UCAN Class Action Says SuperStarch Products Impair Performance

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The UCAN Company, which makes certain sports performance products containing “SuperStarch,” has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the products not only fail to enhance performance as advertised, but also allegedly impair performance.

SuperStarch is a complex carbohydrate used by sports and fitness enthusiasts as a “healthier, more efficient energy source than sugars, caffeine, or high-carb meals,” according to UCAN’s website. SuperStarch allegedly works by stabilizing blood sugar and causing very little reaction from the fat-storage hormone insulin.

Plaintiff Kevin McCann says the following UCAN products are misleadingly advertised:

• Generation UCAN SuperStarch Drink Mix
• Generation UCAN Protein Drink Mix
• UCAN Snack Bars

According to the UCAN class action lawsuit, the defendant claims these products are “powered by a revolutionary, all-natural carbohydrate called ‘SuperStarch,’ which produces ‘sustained energy,’ ‘optimized performance,’ ‘enhanced fat burn’ and ‘speedier recovery,’ all without the harmful and performance-impairing side effects associated with gastrointestinal distress.”

However, laboratory tests and peer-reviewed research cited in the class action lawsuit allegedly show that ingesting the SuperStarch products as recommended before and during exercise actually increases gastrointestinal distress and impairs performance.

McCann says he paid a premium for the UCAN SuperStarch products over other comparable sports and nutrition products that did not advertise they contained a “revolutionary” ingredient that promises “a range of false and substantiated fitness and performance benefits.”

According to the UCAN Superstarch class action lawsuit, McCann would not have purchased the products if he had known they did not perform as advertised–or that the products would actually impair performance.

McCann says the name “SuperStarch” is “an obvious and transparent marketing ploy. SuperStarch is actually hydrothermally modified waxy maize starch (HMS), which has a low glycemic index that attracts many endurance athletes, the SuperStarch class action lawsuit says.

On its website, UCAN links to numerous white papers that support the benefits of HMS. These white papers point to “internal experiments” that support the products’ benefits, but fail to provide adequate information for consumers to properly determine whether the results from these internal experiments are reliable, the SuperStarch class action lawsuit says. There is no indication that the results from the experiments were subjected to a peer-review process or submitted to a reputable journal, McCann alleges.

“In short, the white papers contain many unsubstantiated claims tricked up to look like science,” McCann says in the UCAN class action lawsuit.

In 2016, Florida State University Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine reportedly performed a study in consultation with UCAN to determine the effects of ingestion of HMS before and during exercise. According to the SuperStarch class action lawsuit, this was the first study to determine the effects of HMS on performance when ingested before and during exercise. The study allegedly found there was no increase in performance benefits and that the ingestion of HMS actually impaired performance due to increases in gastrointestinal distress.

McCann filed the SuperStarch class action lawsuit on behalf of a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased the UCAN SuperStarch products. He also seeks to represent an Illinois subclass.

The SuperStarch class action lawsuit alleges violations of state consumer fraud acts, violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, and unjust enrichment.

McCann is represented by Joseph Siprut and Ke Liu of Siprut PC; Nick Suciu III of Barbat Mansour & Suciu PLLC; and by Jason Thompson and Rod Johnston of Sommers Schwartz PC.

The SuperStarch Class Action Lawsuit is Kevin McCann v. The UCAN Company, Case No. 1:18-cv-04769, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Dec. 11, 2018, a class action against the manufacturer of a line of sports bars and drinks that allegedly contain performance enhancing “SuperStarch,” has ended with a settlement.