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Congratulations, but I would hope you broke off the reporting when the startling results BEGAN coming in, like where the challenge drug performs statistically significantly WORSE than the placebo.

It’s understandable. Most of the land in the UK had a degree of lead contamination. This goes straight into the food chain.

i was surprised to learn that bc most protein powders are considered dietary supplements, they basically fall into a regulatory grey area there's no federal limit on the amount of lead they can contain and neither manufacturers nor the FDA have to prove these products are safe before they're sold

I use NorCal pea protein. They do independent testing and have their results on the website. It’s not flavored though, so that could be a downside.

Supplements not being covered by the FDA is so damaging. From unsafe ingredients to grifts like MLM.

I’m sure Ball Sack Face is gonna get right on that after the check from Tylenol clears.

Pea plants absorb lead and other heavy metals from the soil as they grow, which end up in pea protein powder. There are other consumable plants that make great phytoremediators and uptake heavy metals.

🤦

Buyer beware

What about the normal edition of huel?

BLACK EDITION (BECAUSE OF ALL THE LEAD)

nah, he was always like that. always sucked, too.

Now I have to add finding out what lead poisoning (?) symptoms are to my to do list

I "tried" reading through the report, but brain is still recovering from flu. Am I correct or no that the high levels of lead are due to heavy concentration of plant products which themselves have high levels of lead from contaminated soil?

Was any testing done on regular Huel? Curious if it's lower protein content is just as bad or not. :(

Getting Gains and losing weight and IQ points

The market has been so over saturated with protein products that it has become reliably off-putting for me. I avoid them, but only because I’ve done enough research about food from writing food features to know Americans don’t lack protein in their diets.

You tested 23 products.

ONE didn't have inorganic arsenic or lead in? That's insane. I was using Warrior who don't seem to be on there because it was regularly stocked and suited my needs, any news on them? All I can find is they don't release info.

and now today with even more brands added to the Cinnamon recall for lead by the FDA questions for @paris.nyc 1. why wasn't the protein powder recalled by FDA? 2. how is all this lead entering the food chain?

Seriously? Wow

😬😬😬 i drink protein shakes on a fairly regular basis, largely because it's easier than wrangling my brain into doing something more complicated. luckily, it seems that i'm under the weekly max recommended for the brand i use, but now i think i might just switch to yogurt drinks or something...

Hey now we all know that lead is a zero-carb zero calorie sweetener! (istg if any of you gymrats start using lead as a sweetener bc I made a joke I will haunt you even before I die!)

I don’t know if this is a dumb question, but how does it get in there? Is there lead in the manufacturing machinery or something?

The plant protein powders are the ones with the high levels, it’s in the soil so it doesn’t matter whether it’s soy or pea or brown rice

Wow, I can get my daily lead and protein from the same powder? This gonna save money on powdered old painted surfaces.

That appears to be much lower risk than the vegetable proteins

Gymbros leading the way.

Lead in my protein powder?

And our understanding of the "man-o-sphere" comes more starkly into focus...

There is no safe amount of lead

Why, this is just the excuse I need to swap out protein powder for shrimp cocktail. 🍤

How does the lead get into that protein powder?

wow, huh. not that I consume those, but it speaks to why having some federal consumer protection agency monitoring supplements might be a good idea to explore.

Um. That sounds like a huge fuckin deal.

I've been giving my 27 lb 3-year old some 0.8-1.5 scoops of Orgain (which I started taking myself in 2020) nearly every day for the past couple months – I will be stopping IMMEDIATELY.

imagine dealing with roid rage AND lead poisoning!

heavy metal make muscle heavy too.

Any chance of checking Labrada Lean Body?

Is this an America I only problem or has it hit the EU/UK as well?

LEADING protein supplements 🥁

thems the breaks!!

Huh... So you know how the violent crime rate dropped when we took lead out of gasoline?

Very appreciative of this reporting, little sad the kirkland powder wasn't reviewed, and now im wondering the process for getting such a test performed independently.

Paint chips are much tastier, plus they have that satisfying “crunch” to them!

I wish you had done Premier Protein, it's one of the most mainstream brands and is widely available at Costco, Sam's, many grocery stores, unlike many of the brands you did cover.

I wonder where Aldi’s protein powder would rank on this. They have both chocolate and vanilla I’m assuming chocolate would be higher based on what I’m reading in this thread

Wow!

I'd like to know what flavor was tested, the image was of a chocolate flavor and cocoa powder is key ingredient and common source of heavy metals. Entirely probable the non chocolate flavors would test better. (Double rich chocolate is so good tho. Mixes the best of any protein powder I've tried.)

I also was looking for this. Sometimes that is the only thing I can stomach at all. 😮‍💨

Genuinely shocked that they didn’t include it; it’s available at literally every grocery and drug store within 10 minutes‘ drive from my house

You left out which ones have less lead or no lead. Why?

bsky.app/profile/lath... also, pretty annoying that people are reading this misleading report and taking it as license to say "I KNEW everybody that was stronger than me was a lead poisoned moron!"

uh... ok

Based on the research I've done since this came out, it seems to be an issue with where vegan protein comes from, which is mainly peas. The lead is in the soil, which ends up in the peas, and it ends up more concentrated when they separate out the protein from a bunch of peas.

Trust me.

🤣😂🤣

Rigorous testing???

Never been more happy that I've always been too poor to afford shit like that

Saw the Naked Mass on there, is it safe to assume all of their brand is at risk?...any clue what the Naked Pea Protein lead levels/risk were? My Sister uses it a lot and she gifted me a container awhile back that I used a good deal...

Umm, shouldn't protein powders have NO lead?

Fuck

it's good for the soul

🤣

This was really great. Thank you.

Consumer Reports is doing such vital work, I hope to write for y’all one of these days

They are probably real numbers, with worse methodology. Perhaps they use samples from their main factory and not a random factory, maybe its a timing thing, etc. Am I saying that they cherry picked data? No... but I bet they had a good idea of where to get the best numbers before testing.

Leaving this here! Well-researched episode from Maintenance Phase, a podcast that debunks health claims and junk science. Been a while since I listened to it, but I remember that high-protein diets are tied with classism. open.spotify.com/episode/3FGI...

Poisonous food in a for profit healthcare system

I love that the article keeps caveating their findings with "it's only dangerous if used regularly" about a thing the users use multiple times a day, every day. If you're supplementing protein, you're doing it all the time, usually in big doses.

Super informative and important. Explains a hunch I’ve had.

As in they're all full of lead! And creatine!

Because you say stupid shit.

There is no safe level of lead.

Oh shiiiit. The one my partner and I use is on there. Not nearly as bad as the top two… still, I use it when I need to have some kind of meal but eating and cooking feel repulsive (bc mental illness). Or I need to get to work really fast. It’s definitely concerning.

But muh gainz.

Hahaha my dietitian from the hospital literally recommended the Ensure because we thought the dairy was messing with my stomach…. Good lord.

Oh really, that explains everything.

I use Dymatize and Syntha-6, glad to see they are as safe as they claimed. Thanks for investing this, is definitely a product category ripe for fraud.

Excellent reporting!

Thank you for sharing this information with the world. I have passed this along to friends I care about, and a few of them were taking powders mentioned in the report. This matters. Thank you again.

Which brand & shake?

@canadahealthwatch.ca

Q+

Absolutely fantastic article, thank you!! Just FYI, I think the picture next to Optimum Nutrition shakes is incorrect, it's showing the whey powder.

OMG. I use the Orgain! Not daily but years.

Were multiple flavors tested? I have read before about super high levels of metals in chocolate and most protein powder comes in only vanilla or chocolate, so I’d think choc. Protein might be extra high.

This explains this guy:

I was walking through the “health” section of Costco today, looking for an ENORMOUS supply of ibuprofen. The shelves are 70-80% supplements and quackery.

The CDC to recommend a minimum daily lead consumption level, in the near future?

Thank you for alerting consumers to this issue. I have to drink these due to dismotility and did not know about the lead levels. I’ll buy one of the recommended brands.

There are those of us who are specifically told by doctors that we need to try to get x amount of protein per day, and a suplement is a great way to add to this protein intake without adding excess calories. Looks like I'm sticking to whey.

I'm slrry but if this is true you would have called the NAS not write an article on it.

Um. Dang.

I'm about to start my winter workouts - thats 2 scoops - 4 times a day. I'm 58 and have been doing this for over 20 years. I'm not the only one - again tho I can't find any information on Gold Standard (Optimum Nutrition) etc.

No one in fitness has 1 serving! It 2 scoops (2 servings) more than once a day. I can't find a link for protein powders with the results. The brands you state here - are what the fuck brands - brands not used widely

any chance you're also going to report on creatine and collagen peptides? those are the two powders i take.

Thanks for sharing. I signed the petition. The research was terrifying.

Why does EVERYTHING contain lead!!?

I can’t imagine how they could get any more lead exposure than this combination. A perfect storm!

May be outside your field but do you know whether UK standards would also allow this? Or are they stricter?

Does this apply to european protein powders