Spring Energy false nutritional info?

Spring energy: real food ingredients for a real bonk.

Okay I'll bite. I'm only commenting once on this thread though so don't expect any follow up questions to be answered.

First off, I'm certainly not a mod on here and never have been (nor would want to be). You can believe me or not....I don't really care but that's the truth.

Now for Spring:. This reddit post as well as the "food dehydrator lab guy" have been suggesting that the Awesome Sauce flavor is low on carbs/calorie count.

I called them both out in a Twitter (X) video today. The diabetic has removed their post (yesterday actually I believe) as they realized that this was probably not an "accurate scientific experiment" which I agree. I explained in my video that fiber content in the product influences insulin response and timing to carbs/sugar. There appear to be lots of variables involved there that are not controlled for in that story.

The other reddit thread is about how someone dehydrated the product and it got down to about 15 grams. Then of course since it's basically all carbs with a few grams of protein multiplied by 4 for a total calorie count of 60. That's all good as of course 4kcal/gram is the right value for carbs.

My argument is that that is probably way too low. 60 calories in total for an Awesome Sauce pack (that is bigger than a Canaberry flavor) and has a calorie dense ingredient like Maple Syrup?!l

I'm not sure where he could have gone wrong exactly, but without a calorimeter measurement confirmation as well this appears to be also the result of a lack of controls/process imo.

So am I wrong? Maybe. I don't have control over what Spring Energy does in their lab. There is natural variation between some natural ingredient products. And Yes the "Canaberry" I helped taste test (and obviously market)and it's a play on my name, but I'm not involved in the inter-workings of production.

Am I biased? Of course! Spring Energy is a long term and supportive sponsor of mine.

I do think the products are very healthy and full of high quality ingredients. Vitamins and nutrients from natural, wholesome real foods.

#endrant

What video? You mean the one you deleted that made you look like a complete ass? Talking very condescending all the while you spread misinformation throughout it? Yeah great video man. You got them there. LOL

Why did you delete it? Surely it wasn’t from all the hate in the comments. Mr Cornell it’s okay to admit you bit off more than you can chew on this topic!

Side note: “…if you strip the H2O molecules off of the carbohydrate...”

Appreciate you responding.

Wouldn’t fiber in the product reduce calories further? That explanation might be applicable to the diabetic’s assessment, but with respect to dehydrator guy, it only strengthens his argument. I don’t think you need a calorimeter for this sort of thing unless you expect the evaporate to contain calories. That would only be the case if they’re using ingredients not listed on the package - and unusual ones at that. Carbohydrates do not evaporate in a dehydrator, nor does fat, nor does protein. They’re either mistaken/lying about the calories, or mistaken/lying about the ingredients.

I might have a spring energy gel I can test this with. Will post again after dehydrating, if so.

This ladies and gentleman is how you respond without saying anything at all....

What?

Uggg, what a dic$ Sage turned out to be. First the heart problem, blood clot causing deadly vax is “misinformation”, now this. What a sellout.

How many times has he dropped that exact line? nobody gives a f*** you studied at Cornell Sage. It's incredible how he thinks people care

but he does walk a lot of statements back from the original posting of “lies” and this gem “…if you strip the H2O molecules off of the carbohydrate...”. Not doing Cornell and big red proud with that analysis. I think this is as close as we will see to an “oops, my bad.” But where is Spring Energy with an explanation?

Ok I found a gel (Awesome Sauce flavor) and started the experiment. It’s going to take a little while to dehydrate but initial weights below.

weight of gel and packaging = 53g

weight of empty packaging = 2g

weight of glass Pyrex to hold gel contents = 527g

weight of Pyrex and gel contents = 578g

My scale is just a basic food scale with resolution down to 1g, but you can see from the above that it doesn’t look like there are any contents or amounts unaccounted for. 51g is the net wt of the product which all made it to my container. Will post back with the results when product is fully dried

Diesel fuel contains about 100 calories/g and uranium about 20 million/g 🤭

All of it is ridiculous, really.

The nutrition label claims:

1. 54g gel weight

2. 45g of carbs

3. 2g of protein

4. 2g of fibre

5. 180kcal

It’s wrong in so may ways:

1. 45*4+2*4 = 188kcal from carbs and protein, the label contradicts itself.
2. 45+2+2 = 49g of dry mass from carbs, protein and fibre. The water weight (5g in a 54g gel) is so far off compared to any other gel in the market.

Spring Energy are also not certified by the Informed Sport (independent party that batch tests against banned substances), who knows what else is in it.

45 carbs is gross including fiber, so you have to back the fiber out to calculate the calories from the net carbs. So it's 172 kcal from carbs and 8 from protein for a total of 180.

FWIW I strongly doubt there are 180 kcal in the gel and believe the claims are dubious. Just point out which formula you need to use.

News to me, thanks. Still, It’s a bit disingenuous to list total as 45g then as you can’t fuel a run on fibre.

The sooner Spring Energy clarify this, the better. Even if it’s “sorry not sorry we made a mistake”.

Disingenuous isn't really applicable, as this is the FDA labeling requirement for dietary fiber and carbohydrate content. Setting aside all other carbohydrate or caloric claims by Spring Energy, no product packaging can label the product any differently (note: it can get murkier when you look at soluble and insoluble fiber; which AFAIK aren't required to be broken down separately on product labeling - and soluble carbs may be broken down by some people's gut bacteria - but that starts getting really into weeds at a level that's not likely relevant to the broader conversation here)

Again, I doubt Spring Energy's Awesome Sauce has the claims calorie count on its labeling, and I am not defending their claims. Just wanting to point out much of the labeling is federally mandated.

I guess sage doesn't support keeping banned substances out of the sport. Anyway, it's been over a week and complete crickets from Spring Energy (unless I've missed something). Not even a "We take this seriously and are looking into it". Not a great look.

So weird that when Sage is questioned he always goes on the attack instead of admitting he has no idea and he'll follow-up for answers.
I guess that's what you get when you are the world's slowest pro runner.

I don't get why anyone listens to this bozo.

His "#science" posts are an embarrassment - I'm saying this as someone with a STEM PhD who has worked in R&D for almost 3 decades. I see this type of stuff all the time by people who want to look smart but know f*ck all- he's basically copying and pasting stuff from Wikipedia/Reddit/Twitter but doesn't have any depth on the topic whatsoever to realize when he airballs completely. Every legit scientist/engineer I've worked with are aware of their limitations - that's a sign of competence in the field. These "airballs" are the easiest way to spot a fake/phony.

The fact he puts this barf out with his real name and thinks he's some sort of authority is really puzzling.

How does the nutrition work out mathematically? 54g of pure sugar is 54g of carbs and 200 calories, which is pretty much a theoretical upper limit for a 54g gel with no fat or protein.

Take 54g some of the most energy dense foods like maple syrup or honey - the Awesome Sauce claims to actually be more energy dense than either of those despite containing less energy dense-ingredients like yams, lemon juice, presumably some water in the apple juice and apple sauce, etc.

Edit: I just ran a recipe through a generic nutrition calculator with the first 5 ingredients comprising 20% of the overall gel and got 97 calories and 23g carbs. That's the upper limit on how much maple syrup there can be present in the gel. These results are much closer and in-line with the Canaberry flavor. It's a bit smaller at 46g but has a little fat, so the results are similar and pass the preliminary smell test.

Shame on Sage for his reckless and uneducated statement above. I guess it's all about the science until the science dings his pocketbook or requires him to use his brain to perform actual science or math.