The Rotor

I saw an advert at a petrol garage the other day, which was propositioning the advantages of cleaner and more efficient fuel. This took me by surprise, since normally I don’t pay much attention to what I put in the tank other than having one eye on the price indicators that seem to revolve faster than a dime swallowing ‘one-armed bandit’ at the casino. Instead of three cherries, I get a figure with lots of zeros tacked on at the end.

To my mind, one fuel stop is as good as another and the expensive fluid that we slop into our tanks, pretty much comes with the same chemical formula as all the others. The fact that one fuel could actually be cleaner or more efficient – just hadn’t registered.

This got me thinking about the ‘fuel’ that I put in my own ‘tank’. Guilty, as I am of using energy bars and gels in the vain hope that they will somehow eke out that extra mile or gain me that infinitesimal step in speed that would turn me into a world champion. None of this is true of course, but I have grown somewhat accustomed to their use without actually thinking if they are any good, or indeed if the contents are actually advantageous.

For instance, a typical energy gel wrapper may display the following ingredients:

Maltodextrin, Xanthan Gum, Gellan Gum, Acesulfame K, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate.

Now unless you are a sports nutritionist or some kind of food scientist, it is very unlikely that these mean much. They also confirm my suspicion, just like my automobile, that I had readily accepted the makers’ assertions without knowing what I was actually putting in the ‘tank’. Faced with large colourful glossy spreads in your typical cycle magazine, I too had fallen for the statistics and the headlines: super-charge you performance, reduce muscle fatigue, gain advantages over your competitors.

Some of the ingredients are probably of little note; Maltodextrin for instance is formed from starch and likely is the main energy ingredient; Xanthan Gum is a natural sugar produced by fermentation of starch. As you would imagine from the name, this is responsible for turning the ingredients into a gel, otherwise the contents would spill freely down the front of your nice new cycle jersey. More worryingly is the inclusion of Acesulfame K and Sodium Benzoate. The first is an artificial sweetener, no doubt included to make the gooey mess tasteful and to keep the calorie count down. However, apart from the possible bitter aftertaste imparted by this ingredient, it has many critics who have asserted that it may be a carcinogenic – but so far studies have been inconclusive. Sodium Benzoate is used as a preservative to prevent moulding, and strangely (according to WikiPedia) is also used as a fuel in fireworks. That might explain use in an energy gel, although they have never made me go like a rocket.

As long ago as the early 90’s, the food and drinks industry was aware that this ingredient when combined with Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) may form the harmful substance, Benzene. This is not so good since Benzene is a well known carcinogenic. Further study has revealed that Sodium Benzoate on its own may cause damage to DNA. It is no wonder that this ingredient is still on the agenda of some food agencies for re-evaluation since the recommended daily intake may be exceeded by some sections of the population (in soft fizzy drinks).

Typically though, when you start to look into ingredients that have been deemed safe by the food standard agencies, it is like peering into a very murky pool. The food and drink industry has repeatedly argued that any benzene levels found in drinks pose little health risk to consumers. Heat and light seem to play a big part in benzene formation though and in the past, a survey of benzene in drinks found high levels in four brands, which were subsequently removed from sale. Manufacturers and retailers have been prompted to remove additives from food and drinks because of adverse reports and continuous dubiety. For instance, Sainsbury’s embarked on a program to remove almost all artificial colourings, flavourings and benzoate preservatives from self-branded goods by the end of June 2007 and drink company Britvic have taken Sodium Benzoate out of several drinks aimed at children.

Regardless of the science, the most dubious ingredient still appears in many products, including the energy gels that I have been packing into my rear jersey pocket. I think it is time to have a good old think about certain products aimed at runners and cyclists.