A glance at … dietary emulsifiers, the human intestinal mucus and microbiome, and dietary fiber

[...]dietary emulsifiers interact with the multilayered endogenous mucus secretions that coat the luminal surfaces of the intestinal tract and may compromise the ability of human mucus to prevent contact between microorganisms and intestinal epithelial cells. Because emulsifiers have become ubiquitous ingredients in virtually all processed foods and beverages, including many that claim to be "organic," concern that the coinciding increases in emulsifier consumption, chronic intestinal inflammation, and the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease may be causally associated is drawing attention outside of the processed food and beverage industries. The composition of the microbiota determines, in part, the level of resistance to specific infections and the susceptibility to specific inflammatory diseases of the intestinal tract [33].\n Consistent with these reports, children diagnosed with IBD exhibit reductions in goblet cell density, hypoglycosylation of the intestinal mucus, and thinning of the inner mucus layer [87].