A major European project will develop and test new food products that can control the appetite in a bid to find new ways of tackling the epidemic of obesity, it has been announced.
SATIN – SATiety Innovation – is a five year, EU-funded project that is led by the University of Liverpool, UK, and brings together experts from academia and industry for the production of new types of food products that could help to combat obesity.
The consortium of 18 partners from nine European countries hope to understand the biological processes in the stomach and the brain that make us feel "full" and establish if it is a viable approach for weight management.
Dr Alexandra Johnstone, of the University of Aberdeen Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, Scotland, will lead the human intervention studies, while Professor Harry Flint, of the same university, will head up the laboratory studies to investigate prototype products.
Dr Johnstone said: “SATIN provides an exciting opportunity to collaborate with the food industry to develop new food products.
“We will examine the appetite response to novel foods and how they impact on the gut. We know that the gastrointestinal tract (GI) tract is important for influencing signals that control hunger, satiety and food intake and this work will help us investigate this further.”
SATIN will use advanced food processing technologies, such as advanced forms of fermentation, vacuum technology, enzyme application, emulsification and protein modification, to modify the structure of the foods that accelerate satiation, enhance satiety and to reduce appetite
Professor Jason Halford, director of the University of Liverpool’s Human Ingestive Behaviour laboratory, said: “People who are obese find successful weight loss and maintenance notoriously difficult. Obesity is typically a consequence of overconsumption driven by an individual’s natural sensitivity to food stimuli and the pleasure derived from eating high fat and high sugar foods.
“Obese and overweight people are less likely to feel full after eating, partly because of the energy-dense foods they prefer have a reduced impact on gastrointestinal hormone signals that help promote feelings of satisfaction and fullness.
"If we can produce foods that fill people up quicker and for longer and taste good then we can help moderate appetite whilst maintaining a healthy balanced diet.”
Obesity is a major public health issue across the EU, and it is estimated that by 2050, 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children in the UK will be obese. The EU has put some £6 million into the project.
* The spread of obesity may be behind a 135 per cent increase in kidney cancer rates over the past 35 years, campaigners warned today.
The warning comes after it was revealed that the number of cases of kidney cancer diagnosed each year in Great Britain has risen to more than 9,000 for the first time.
In 1975 there were almost 3,000 cases of the disease and it was the 14th most common cancer in Britain. But today’s figures show that there are now just over 9,000, making it the eighth most common cancer in the country.
Some of the increase has been attributed to more widespread use of imaging techniques, which have helped diagnose more kidney tumours, however, it is estimated that about a quarter of kidney cancer cases in men and 22 per cent in women are linked to being overweight.
Professor Tim Eisen, a Cancer Research UK kidney cancer expert, based at the University of Cambridge, said: “Over the last 10 years, Cancer Research UK has helped to develop new drugs which destroy the blood supply to the kidney cancers. These drugs control the disease in most patients but do not cure it.
“It is best to prevent the problem in the first place – maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking are the best ways of doing that.”
After smoking, obesity is one of the main risk factors for kidney cancer as it increases the risk of the disease by 70 per cent.
Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, said: “Too few people know about the significant cancer risks associated with being very overweight. While giving up smoking remains the best way to cut your chances of developing kidney cancer, the importance of keeping a healthy weight shouldn’t be overlooked.
“Obesity is not only linked to kidney cancer but six other types of cancer and other diseases as well.”
Newscaster Nicholas Owen, a kidney cancer survivor, said: “It’s worrying to see the number of cases rise. But it is so important for people to go to their doctor if they experience any symptoms like blood in urine. The chances are it won’t be cancer, but if it is, spotting it early means that treatment is often easier and many more people survive.”
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