Project aims to combat obesity using food

Liverpool, U.K. – A group of multinational food manufacturers and the University of Liverpool are working together to help combat obesity.

The group has created a project called SATIN for Satiety Innovation. SATIN’s aim is to develop and test new food products with satiating qualities to help consumers control appetite and manage weight.

The university says SATIN is a five-year, European Union funded project that will use experts from academia and industry to produce food products using the latest processing innovation techniques.

Feeling full

The research will focus on the biological processes in the stomach and the brain that make people feel full.

SATIN will use food-processing technologies such as advanced forms of fermentation, vacuum technology, enzyme application, emulsification, ultra-filtration, drying, sublimation and freezing, heat treatment, protein modification and encapsulation to modify the structure of the foods that accelerate satiation, enhance satiety and reduce appetite.

The university says the satiety-enhancing food products on the market now have not been effective or appealing in terms of taste.

Consumers tend to reject healthy diets

Taste and hedonistic experience of food supercedes the health benefits of a food product and that is why overweight consumers tend to reject low‐energy, high‐fibre diets although they promote weight loss.

However, changes to the structure and viscosity of food structures have also been found to affect taste and reduce the pleasure of consumption.

SATIN represents a consortium of 18 academic and industrial partners from nine European countries including leading research institutes, large companies and small- and medium-size companies in the food and grocery retail industry who specialize in novel food formulation and production.