“Lack of Evidence” Sports Nutrition Products Work Says BMJ, GSK Responds

The team at Oxford University examined 431 claims in 104 sport product adverts and found a "worrying" lack of high-quality research, calling for better studies to help inform consumers. In response to the documentary GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) released a statement: “[We are a] company dedicated to healthcare and we approach all claims about our products with the highest scientific rigor."

20 Apr 2012 --- A joint investigation by the British Medical Journal, Oxford University and the BBC’s investigative journalism programme Panorama suggests that many sports nutrition product companies can offer only flimsy evidence as to the efficacy of their products.

The team at Oxford University examined 431 claims in 104 sport product adverts and found a "worrying" lack of high-quality research, calling for better studies to help inform consumers.

Dr Heneghan and his team asked manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for details of the science behind their claims (for Lucozade and Maxinutrition) and were given what he said scientists call a "data dump" - 40 years' worth of Lucozade sports research which included 176 studies.

Dr Heneghan said the mountain of data included 101 trials that the Oxford team were able to examine before concluding: "In this case, the quality of the evidence is poor, the size of the effect is often minuscule and it certainly doesn't apply to the population at large who are buying these products.

"Basically, when you look at the evidence in the general population, it does not say that exercise is improved [or that] performance is improved by carbohydrate drinks."

The report published on the BMJ website by Investigations Editor, Deborah Cohen, states that: “companies have sponsored scientists, who have gone on to develop a whole area of science dedicated to hydration.”

“These same scientists advise influential sports medicine organizations, which have developed guidelines that have filtered down to everyday health advice. These guidelines have influenced the European Food Safety Authority, the EU agency that provides independent advice on the evidence underpinning health claims relating to food and drink. And they have spread fear about the dangers of dehydration.”

In response to the documentary GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) released a statement: “[We are a] company dedicated to healthcare and we approach all claims about our products with the highest scientific rigor."

“Lucozade Sport and the Maxinutrition range have become leading sports nutrition products and play a valued role in the active lives of millions of people in the UK. Consumers trust their quality, the science behind our claims and the benefits they feel when they use them.”

“The evidence supporting the performance benefits of carbohydrate-electrolyte drinks such as Lucozade Sport is strong and has been independently studied and verified by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Lucozade Sport is designed for adults who train and take part in sport and other physical exercise. It is formulated to help replace salts and minerals lost through sweating and includes a mix of different carbohydrates, the levels of which are designed to replenish our fuel reserves during and after exercise.

"These sugars are not included to sweeten or improve the drink’s taste. Far from being an excessive amount, there is actually much less sugar in Lucozade Sport than many soft drinks and less than many fruit juices.

“We take our responsibilities to consumers very seriously. All our marketing is focused on encouraging participation in sport and supporting those who exercise.” 

Rob Child, a sports nutrition consultant, believes that the BMJ study was not wide-ranging enough: “If they had searched scientific databases they would have increased the number of relevant scientific studies to review from just 176 to many thousand.”

“Without reviewing all the relevant literature it is totally inappropriate for Cohen and coworkers to claim “this absence of high quality evidence is ‘worrying’.”

Child does concede that more research is needed to work out which sports nutrition products qualify for EFSA creatine and protein claims: “there should be genuine concern by consumers, food regulators and industry that supplements can carry EFSA compliant health claims but cannot deliver the claimed effects.”