Emerging Technologies Task Force

Background

Many bioactive food ingredients are claimed to either reduce disease risks or to improve life quality by optimising and maintaining body functions. These claims have to be based on scientific substantiation. The project “Process for the Assessment of Scientific Support for Claims on Foods” (PASSCLAIM) developed a generic tool to assess the scientific support for health claims for foods. It also established criteria for markers and measurement techniques to be used to substantiate a claim. However, today new technologies have been developed, such as the -omics technologies, which can serve as good tools to further strengthen the evidence of efficacy of specific bioactive food ingredients, detect new markers of efficacy which were not known up to date and/or generate reliable evidence in cases (i.e. calorie restriction) where this may be difficult for the classical biomarkers. Likewise, it is conceivable that imaging techniques derived from clinical diagnosis can provide evidence in humans, i.e. brain functions, which is very difficult to get with established biomarkers/tests.

State-of-the-art tools like genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics are under investigation mostly in academia but more and more also in industry. A good example in coordinating these activities is the “The European Nutrigenomics Organisation: linking genomics, nutrition and health research” (NuGO) project. One of their goals is to implement and apply genomic technologies for the benefit of nutritional science in Europe and worldwide.

Objective

The Emerging Technologies for Efficacy Demonstration Task Force studies imaging techniques (like computer tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography) and new technologies such as “-omics” (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics), to explore possibilities and to use these new techniques to demonstrate the effect of biological active substances in humans for claim substantiation.

Impact

The anticipated impact of this project is to define and generate an approach to further advance our tools by employing new technologies to demonstrate the effect of bioactive naturally occurring compounds in humans. These technologies will help to identify complementary markers to the established biomarkers to be used for demonstrating nutraceutical efficacy or serve as good tools to further strengthen the evidence of efficacy of specific bioactive food ingredients.

Activity

Mini-Workshop on Emerging Technologies

On 3-4 February 2009, the task force organised a two-day mini-workshop bringing together experts from academia, industry and international institutions to promote interactive discussions and advance the knowledge of these techniques and their role in product development.

The results of this interactive process will be published in the ILSI Europe Report Series and widely disseminated.

Further activities will be decided in April 2009.

Task Force Collaborators

Members 2009                

For more information on the task force: info@ilsieurope.be.