The protein guide, which is available to download directly from ESSNA, sets out ten steps to buying protein, and is intended to educate consumers on how to purchase the best quality products that are right for their health and goals.
Dr Adan Carey, chair of ESSNA said the new guide is just one of many resources the European association intends to aim at engaging and educating consumers in the coming months. The news follows the launch of ESSNA’s own dedicated kitemark, which will be used by its members (all of which sign up to a strict code of conduct) to help the public identify products that fully comply with European legislation.
“ESSNA and its members’ main priority has always been the public’s safety and good health,” said Carey. “We need to make sure members of the public are consuming products appropriate for their needs, in the correct way and for the correct reasons.”
He noted that protein accounts for over 70% of sports nutrition products in Western Europe – with sales booming.
“But the reality is that many people still aren’t using the products in the best way possible,” he said. “There is a lack of education in our industry which means that many individuals are purchasing the wrong products, using them incorrectly and therefore not getting the full benefit of products that, used properly, are proven to help people improve recovery, muscular repair and exercise performance.”
Consumer education
The protein guide was developed with the expert input of ESSNA’s member companies, and is the first of many dedicated resources ESSNA intends to launch on how best to use the multitude of different sports nutrition ingredients.
“This booklet is the first step of many, and we very much hope that sports nutrition users across Europe make use of these invaluable resources moving forward,” said Carey – who noted that in addition to making sure that customers are buying the right type of protein ingredients, it is important to help ensure consumers are buying sports nutrition products only from reputable companies
“ESSNA has ambitious plans for the next steps of its consumer education campaign, which will include similar guides for several other sports nutrition ingredients, collaborative partnerships with bodies across European Members States to establish better monitoring and reporting of non-compliant products, and a campaign week pressing for clean sport, to name just a few,” said Carey.