Background
Obesity is a major public health concern. One action the food industry can take is to develop new products that can help the consumer control calorie intake. An intrinsic aspect of this is the ability of certain foods to regulate appetite. Appetite regulation is complex and there is a still lack of consensus on how to measure the effects of certain foods on appetite.
Objectives
Promoting satiety and prolonging satiation are potentially important new strategies in the bid to tackle obesity. A thorough investigation of the methodologies, relevant food components and appropriate physiological biomarkers is imperative to provide scientific substantiation to a satiety claim.
Thus, the overall objectives of this task force are:
- to assess and promote best practice in appetite-related methodologies, including assessment of satiation, satiety and food intake, as well as the feasibility of developing a satiety index, which could be applied to foods;
- to identify the food components which modulate appetite and the identification and validation of physiological biomarkers;
- to make this learning publicly available in scientific publications so that it can be used as a scientific basis for responsible product communication and claims.
Activities
Methodologies and Physiological Targets
To achieve these objectives, the task force has convened an Expert Group to undertake the two parallel activities outlined below.
1. Produce a thorough inventory of methodologies, ranked according to strengths and weaknesses, plus assessing the viability of using mathematical modelling techniques for future methodologies. Investigate the feasibility of developing a satiety index and consider the experimental context when studying interactions between appetite and food intake.
2. Investigate physiological targets related to appetite, including biological targets and biomarkers. The primary focus will be on the effects of certain food components on the gut physiology as assessed via validated gut biomarkers.
The Expert Group will produce two papers, to be published in 2008.
Impact
With the adoption of the EC health claims legislation in 2007, it is envisaged that this work will provide a sound scientific basis for the approval of future claims for satiety on food products.
Ultimately, this work could provide the first steps in the development of a satiety index based on a hunger:satiety ratio. The applicability of statistical modelling techniques will be investigated to test whether developing such a tool is feasible.
In 2007, the work of this group has been extensively disseminated, including to the European Congress on Obesity in Budapest (April 2007), Federation of European Nutrition Societies Congress in Paris (July 2007) and the Annual Meeting of the Society for the study of Ingestive Behaviour in Colorado (July 2007).
A poster describing the work programme of the task force can be downloaded here.
2008 The Year Ahead
With a sound foundation the aim of the task force in this coming year will be to further disseminate widely the work of the Expert Group. There is also scope for follow-up work with other task forces, for instance, the Functional Foods or Dietary Carbohydrate Task Forces.
Becoming a new member in 2008 is an ideal time to join the Task Force and provide input into the next activity, whilst also capitalising on the existing one.
Task Force Collaborators
The scientists below participate in the task force and expert groups:
Experts from supporting member companies
Dr. Douwina Bosscher, Südzucker/BENEO Group (BE)
Dr. Fred Brouns, Cerestar (BE)
Dr. Karen Cunningham, Coca-Cola European Union Group (UK)
Dr. Sandra Einerhand, Tate & Lyle Speciality Sweeteners (BE)
Dr. Alfrun Erkner, Nestlé (CH)
Dr. John Fletcher, PepsiCo International (UK)
Dr. Toine Hulshof, Kellogg (UK)
Dr. Hiskias Keizer, Lipid Nutrition (NL)
Dr. Anne Lluch, Groupe Danone (FR)
Dr. David Mela, Unilever (NL)
Dr. Diederick Meyer, Sensus (NL)
Dr. Julie Scott, National Starch (UK)
Dr. Miro Smriga, Ajimonoto Europe (FR)
Dr. Julian Stowell, Danisco (UK)
Dr. Sophie Vinoy, Kraft Foods (FR)
Experts from public institutes
Prof. John Blundell, University of Leeds (UK)
Dr. Cees de Graaf, Wageningen University (NL)
Prof. Nathalie Delzenne, Catholic University of Louvain (BE)
Dr. Susan Jebb, MRC Human Nutrition Research (UK)
Dr. Barbara Livingstone, University of Ulster (UK)
Dr. Monica Mars, Wageningen University (NL)
Prof. Magriet Westerterp-Plantenga, Maastricht University (NL)
To download the poster of the task force, click here.
For more information please contact info@ilsieurope.be.