Since July 2021, the SWEET New Investigators Group has convened monthly to support networking and promote research collaboration among the early career professionals involved in the EU SWEET Project. During each meeting, a different researcher from one of the six SWEET Work Packages investigating sweeteners and sweetness enhancers has showcased their recent research efforts and findings to the group. Members have enjoyed discussing state-of-the-art research supported by evidence from the large-scale, European prospective cohorts and multi-centre randomized controlled trials contributing to SWEET. Presentations topics have included:
- Consumption of sugar-sweetened and non-nutritively sweetened beverages, fruit juice and associations with body weight in adults
- Prolonged effects of sweeteners and sweetness enhancers on postprandial substrate oxidation, energy expenditure and appetite sensation
- Sweetened beverage intake and implications for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome
- Nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners and their associations with weight and diet in toddlers and children
- Sweet food preferences and associated factors contributing to weight management in adults
- Global food composition data and the importance of detailed nutritional datasets for increased understanding of health
- Dietary assessment methods available to capture sweetener intake, including food frequency questionnaires, diet diaries and 24-hr recalls
- Set-up and running of trials and considerations required for participant recruitment
In May 2022, we were delighted to have SWEET Work Package 1 leader Corey Scott deliver an educational session on working as a scientist within industry, sharing his specialist expertise and knowledge with the group.
The SWEET New Investigators Group looks forward to our first face to face meeting at the SWEET Summer School in San Sebastián, Spain. Full details of the Summer School at San Sebastián can be found here: