ISA Scientific Symposium at FINUT 2024 Conference

In light of the rising rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) globally and in Iberoamérica, there is a public health consensus on the need to reduce excess sugar consumption. This has led to an increased interest in the use of low/no calorie sweeteners as a strategy to achieve sugar reduction and in the science supporting their health benefits, but also generated a debate over the possible rise in low/no calorie sweeteners’ use and intake levels. There are also differing views if exposure to dietary sweetness facilitates or hinders achievement of public health targets.

With the participation of four renowned academic and scientific experts, the ISA Symposium will provide the latest scientific evidence on these topics. Dr Susana Socolovsky (Argentina), Dr Brian Cavagnari (Argentina) and Dr Adriana Gámbaro (Uruguay) will talk about the global and regional regulation and recommendations about the use of low/no calorie sweeteners in Iberoamerica. In a subsequent Q&A session chaired by the founder and Honorary President of FINUT, Prof. Ángel Gil Hernández (Spain), the expert speakers will discuss conflicting views expressed in the scientific literature and will address any queries from attendees about the safety, regulation, use and recommendations about sweetness and sweeteners.

Please find below the detailed scientific programme of the ISA Symposium at FINUT 2024:

ISA SYMPOSIUM (S32) – Friday, 25 October 2024, 16:30 – 18:00 local time (Colombia)

Title: “Low/no calorie sweeteners’ use in Iberoamérica: the science behind global and regional regulation and recommendations”

Chair: Prof. Ángel Gil Hernández, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Granada, Spain. Honorary President of FINUT

Programme:

• 16h30 – 16h35: Welcome and introduction by the chair
• 16h35 – 16h55: Regulation and intake assessment of low/no calorie sweeteners in Iberoamérica. Speaker: Dr. Susana Socolovsky, PhD, CFS. President of the Argentinian Association of Food Technologists, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science & Technology.
• 16h55 – 17h15: Recommendations on the use of low/no calorie sweeteners for weight management and cardiometabolic health. Speaker: Dr. Brian Cavagnari, MD, MSc, PhD, Carrera de Nutrición, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Católica Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• 17h15 – 17h35: Does exposure to sweet tasting products affect sweetness preference in children and adults? Speaker: Dr. Adriana Gámbaro, Department of Food Science and Technology, Universidad de la República, Uruguay.
• 17h35 – 18h00: Q&As and interactive discussion with the audience moderated by the chair

Join us on Friday 25th October 2024 at 16h30pm to attend the highly engaging ISA symposium at the FINUT 2024 Conference and to get all the latest information on a subject with emerging research and high scientific interest.

Prof. Ángel Gil Hernández, Spain

Ph.D. in Biology, Professor Emeritus and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Granada. Visiting Professor of the University of Chile, Santiago de Chile; Chile Honorary Professor of the University of Tucumán, Salta, Argentina. Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Nuevo Leon. Monterrey, Mexico. Honorary President of the Iberoamerican Nutrition Foundation (FINUT). Former President of the Spanish Society of Nutrition (2011-2014). His research has focused on different aspects of Infant nutrition, childhood obesity, and nutritional biochemistry, as well as clinical nutrition. Author of 812 publications of which 566 peer-review articles, 217 book chapters, and 29 books from 1981 to 2024.* He has published 18 patents, all of them licensed to food and nutrition companies. Director of the 5-volume Treatise on Nutrition (Tratado de Nutrición, 4ª ed, EMP, 2024). He has directed 60 PhD Theses and has received 41 personal or collective national and international Awards, among them the 2012 NAOS Strategy Award of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, the Gregorio Marañón Award of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy to the best Spanish scientist in nutrition in 2017, the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Award, “Sir David Cuthbertson Lecture Award”, 2021 and the Class Fellow of the American Society of Nutrition in 2022.

* Publication Quality IndicesH index Web of Knowledge, last 20 years = 71; nº. of citations: 20,305 ; citing articles: 16,968; Sum of times cited by patent: 162; citing patents: 132 (https://publons.com/researcher/3942260/angel-gil/metrics/)

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Dr. Susana Socolovsky, PhD, CFS, Argentina

Doctor in Chemical Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, she dedicated 20 years to scientific research and teaching Organic Chemistry and Food Science at the UBA. Awarded the Argentine National Biennial Prize for Organic Chemistry in 1985. Elected member of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology – IAFoST and Certified Food Scientist by the IFT Certification Institute. President of the Argentine Association of Food Technologists. International Technical Consultant in Regulatory and Scientific Affairs. More than 30 years of experience in approvals of ingredients and food additives in Latin American countries. Expert in Technological Innovation with emphasis on the development of sugar-free foods for the last 35 years. Non-governmental representative in regulatory meetings of Mercosur and Codex. Renowned international speaker at more than 250 conferences and seminars in 20 countries and author of technical publications.

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Dr. Brian M. Cavagnari, MD, MSc, PhD, Argentina

Dr Brian Cavagnari has a degree in Biological Sciences, graduated from the School of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).
He joined the Institute of Chemistry and Biological Physicochemistry where, as a fellow of the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, he carried out his PhD in 2001. For 7 years he carried out research in molecular biology and protein chemistry, and he was a teacher of Biological Chemistry in graduate and postgraduate courses in the School of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, UBA.

He obtained his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires and completed his specialization in Pediatrics, developing his healthcare activity in several prestigious public and private hospitals in the city of Buenos Aires.

He obtained his master’s degree in Nutrition and Clinical Metabolism with his thesis “Non-Caloric Sweeteners: metabolism and evaluation of their safety” and his master’s degree in Food Technology from Parma University (Italy) with his thesis “Non-Caloric Sweeteners in the light of evidence-based medicine”.
He is a full member of the Argentine Society of Pediatrics, of the Argentine Society of Nutrition, and researcher at the School of Medical Sciences of the Argentine Catholic University (UCA).

For several years he studied the safety and the health effects of Non-Caloric Sweeteners, in the light of Evidence-Based Medicine.

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Prof. Dr. Adriana Gámbaro, Uruguay

Prof. Adriana Gámbaro has a PhD in Chemistry and a Master’s in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, and is specialised in Food Science and Technology. She is a specialist in Food Sensory Analysis, Full Professor and Director of the Food Department of the School of Chemistry at the University of the Republic of Uruguay (UdelaR). Founder and Director of the Sensory Evaluation Area of the Food Department of the School of Chemistry since 1992. She has over 30 years of experience in teaching, directing research projects and providing advice to the food industry, and has over 250 papers published in internationally renowned journals and presented at food conferences.

FINUT promotes knowledge, research, development and innovation in nutrition and food sciences in Latin America, including through organising scientific events such as the FINUT Conference that is taking place every two years since 2020. The objective of the FINUT 2024 Conference is to “create a space for exchange and discussion of ideas in which all actors that influence the field participate to face the main challenges of Food, Nutrition and Sustainability in Ibero-America, and thus offer solutions aimed at improving the health status of the population, taking into account the impact of social inequalities in the region.”

For more information about the FINUT 2024 Conference including its scientific programme, please visit the Conference website by clicking here.