Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
A systematic review on the effects of food additives on gut microbiota
Identification of nutrient and non-nutrient food components (and their metabolic products) potentially involved in the promotion of consumer health, and evaluation of their bio accessibility, bioavailability, and effect on the gut microbiota, using in silico, in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo approaches on humans/animals to confirm the actual absorption and bioactivity of non-nutrient components also considering specific dietary patterns and target groups.
Systematic reviews of specific nutrients and non-nutrients bioavailability and putative health effects (M20)
Over the last few years, growing interest has been paid to industrially-produced foods and their potential effects on human health. There is currently no consensus of a proper classification of food stuff according to their level of processing and, more importantly, what would be their role in a balanced, healthy diet. Up to date, the NOVA classification is the most used classification to categorize foods as “ultra-processed”, but it is not free of limitations and confusing interpretation among scientists and the general public. Moreover, it is unclear what the mechanisms underlying the retrieved association between ultra-processed foods and various health outcomes in most of epidemiological studies published so far would be. A large share of ultra-processed foods is characterized by a poor nutritional profile, thus providing an independent detrimental effect on human health unrelated to their level of processing. On the other hand, some ultra-processed foods are rich in additives that have been suggested to potentially affect the human gut microbiota and consequently imputed to exert a variety of detrimental effects on health.
A systematic search will be conducted in Pubmed and Embase electronic databases to retrieve studies on food additives and outcomes related gut microbiota. Studies on animals and humans will be evaluated for inclusion. Data on exposure variables (i.e., doses, food sources, etc.), population characteristics, method of microbiota assessment and its main characteristics will be retrieved.
We expect to assess the level of evidence to support, discharge, or encourage further studies on the effects of common food additives on gut microbiota that may explain the observed association between ultra-processed foods and health outcomes.
