Food products for clinical studies

To successfully perform human studies, the availability of specific formulated products or ingredients acceptable for human consumption is essential.

Satiety studies
For satiety studies, it is a prerequisite that the products have the appearance of a representative consumer product. NIZO recently produced chocolate and dessert-style products for satiety studies at TI Food & Nutrition. Consumers highly appreciated these products. NIZO also succeeded in giving the reference products and the test products the same flavour and mouthfeel, although they were made by using totally different ingredients. This is essential for blind testing.

High- and low-protein products
In one study, high- and low-protein products were formulated with a wide variety of protein sources (alpha-lactalbumin, gelatin, casein, soy and whey) but the same texture and number of calories. Flavour was applied in a way that made it impossible to recognize the protein source in the product. When tested in subjects, it was shown that the satiety-inducing effect of alpha-lactalbumin and gelatin resulted in a 20% reduction of energy intake and that the test products were evaluated very positively.

Patient studies
Another example is the production of 13C-enriched lactose for the University of Groningen, to study various aspects of lactose malabsorption in the bowel: they administer their patients 13C-enriched lactose and measure the resulting blood values. 

Products for your clinical study
NIZO food research assists universities, institutes and companies in the development of specific food products or ingredients to enable the study of for instance satiety or clinical effects in human trials. The NIZO Processing Centre offers a food-grade environment and the possibility to apply specific process lines to produce custom-made products, as each study has its own demands. 
So if you need products for a consumer study, contact Willem Postma.

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