Sports Food
Providing athletes with nutritional products designed to meet their needs.
Sports & Specialised Food in Europe
Sports and physical activity
represent a way of life for millions of Europeans, both on a professional or amateur level.
45%
of Europeans practice intense physical activity at least once a week*.
* According to the Special Eurobarometer 412 – Sports and Physical Activity, March 2014
Specially-formulated
products that ensure an appropriate and effective supply of fluid and nutrients can play a useful role in helping athletes to meet their nutritional needs.
Why Sports Food?
Sports and other physical activities may push the body to extreme conditions, and sportsmen and athletes have very specific nutritional needs.
Proper nutrition is critical to prepare for, maintain and recover from high-level sporting performance.
From elite professional athletes to dedicated amateurs, millions of people across the continent consume sports foods and drinks (also called foods for intense muscular effort) to provide the nutrients and fluids they need as they play competitive sport or are involved in other intense muscular effort.
What we do
SNE is a partner to the European Week of Sport, an initiative to promote participation in sport and physical activity among European citizens. Through this partnership, SNE confirms its commitment to dialogue and cooperation between policy makers and the sport sector in order to inspire people to do more sport and physical activity.
European Week of Sport 2020 | Be Active, Get Involved | 23-30 September 2020 | Europe
SNE members produce sports foods which are specifically designed and formulated to meet the expenditure of intense muscular effort and can improve exercise performance capacity.
Our scientifically designed sports foods can help prepare athletes for exercise, improve the efficiency of exercise, and enhance recovery from exercise.
They can also help athletes in certain circumstances to tolerate heavier training to a greater degree; by helping them recover faster or helping them to stay injury-free and healthy during intense training.
Feeding intense muscular efforts in complement of a varied and balanced diet
Scientifically designed
Scientifically designed to feed intense muscular efforts, improve athletic performance and ensure recovery after performance.
To guarantee
To guarantee the absence of doping substances in foods for sportspeople.
Differ dramatically
Differ dramatically in their composition and usage from energy drinks, which are softdrinks intended to boost mental energy by the use of stimulants. Energy drinks are not suitable for maintaining or restoring hydration and sodium status, which are key needs of sportspeople.
Our Products
Sports foods are specifically formulated for and marketed to athletes, helping them to ensure an appropriate supply of fluids and nutrients which help the body prepare for, maintain and recover from intense physical performance. They can be divided into four different categories:
- Carbohydrate-rich energy food products: products high in glycemic carbohydrates essential before, during and after exercise for providing energy and refuelling glycogen storage.
- Carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions: drinks providing carbohydrates as the major energy source and effective in maintaining or restoring hydration status.
- Protein and protein components: high protein and essential amino acids products ensuring endogenous synthesis of proteins, muscle maintenance/gain, and glycogen synthesis when combined with carbohydrates.
- Enriched foods with supplements such as caffeine or creatine: some dietary ergogenic aids improve exercise performance capacity and/or enhance training adaptations or allow an individual in certain circumstances to tolerate heavier training to a greater degree by helping recover faster or helping to stay injury-free and/or healthy during intense training.
Commitment to the highest quality and safety standards
SNE advocates for the development of Good Manufacturing Practices, highlighting specific basic requirements and principles linked to the manufacturing of sports food.
SNE members support the ongoing CEN work aiming at developing a EU-wide standard on doping substances in sports food and food supplements. The future standard will ensure a European referential of protection for sportspeople in Europe.
SNE is observer organisation to this CEN work.
The specificities of sports foods are clearly indicated on product labels and consumers have access to adequate
and clear information about the intended use of these products.