Prebiotics

Prebiotics

Investigating the potential of prebiotics to rebalance and maintain health

Task Force Information

Objectives and list of Task Force
members

Contact Information

Contact details in case you have
specific questions

Activity Overview

Overview of ongoing and
upcoming activities

Expert Groups

Objectives, output and list of experts
involved in each activity

Publications

List of publications of this
Task Force

Multimedia

Links to Task Force's related documents,
recordings and much more...

Completed Expert Groups

Details including experts involved of
each activity

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

*Scientific Advisor

Contact Information

For more detailed information, please contact Naomi Venlet at nvenlet@ilsieurope.be

Activity Overview

Ongoing

 

- Role of prebiotics in bacterial and viral infection, and vaccination efficiency

Recent research suggests a beneficial effect of nondigestible carbohydrates-type prebiotics consumption on immunity and resistance to infections. The purpose of this activity is to review and collect and assess the scientific evidence and provide academic and industry scientists working in the prebiotic field with answers regarding the potential impact on viral and bacterial diseases and vaccination efficacy.

Start date: September 2022 | End date: Q2 2024

- Prebiotics sandpit: Identifying knowledge gaps and a roadmap for building a health claims portfolio

The Task Force is organising a workshop taking place on 25 Oct 2023 as a side-event of the ILSI Europe Annual Symposium.
This activity seeks to bring together leading scientific experts, industry leaders and independent regulatory advisors in an interactive and creative environment to identify current gaps in our mechanistic understanding of prebiotics, and propose next steps to fill these gaps. A follow up report will be submitted for publication.

Start date: Q2 2023 | End date: Q1 2024

- Role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning

The Expert Group will soon start working on the role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning. A perspective paper will provide a short synopsis of the field, and propose a list of recommendations to move it forward.

Start date: Oct 2023 | End date: Q3 2024

In the pipeline

- Prebiotics and alternatives to animal testing

The TF is developing a new project on prebiotics and alternatives to animal testing. The aim will be to understand the ways in which various prebiotic ingredients function and evaluate them using nonanimal testing methods to uncover their mechanisms of action. The activity is shared with AAT Task Force.

Expected kick-off: Q3 2024

Expert Groups

Role of prebiotics in cognitive functioning: What do we know and where to go next?

 

Background and objectives

The aim of the activity will be to produce a perspective article that provides a short synopsis of the field, and proposes a list of recommendations to move the field forward. Specifically, it will highlight the need to perform studies in healthy participants that test the potential “rescuing” effects of prebiotics under conditions where cognition may be transiently compromised. Ultimately, such studies would allow better estimation of the magnitude of effects of prebiotics, since current studies largely yield null findings.

Output

  • Perspective paper
  • Presentation at FENS 2023

Expert group members

Role of prebiotics in bacterial and viral infection, and vaccination efficiency

Background and Objectives

Recent research, including human clinical research, gut microbiota effects and resultant metabolites, suggests a beneficial effect of non-digestible carbohydrates-type prebiotics consumption on immunity and resistance to infections. In this context, the purpose of this review is to collect and assess the scientific evidence and provide academic and industry scientists working in the prebiotic field with answers regarding the potential impact on viral and bacterial diseases and vaccination efficacy. The review will give the current status for prebioticsimpact on infections, both prevention or recovery,and in supporting vaccination efficacy, for academicsand industry scientists in this field. Especially in the SARS-Cov2 crisis, such a review may offer guidance to academia and industry to propose research or to manufacture food products with prebiotics for healthier diets to support immunity in vulnerable individuals.

Output

  • Systematic review
  • Presentation at FENS 2023

Expert Group Members

Publications

Filter

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Multimedia

Introductory video

One-Pager

 

Completed Expert Groups

Overview of completed activities