The field of probiotics continues to evolve and progress. This paper reviews several situations within the probiotic field that are of current interest, including review of the scope of the proper use of the term "probiotic," use of systematic reviews and meta-analyses for probiotics, regulatory challenges to doing human research on probiotics in the United States, medical recommendations for probiotic use, and safety assurance for probiotics used for vulnerable populations. The greatest need in the probiotic field remains well-conducted and well-reported human trials, to better define the functionality of probiotics for different indications and populations.