Introduction to the Fifth Global Summit on the Health Effects of Yogurt

The purpose of the Second Global Summit on the Health Effects of Yogurt was to review and evaluate the strength of current scientific knowledge regarding the health benefits of yogurt. To begin, the historical and current patterns of yogurt consumption were reviewed. Then, the evidence base for the benefits of yogurt for maintaining health throughout the life cycle, including optimal body composition, and for reducing the incidence of chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease was presented. Speakers also discussed the emerging evidence for a link between gut microbiota and health, with a focus on the gut–brain axis and early programming. To conclude, the role of dairy products in a sustainable diet was presented, taking into account both nutritional and environmental factors. On 30 April 2014, the Second Global Summit on the Health Effects of Yogurt was held as a satellite symposium to the 2014 Experimental Biology meeting. The symposium followed the successful First Global Summit that was held in Boston, Mass., in April 2013, organized by the Yogurt in Nutrition Initiative, which was established in 2012. As stated in the proceedings of that meeting, “the overall mission of the Yogurt in Nutrition Initiative is to advance scientific knowledge on the health benefits of yogurt and to broadly disseminate that information.”1 Indeed, the first and second global summits were constructed to identify and review the existing science on the health benefits of yogurt and to disseminate this knowledge. At the 2014 summit, Dr. Fisberg2 reviewed the history of yogurt and reminded the audience that yogurt has been a part of the human diet for thousands of years and was consumed by a diverse group of nations and ethnic groups. Yogurt consumption appeared in Turkish literature in the 11th century. In fact, Genghis …