Low Calorie Foods, Beverages and Sweeteners: Can they really contribute to a healthier future?
With more than half of the adult population in the European Union overweight or obese, it is easy to see why calorie reduction is high on the agenda for those involved in food and health.
By delivering a sweet taste with almost no calories, low calorie sweeteners provide a useful means of reducing caloric intake and have made it possible for low calorie foods, beverages and sweeteners to be part of almost everyone’s diet.
Nevertheless, and despite the obvious benefits that foods and beverages with low calorie sweeteners have, some perceptions of these products can still raise questions.
With this conference, the International Sweeteners Association aimed to answer the question: « Low Calorie Foods, Beverages and Sweeteners – Can They Really Contribute To A Healthier Future? »
The conference was held at the Bibliothèque Solvay, a prestigious venue in Brussels (Belgium), situated in the grounds of the European Parliament – the Parc Léopold.
The ISA Conference in 2011 was hosted by Stefan Gates, a food adventurer and television presenter. Stefan presented ‘E Numbers: An Edible Adventure’, a myth-busting food science series broadcast on BBC2, and wrote an accompanying book.
Speakers included Prof. Andy Renwick, an internationally recognised expert on the safety of low calorie sweeteners (University of Southampton, UK); Dr. Tommy Visscher, specialised in epidemiological research into the prevention of obesity (Vrije Universiteit, Netherlands); Dr Margaret Ashwell, expert in nutrition and former member of the UK Government’s Food Advisory Committee (UK) and Prof. John Brewer, specialist in sports nutrition (University of Bedfordshire, UK).
To read more about the conference, please click on the links below to access the related documents: