Scientists Develop a Food Ingredient That May Prevent Obesity

Key Points:

• A new food additive called inulin propionate ester (IPE), designed to help prevent weight gain by stimulating appetite-regulating signals in the gut, has been added to the EU Novel Food List, confirming its safety for human consumption.
• Developed by researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow, IPE targets the colon to enhance natural fullness signals, potentially helping people feel fuller longer and consume fewer excess calories, thereby preventing gradual weight gain.
• Unlike weight loss drugs, IPE aims to stop the slow, persistent calorie surplus that leads to obesity, offering a preventive, food-based intervention that could be incorporated into everyday products like smoothies, cereals, and bread.
• After over 15 years of research and multiple clinical studies, IPE received positive assessments from the European Food Safety Authority and the European Commission, but scaling production remains a challenge as the ingredient is currently produced only at pilot scale.
• The developers have launched a spinout company, Satisfed, to seek industrial partners for large-scale production, with hopes that IPE will become an affordable option integrated into mainstream foods to help reduce obesity rates, especially in communities with limited access to healthier diets.