SportPharma Promax Protein Bar Energy, Endurance Claims Supported - NAD

Nutritional supplement manufacturer SportPharma USA has a "reasonable basis" for claiming its Promax Protein Bar "increases energy" and "enhances athletic performance," the Council of Better Business Bureaus' National Advertising Division concludes in its November NAD Case Reports.

The CBBB division says FDA food regulations do not prohibit truthful "increases energy" claims based solely on a food's caloric content. Furthermore, SportPharma "submitted a substantial amount of published research that demonstrated the replenishment of nutrients during the recovery phase after exercise can speed the anabolic processes involved in growth and recovery."

Balance Bar, a manufacturer of competing protein bars, challenged print and Web site advertising and labeling claims for Promax efficacy and taste superiority. The SportPharma ads were created in-house.

A claim that Promax "increases energy" implies the product has properties or ingredients, other than calories, that act to increase energy, the challenger asserted, contending FDA has indicated such claims in food and nutritional supplements are appropriate only when approved levels of caffeine are added.

Balance Bar cited a July 1992 FDA warning letter targeting a Health Valley Foods product claimed to "Speed up metabolism to help you feel energized." The claim "represents and suggests this product has special benefits in providing 'energy' beyond its caloric contribution," the agency had concluded.

SportPharma, which bases the claim on Promax's caloric content, said FDA objected to the Health Valley Foods claim because it implied the product provided "energy" from a source other than calories.

Agreeing with SportPharma that the Healthy Valley Foods case is dissimilar, NAD says: "Because the claim appears in isolation and does not suggest a source other than calories for the energy boost promised, NAD concluded that consumers are unlikely to take away the message that Promax Bars contain an ingredient other than calories that operates to increase energy."

The challenger also contended SportPharma should be precluded from making "recover faster" and "enhances athletic performance" claims because NAD, in a prior proceeding, prohibited Balance Bar from making such claims. Such statements also constitute "establishment" claims and are unsupported by independent clinical testing, Balance Bar maintained.

SportPharma said the earlier NAD decision does not prohibit nutrition bar advertisers from making "recover faster" claims, and stated its claims are simply general performance claims. NAD agrees, saying SportPharma submitted sufficient evidence to demonstrate a "reasonable basis" for endurance and recovery claims.

Objecting to the claim Promax bars are "packed" with all the branched chain amino acids "you need," Balance Bar said BCAAs are found in ordinary protein sources and the need for specific amino acids varies greatly among individuals.

"Although an excessively high level of branched chain amino acids is not recommended, NAD accepts SportPharma's representation that all three of these branched chain amino acids [leucine, isoleucine and valine] are present in the Promax Bar in sufficient quantity, and in proper balance with each other, to ensure that the product will meet the needs of most healthy individuals including those engaging in physical activity," the ad review division says.

Balance Bar also maintained SportPharma's claim that Promax is "loaded with all the powerful antioxidants your body needs to protect itself" is deceptive because RDAs or minimum daily levels have been established only for the most common antioxidant vitamins. Also, the word "loaded" implies the bar is high in antioxidants, although each bar contains only 25% of the RDA for three antioxidant vitamins, the challenger added. SportPharma defended its use of the claim but said it would not use the statement in future promos.

Although SportPharma met the regulatory criteria for a "loaded with antioxidants" claim, NAD believes "consumers could reasonably interpret this claim to mean Promax Bars contain all of the recognized antioxidants that help to protect the body from the formation of free radicals, when that is not the case." SportPharma's discontinuance of this claim "was both necessary and proper," NAD says.

NAD finds taste tests submitted by SportPharma provided a reasonable basis for superior taste claims for only one of the six protein bar flavors. The advertiser said it will voluntarily discontinue making unqualified "best tasting" claims.

"SportPharma respectfully accepts NAD's decision in its entirety and agrees to fulfill our voluntary decision obligation," the company says.