Investigating the potential of prebiotics to rebalance and maintain health
Task Force Information
Objectives
A prebiotic is a food ingredient that selectively stimulates growth and/or the activity of microbial species inhabiting the host, which may bring about health benefits. A better understanding of mechanisms of prebiotics is still needed. The task force aims at providing mechanistic insights linking prebiotics to individual health benefits.
Task Force Members
| Clémentine Thabuis-Chair | Roquette | FR |
| Elaine Vaughan-Vice-Chair | Sensus | NL |
| Kristin Verbeke, Co-Chair | Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders (TARGID) | BE |
| Paul de Vos | Centre for Healthy Eating & Food Innovation (HEFI), Maastricht University) | NL |
| Aurélie Goux | Cargill | BE |
| Jessica Van Harsselaar | Südzucker Group | DE |
| Georgina Dodd | Clasado | UK |
| Sofia Forssten | IFF | FI |
| Damien Guillemet | Nexira | FR |
| Alexandra Meynier | Mondelez International | FR |
| Lars Christensen | Arla Amba | DE |
| Bernd Stahl | Danone Nutricia | NL |
| Robert Steinert | DSM-Firmenich | DK |
*Scientific Advisor
For more detailed information, please contact Maria Tonti at mtonti@ilsieurope.be
Activity Overview
Ongoing
- Markers of the gut microbiota
The group aims to identify key markers for assessing microbiota improvement, focusing on measurable indicators of microbiota composition. The activity is shared with the Probiotics Task Force.
Kick-off: Q4 2024 - End: Q2 2026
In the Pipeline
- Role of prebiotics in better managing women’s health
The Expert Group will aim to understand the extent and mechanisms by which prebiotics impact the women’s health in different stages of life.
Expected kick-off: Q4 2025 - End: Q1 2027
- Prebiotics and Weight Management
The research group will explore how prebiotics support weight control, both independently and alongside GLP-1 receptor agonists. A workshop on GLP-1 analogues and health outcomes is planned for Q1 2026. The Expert Group will investigate key mechanisms, such as SCFA production, gut hormone stimulation, and microbiome modulation—with a focus on enhancing satiety, metabolic regulation, and treatment adherence. A key objective is to evaluate whether prebiotics can help reduce GLP-1–related side effects, such as gastrointestinal discomfort.
Expected kick-off: Q1 2026
Expert Groups
Markers of the gut microbiota
Background and Objectives
The aim of this activity is to establish standardized markers for assessing improvements in gut microbiota composition and activity resulting from dietary interventions. This involves identifying and evaluating relevant markers, such as microbial metabolites, for their predictive value regarding health outcomes and pinpointing overlooked indicators that may be crucial for assessing human health status. The activity aims to integrate various targets, including microbiota composition, enzymatic systems, microbial metabolites, mucosal integrity, and immune response, to enhance the accuracy and predictive power of these evaluations. This approach will help link changes in gut microbiota to health benefits from prebiotics and support the development of consistent and informative parameters for human studies.
Output
This activity will result in a Perspective Paper.
Expert Group Members
| Sahar El Aidy - Chair | University of Amsterdam | NL |
| Renate Akkerman | Maastricht University | NL |
| Paul de Vos | Maastricht University | NL |
| Kristin Verbeke | KU Leuven | BE |
| Anisha Wijeyesekera | University of Reading | UK |
| Jonathan Swann | University of Southampton | UK |
| Sofia Forssten | IFF | FI |
| Damien Guillemet | Nexira | FR |
| Alexandra Meynier | Mondelez | FR |
| Clémentine Thabuis | Roquette | FR |
| Delphine Saulnier | Novonesis | DK |
| Holly Sedgwick | University of Reading | UK |
Publications
All Publications
Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health
2022
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
The microbiota–gut–brain axis: pathways to better brain health. Perspectives on what we know, what we need to investigate and how to put knowledge into practice
Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2022
(2022) 79:80. Commissioned by the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health, Nutrition and Brain Health, Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation, Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
Short-chain fatty acids in human gut and metabolic health
2020
Beneficial Microbes, 11 (5)- Pages: 411 – 455 (2020). Commissioned by the Prebiotics Task Force
Systematic Review of the Effects of the Intestinal Microbiota on Selected Nutrients and Non-Nutrients
2017
European Journal of Nutrition 2018;57(1):25-49. Commissioned by the Functional Foods and the Prebiotics Task Forces.
Gut Microbiota Functions: Metabolism of Nutrients and other Food Components
2017
European Journal of Nutrition 2018;57(1):1-24. Commissioned by the Functional Foods and the Prebiotics Task Forces.
- To download the English version, click here.
- To download the Portuguese version, click here.
- To download the French version, click here.
- To download the Spanish version, click here.
- To download the Slovak version, click here.
- To download the Japanese version, click here.
- To download the Chinese version, click here.
Click on the image below to download the one-pager summary.
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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Nutrition and Brain Health
Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation
Prebiotics
Probiotics
GUT MICROBIOME AND HEALTH and NUTRITION AND CONSUMER SCIENCE
The gut and brain link via various metabolic and signalling pathways, each with the potential to influence mental, brain and cognitive health. Over the past decade, the involvement of the gut microbiota in gut-brain communication has become the focus of increased scientific interest, establishing the microbiota-gut-brain axis as a field of research. There is a growing number of association studies exploring the gut microbiota's possible role in memory, learning, anxiety, stress, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Consequently, attention is now turning to how the microbiota can become the target of nutritional and therapeutic strategies for improved brain health and well-being. However, while such strategies that target the gut microbiota to influence brain health and function are currently under development with varying levels of success, still very little is yet known about the triggers and mechanisms underlying the gut microbiota's apparent influence on cognitive or brain function and most evidence comes from pre-clinical studies rather than well controlled clinical trials/investigations. Filling the knowledge gaps requires establishing a standardised methodology for human studies, including strong guidance for specific focus areas of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, the need for more extensive biological sample analyses, and identification of relevant biomarkers. Other urgent requirements are new advanced models for in vitro and in vivo studies of relevant mechanisms, and a greater focus on omics technologies with supporting bioinformatics resources (training, tools) to efficiently translate study findings, as well as the identification of relevant targets in study populations. The key to building a validated evidence base rely on increasing knowledge sharing and multi-disciplinary collaborations, along with continued public-private funding support. This will allow microbiota-gut-brain axis research to move to its next phase so we can identify realistic opportunities to modulate the microbiota for better brain health.
To download this open-access article, please click here.
This work was conducted in collaboration with the Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health, Nutrition and Brain Health, Nutrition, Immunity and Inflammation, Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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The scientific understanding of prebiotic and probiotic mechanisms has grown substantially in recent years. Although effects are often strain and product specific, some prebiotic and probiotic benefits may be driven by common, shared mechanisms and may therefore be generalizable. The use of emerging physiological and analytical tools in a multidisciplinary research setting will enable the elucidation of further mechanisms. In this way, it will be possible to improve the understanding of prebiotic, probiotic and synbiotic health effects. Based on recent sound scientific evidence, the monograph is a valuable reference work, aimed at informing a wide audience about the intestinal microbiota and the prebiotic and probiotic nutritional concepts.
- To download the English version, click here.
- To download the Portuguese version, click here.
- To download the French version, click here.
- To download the Spanish version, click here.
- To download the Slovak version, click here.
- To download the Japanese version, click here.
- To download the Chinese version, click here.
Click on the image below to download the one-pager summary.
Commissioned by the Prebiotics and Probiotics Task Forces.
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One-Pager
Last publication one-pager
Completed Expert Groups
Overview of completed activities
- Role of prebiotics in bacterial and viral infection, and vaccination efficiency
- “Prebiotics Sandpit” Workshop: Identifiyng Knowledge Gaps and a Roadmap for Building an Health Claims Portfolio
- Role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning: What do we know and where to go next?
- Prediction of individual responses to prebiotics and probiotics intervention (collaboration with Probiotics Task Force)
- Understanding the Relationship Between the Molecular Structure and the Effects of Prebiotic Compounds on Microbiota and its Metabolites
- Joint nutrition cluster activity on ‘mechanistic insights into the gut-brain axis' in collaboration with Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health; Health Benefit Assessment of Foods; Nutrition, Immunity & Inflammation; Nutrition & Brain Health; and Probiotics Task Forces
- Updated concise monograph - Dietary Probiotics, Prebiotics and the Gut Microbiota in Human Health (collaboration with Probiotics Task Force)
- Revealing the Mechanistic Role in Human Physiology and Beneficial Aspects of Short Chain Fatty Acid (SCFA) Production in the Gastro-Intestinal Tract (GIT)