not by Nature. On the flip side, you can’t patent a naturally-occurring microorganism.