Nutritional Outlook spoke with Michael McGuffin, president of AHPA, about the inaugural Sports Nutrition Congress, which will take place virtually on October 21. The interview takes a look at how the event will underline why the sports nutrition market continues to be one of the most prominent in the dietary supplements and nutrition market. It also examines how to navigate the market, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and why companies should continue to put their focus on safety, quality, and best practices to ensure longevity. Read the entire interview, here.

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD) will host its first-ever Sports Nutrition Congress on Wednesday, October 21, at 8:00 AM-4:30 PM PDT. The event will take place virtually and will identify opportunities and challenges facing the sports nutrition industry today. The Congress also celebrates the 10th anniversary of AHPA’s Sports Nutrition Committee, which for the past decade has aimed to help promote responsible practices in the sports nutrition market by bringing sports brands, suppliers, and manufacturers together with regulators, legal experts, and more.

Nutritional Outlook spoke with Michael McGuffin, president of AHPA, about how this event will provide direction on how to navigate the sports nutrition market amidst emerging changes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most importantly, the event will underline why this category continues to be one of the most prominent in the dietary supplements and nutrition market, and how companies should continue to put their focus on safety, quality, and best practices to ensure longevity.

Nutritional Outlook: I understand this is the 10th anniversary of AHPA’s Sports Nutrition Committee. Can you discuss what the committee has focused on during its 10 years and why AHPA decided to host this first, inaugural Sports Nutrition Congress?

Michael McGuffin: We founded the Committee essentially because our members asked us to. We had quite a few of our legacy brands that had a footprint in that marketplace, and they felt like there was a need for companies in that part of the trade to have an opportunity to talk with each other to work on issues in common. One of the things we did fairly early on is look at the controversy around quantifying proteins, how to calculate protein. And protein products are still a big part of the sports nutrition marketplace. So, that was one thing we worked on early on and had developed a recommendation to better inform consumers about the amount of protein in their products. So that was one pretty big effort. [...]