Zn is an essential trace element, involved in many different cellular processes. A relationship between Zn, pancreatic function and diabetes was suggested almost 70 years ago. To emphasise the importance of Zn in biology, the history of Zn research in the field of diabetes along with a general description of Zn transporter families will be reviewed. The paper will then focus on the effects of Zn on pancreatic β-cell function, including insulin synthesis and secretion, Zn signalling in the pancreatic islet, the redox functions of Zn and its target genes. The recent association of two ‘Zn genes’, i.e. metallothionein (MT) and Zn transporter 8 (SLC 30A8), with type 2 diabetes at the genetic level and with insulin secretion in clinical studies offers a potential new way to identify new drug targets to modulate Zn homeostasis directly in β-cells. The action of Zn for insulin action in its target organs, as Zn signalling in other pancreatic islet cells, will be addressed. Therapeutic Zn–insulin preparations and the influence of Zn and Zn transporters in type 1 diabetes will also be discussed. An extensive review of the literature on the clinical studies using Zn supplementation in the prevention and treatment of both types of diabetes, including complications of the disease, will evaluate the overall beneficial effects of Zn supplementation on blood glucose control, suggesting that Zn might be a candidate ion for diabetes prevention and therapy. Clearly, the story of the links between Zn, pancreatic islet cells and diabetes is only now unfolding, and we are presently only at the first chapter.

Over the last decade the concept of functional foods and nutraceuticals (FFN) has gained support from various stakeholders including the food industry, scientific and academic community, government institutions or regulators, producers and consumers. However, as one begins to evaluate the global FFN industry, several issues emerge including (i) a lack of consensus across jurisdictions for acknowledging safe and efficacious FFN, (ii) challenges regarding the classification of novel food-derived bioactives as FFN or drugs, and (iii) a disconnect between nutrient requirements and dosages of FFN required to facilitate health benefits. The objectives of the present review are to discuss the role of existing stakeholders within the FFN marketplace and identify performance indicators for growth within the FFN sector. In addition, the following report provides feasible resolutions to present and future challenges facing the global FFN industry to ensure sustained long-term growth.

Foods and dietary patterns that enhance satiety may provide benefit to consumers. The aim of the present review was to describe, consider and evaluate research on potential benefits of enhanced satiety. The proposal that enhanced satiety could only benefit consumers by a direct effect on food intake should be rejected. Instead, it is proposed that there is a variety of routes through which enhanced satiety could (indirectly) benefit dietary control or weight-management goals. The review highlights specific potential benefits of satiety, including: providing appetite control strategies for consumers generally and for those who are highly responsive to food cues; offering pleasure and satisfaction associated with low-energy/healthier versions of foods without feeling ‘deprived’; reducing dysphoric mood associated with hunger especially during energy restriction; and improved compliance with healthy eating or weight-management efforts. There is convincing evidence of short-term satiety benefits, but only probable evidence for longer-term benefits to hunger management, possible evidence of benefits to mood and cognition, inadequate evidence that satiety enhancement can promote weight loss, and no evidence on which consumers would benefit most from satiety enhancement. The appetite-reducing effects of specific foods or diets will be much more subtle than those of pharmaceutical compounds in managing hunger; nevertheless, the experience of pharmacology in producing weight loss via effects on appetite suggests that there is potential benefit of satiety enhancement from foods incorporated into the diet to the consumer.

It is predicted that non-communicable diseases will account for over 73 % of global mortality in 2020. Given that the majority of these deaths occur in developed countries such as the UK, and that up to 80 % of chronic disease could be prevented through improvements in diet and lifestyle, it is imperative that dietary guidelines and disease prevention strategies are reviewed in order to improve their efficacy. Since the completion of the human genome project our understanding of complex interactions between environmental factors such as diet and genes has progressed considerably, as has the potential to individualise diets using dietary, phenotypic and genotypic data. Thus, there is an ambition for dietary interventions to move away from population-based guidance towards ‘personalised nutrition’. The present paper reviews current evidence for the public acceptance of genetic testing and personalised nutrition in disease prevention. Health and clear consumer benefits have been identified as key motivators in the uptake of genetic testing, with individuals reporting personal experience of disease, such as those with specific symptoms, being more willing to undergo genetic testing for the purpose of personalised nutrition. This greater perceived susceptibility to disease may also improve motivation to change behaviour which is a key barrier in the success of any nutrition intervention. Several consumer concerns have been identified in the literature which should be addressed before the introduction of a nutrigenomic-based personalised nutrition service. Future research should focus on the efficacy and implementation of nutrigenomic-based personalised nutrition.

Research into the cognitive and mood effects of caffeine in human subjects has highlighted some fairly robust and well-accepted effects. However, the majority of these studies have focused on caffeine in isolation; whilst caffeine is normally consumed in the form of plant-derived products and extracts that invariably contain other potentially bioactive phytochemicals. The aim of the present review is to consider the possible mechanisms of action of co-occurring phytochemicals, and any epidemiological evidence suggesting that they contribute to potential health benefits ascribed to caffeine. Intervention studies to date that have been conducted to explore the effects on brain function of the non-caffeine components in caffeine-bearing plants (coffee, tea, cocoa, guaraná), either alone or in combination with caffeine, will also be summarised. Research is beginning to accumulate showing independent effects for several of the phytochemicals that co-occur with caffeine, and/or a modulation of the effects of caffeine when it is co-consumed with these naturally concomitant phytochemicals. The present review highlights that more research aimed at understanding the effects of these compounds is needed and, more importantly, the synergistic relationship that they may have with caffeine.

The value of added feed enzymes (FE) in promoting growth and efficiency of nutrient utilisation is well recognised in single-stomached animal production. However, the effects of FE on the microbiome of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are largely unrecognised. A critical role in host nutrition, health, performance and quality of the products produced is played by the intestinal microbiota. FE can make an impact on GIT microbial ecology by reducing undigested substrates and anti-nutritive factors and producing oligosaccharides in situ from dietary NSP with potential prebiotic effects. Investigations with molecular microbiology techniques have demonstrated FE-mediated responses on energy utilisation in broiler chickens that were associated with certain clusters of GIT bacteria. Furthermore, investigations using specific enteric pathogen challenge models have demonstrated the efficacy of FE in modulating gut health. Because FE probably change the substrate characteristics along the GIT, subsequent microbiota responses will vary according to the populations present at the time of administration and their reaction to such changes. Therefore, the microbiota responses to FE administration, rather than being absolute, are a continuum or a population of responses. However, recognition that FE can make an impact on the gut microbiota and thus gut health will probably stimulate development of FE capable of modulating gut microbiota to the benefit of host health under specific production conditions. The present review brings to light opportunities and challenges for the role of major FE (carbohydrases and phytase) on the gut health of poultry and swine species with a specific focus on the impact on GIT microbiota.