ESSNA calls for industry unity in the sports nutrition sector

Wednesday 08 June 2011 00:00

Suzane Leser, Vice-chair of the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance (ESSNA) and Nutrition Manager for Lifestyle Ingredients at Volac, whey protein ingredients specialist, outlined at the recent Bridge2Food Sports & Performance Nutrition Conference the current status of impending new EU legislative developments affecting the sports nutrition sector.

As the industry organisation of the specialist sports nutrition sector in Europe, ESSNA’s role is to protect the market to ensure innovation and sustain growth as well as to negotiate and secure appropriate legislation in the interests of companies involved in sports nutrition.

Ms. Leser outlined the background to the draft Sports Foods Directive, policy options and ESSNA’s preferred solutions plus a call to action for companies with a vested interest in this area to join the groundswell of support and become members of ESSNA.

In the EU, sports foods are considered under the ‘Dietetic Foods’ umbrella, which requires these products to be clearly distinguishable from normal foods and intended for specific population groups with particular nutritional requirements, in this case defined as ‘foods intended to meet the expenditure of intense muscular effort, especially for sportsmen.’  Four options are being considered to change the legislation, with ESSNA speaking out in favour of the option which would repeal the ‘Dietetic Foods’ umbrella, keeping the existing legislation on other groups of Dietetic Foods, but regulating sports nutrition products as normal foods.

Ms. Leser concluded by stressing the importance of companies with a vested interest in sports nutrition to join with ESSNA to ensure the best possible outcomes for the industry.  She commented:  “Industry organisations such as ESSNA support businesses by establishing a dialogue with policy makers to protect their market.  At Volac, we are committed to supporting the sports nutrition market and believe in the possibilities that working closely with ESSNA can give us all, to ensure a united and positive front in everyone’s interests.”

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