Obesity is a major public health issue facing the European Union. According to the 2010 IASO/IOTF analysis, approximately 60% of adults and over 20% of school-age children are overweight or obese in the European Union’s 27 member states[1]. Obesity has a severe impact on health, increasing the risk of developing specific diseases. Reversing this rising trend is a priority for all European governments.

Concerned about this growing health concern, Naturex has chosen to take part in the fight against obesity and has teamed up with the SATIN project. Naturex is an active partner of the consortium, which includes small and medium size companies, European universities, as well as multinational food & beverage companies from 9 European countries. The SATIN project’s 6 million euro budget includes in vitro studies and several clinical trials. The SATIN project is funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7).

The research aims to identify which ingredients and processing methods play a role in satiety and how they influence energy intake. These findings will paint a better picture of how the inclusion of food compounds (botanical extracts, proteins, polysaccharides) and the modification of food matrices influence satiety and weight gain and may provide hope to the many people currently struggling with obesity. The five-year project will benefit from Naturex’s wide scientific expertise in biological compounds. Numerous extracts from Naturex will be tested, and several clinical trials will be carried out before 2016.