The European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance’s (ESSNA) Vice-Chair Nicholas Morgan has warned that the next 6 months will be critical to the future of the sports nutrition industry, in a speech at the Food Matters Live 2014 conference.
Morgan will highlight that a European Commission report, which is due to be published in the summer of 2015, will determine the future of the regulation of the industry and end a decade-long debate. The report will assess the necessity, if any, of specific legislation for food intended for sportspeople, in particular to ensure the protection of consumers.
Morgan will stress that over the next 6 months it will therefore be crucial for ESSNA, on behalf of the industry, to continue its work with the Commission and other policy-makers to ensure an appropriate assessment of the sector’s regulatory framework, which will have “enormous implications for sports nutrition products and consumers.”
In particular, Morgan will focus on ESSNA’s work to tackle non-compliant sports nutrition products appearing in the EU, arguing that this highlights the responsible industry’s determination to take the initiative itself and stamp out products which may threaten consumer safety.
Nicholas Morgan, Vice-Chair of ESSNA said “We have already met with senior officials at the European Commission and have since maintained an ongoing dialogue with them. A brand new set of Commissioners with priorities we still need to discover brings new challenges, however, and therefore the next few months are extremely significant as we get ever closer to the report’s deadline.”
He continued, “It is important that the necessary adaptations are made within general food law to ensure appropriate regulation for sports nutrition, but we also have to make sure that the subject of specific legislation is closed once and for all by the Commission.
“It is therefore now more crucial than ever that the industry as a whole spends the next six months demonstrating its commitment to responsibility and consumer safety, and highlighting its ability to successfully police itself. Through ESSNA’s non-compliance campaign we have worked tirelessly to demonstrate just that, and we encourage other industry leaders to do the same.”
Morgan’s speech also outlined the current regulatory environment that the industry operates in, the future challenges for the sector, and some of ESSNA’s most important recent successes.
The European Specialist Sports Nutrition Alliance is an alliance of European sports nutrition companies that was formed in December 2003.
Members of the Alliance include Adams Food Ingredients, Aminolabs, Body Temple UK, CLF Distribution, First Milk, Future Nutrition, Iovate Health Sciences, Kinetica, Mass Nutrition Kostexperten, Maxinutrition, myprotein.co.uk, Natrol, NSF, Prometeus, Sci-MX Nutrition, Sports Supplements, Tropicana Health and Fitness, US Nutrition, USN UK, Volac, Weider Germany, NBTY Europe, BodyBuilding.com, Glanbia Performance Nutrition, PhD Nutrition, CytoSport UK, Future Nutrition, Arla Foods Ingredients, Athlete King Sports Nutrition, BULK POWDERS, Grenade, Vitamin Center, High5, DCC Health and Beauty, Healthspark, MP Bio Science, General Nutrition Corporation, Herbs in a Bottle, Scitec Nutrition, Protein World, Kerry, Medix Laboratoires, Fonterra, MANUMIXX.
Associate members of the Alliance include HFMA (The UK Health Food Manufacturers’ Association), Weider Publishing, Fitnessboutique, LGC, Cambridge Commodities, Healthy Inspirations, Nutraveris.
