The EU has added inulin-propionate ester, a fibre ingredient that can stimulate the body’s natural GLP-1 response, to its list of approved novel foods, enabling companies to sell the additive in food products.
As weight-loss medications seek to replicate their American success across the Atlantic, food companies now have a new tool that can do what Ozempic does without its side effects.
These drugs work by mimicking GLP-1, an incretin hormone naturally released in the gut, which reduces appetite, prolongs the feeling of fullness, and helps regulate blood sugar levels and manage weight. They’ve already done a number on the food industry, which has had to hastily respond with new products and brands that complement GLP-1 use.
Studies show that these medications can cause gastrointestinal issues such as nausea and vomiting, mental health problems like anxiety and irritability, and a phenomenon dubbed ‘Ozempic tongue’ (when people’s taste receptors react differently to foods than they did before GLP-1 use).
It’s why researchers and companies have been looking for ways to mimic the activity of GLP-1 drugs through food ingredients to sidestep the potential side effects. In these efforts, dietary fibre has been a focal point, since it can trigger the body’s natural GLP-1 response, helping your gut bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids, which regulate appetite and keep you feeling full.
Now, scientists from the University of Glasgow and Imperial College of London have unveiled a new fibre ingredient, inulin-propionate ester (IPE), which regulates appetite and prevents weight gain. IPE has just secured novel food approval in the EU, enabling manufacturers to add it to a host of food products to boost the fibre content and GLP-1 activity.
IPE can be added to everyday foods or used as a supplement
IPE is a dietary fibre that is said to maximise the known benefits of a high-fibre diet – think gut wellness, glucose management, lower cholesterol levels, regular bowel movements, and more. It helps people feel full for longer, and aims to reduce the daily calorie surpluses that can drive long-term weight gain.
“A small calorie surplus each day will lead to significant weight gain over time. Even one extra kilo a year in young adults is enough to create serious weight problems by middle age,” explained Gary Frost, chair in nutrition and dietetics at Imperial College London’s Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction.
“We already know that a higher fibre intake can counter this, but we also know that most people find it difficult to take in enough fibre and are falling far short of the recommended intake levels,” he added.
Indeed, a majority of Europeans are deficient in fibre, and that rate hovers around 95% for people in the UK and the US. One survey from 2025 showed that 38% of European consumers want to increase their fibre intake.
IPE is a mixture of inulin (a natural substance found in chicory and onions) and propionate (a naturally occurring short-chain fatty acid). It works by delivering propionate directly to receptors in the colon, which trigger appetite-regulating hormones.
This is a targeted delivery system that “supercharges” the gut’s normal bacterial fermentation process. It’s an approach that differs from weight-loss medications, keeping weight off from the get-go instead of attempting to get rid of it.
“We have brought together two natural ingredients to stimulate appetite‑regulating hormones at exactly the right site in the gut. Although GLP‑1 receptor agonists have shown great results in helping people lose weight, IPE could help stop the kind of slow, steady weight gain that makes those drugs necessary,” said Douglas Morrison from the University of Glasgow’s SUERC centre.
The ingredient will be available to companies in the form of a white powder, which can either be added to everyday foods like smoothies, shots, cereals, and bread, or be consumed as a standalone supplement. Randomised controlled trials prove its efficacy, with 10g of the ingredient a day shown to regulate appetite and prevent weight gain.
For instance, in one trial involving overweight people aged 40-65, blood levels of GLP-1 rose and participants ate less. After six months, none of the IPE users gained a significant amount of weight, compared to 17% of the control group who did. The only side effect was increased flatulence, which is common with high-fibre diets.
Researchers spin out new company to scale up and commercialise fibre additive
Unlike the US, GLP-1 drugs are still in their infancy in Europe. Between the EU and the UK, only 2% of consumers are using these medications, versus 12% (or, by some estimates, 18%) of Americans. Things are changing quickly.
In four key EU markets – Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland – up to 3.6 million households are currently using these medications, according to YouGov. When factoring in consumers who plan to start using them within the next six months, that user base could double in the short term.
IPE can prove to be both an alternative and a supplement to weight-loss drugs. Plus, gastrointestinal side effects are common among GLP-1 users, creating a market for companion products that support digestion, the microbiome, and metabolic health.
It took six years for the European Food Safety Authority to complete its assessment and approve the product for use in food, but the milestone shows that a “bench‑to‑consumer” pathway is possible for academic innovations.
However, IPE is still early in its commercial journey, with the research team only able to produce a few hundred kgs at a time at pilot scale. They have now launched Satisfed, a spinout company to partner with manufacturers to scale production to thousands of tonnes and reach a wider market of consumers.
Satisfed is aiming to bring this “cheap and effective” additive into mainstream foods to offer a new solution to the obesity epidemic, particularly for communities where cost and access to healthy food drive the disproportionate burden of this condition.
“We know that there is a lot of commercial interest currently in how to engineer optimum nutrient delivery to the gut, to lead to the best possible outcomes for consumers, and we hope to capitalise on that interest,” said Morrison.
Other researchers are advancing similar innovations. Scientists in Spain have discovered two plant extracts that could be used as weight-loss pills without the side effects, while Chinese researchers have developed plant-based microbeads that can bind to fats in the gastrointestinal tracts to replicate the effect of orlistat, a weight-loss drug approved for sale in the US.
Meanwhile, Chilean startup NotCo has teased a botanical-based GLP-1 Booster that can be added to any food to help you feel satiated and eat less. Likewise, Israel’s Lembas has created a bioactive peptide to activate the body’s GLP-1 hormone. It can be used in bars, snacks, shakes, beverages, supplements, and more.
