Protein powder contamination?

[Joseph_Lavelle]

Protein Powder Study Infographic - Clean Label Project

I don’t use protein powder anymore but I’ve already eaten 10 people’s lifetime portion.

[LaraPo]

Probably the same problem with collagen peptides.

[blsm]

Thanks Joseph. That’s really terrible news. I’ve been doing some experimenting lately with organic rice protein and was kind of enjoying it. I’m going to probably have to scrap that one.

[KarlT]

Whey protein much less likely to have these contaminants and most brands are safe.

[Joseph_Lavelle]

Consumer labs is a good source for quality assessments. I am usually a member but not right now.

[JuanDaw]

If you just want protein, try brewer’s yeast. For men, because brewer’s yeast may affect testosterone, alternative will be nutritional yeast, made from cane sugar, or beet sugar, not made from hops. Nutritional yeast is 50% protein. It has the added benefit of having high RNA content, for those who still believe in the No Aging diet of Benjamin Frank.

Nutritional yeast has the added benefit of having great umami taste.

Not recommended for those taking MAOIs. Yeast may have more tyramine than aged cheese.

[blsm]

Thanks @JuanDaw, I do have some of that in the cupboard. I’ve been making a homemade protein bar with nutritional yeast as one of the ingredients to take for something to hold me over during long shifts at work.

[JuanDaw]

Try nutritional yeast, mixed with EVOO, and use it as a spread on bread.

[NakedMoleRat]

Thanks for bring this up. We should all be concerned about contamination in our foods, but I’m not sure how much this really tells us. Almost all foods have heavy metal contamination as it is in the dirt and oceans and works its way through the food chain. The infographic does not really state what the levels are. I did find this additional information here https://cleanlabelproject.org/blog-post/new-study-of-protein-powders-from-clean-label-project-finds-elevated-levels-of-heavy-metals-and-bpa-in-53-leading-brands/
which states:

“In addition to lead, the plant-based protein powders contained mercury, cadmium and arsenic, in several cases above health-based guidelines.”
Which means most of them are considered safe for heavy metals

And this about BPA:
“Testing further revealed that approximately 10% of whey-based protein powders contained lead levels above health guidelines. However, none of the egg-based protein powders contained lead. The study also found that 28 out of 134 of the protein powders contained twice the regulatory limit (3 micrograms) of BPA and one product had 79.9 micrograms of BPA – in just one serving. Other protein powders tested completely free of BPA.”

I suppose if you wanted to find which ones are BPA free one would have to subscribe to their service.
It appears they have also tested collagen powders

The other instance where the organic option is generally worse for heavy metals is chocolate. Have a look at this very comprehensive table if you eat a lot of chocolate: https://www.asyousow.org/environmental-health/toxic-enforcement/toxic-chocolate#chocolate-tables

[RapAdmin]

Joseph,

I don’t think that infographic on protein powders has any legitimacy… all it says is “detectable” levels of heavy metals were detected. That means absolutely nothing. What matters is the ppm, or ppb (parts per million or parts per billion) that were detected.

Just saying that heavy metals were “detected” is just asinine and is designed to scare people. It would be a useful infographic if they said what percent exceeded GMP guidelines, or something meaningful like that.

That infographic is just clickbait.

heavy metals are in everything, but what matters is the actual level. There are many regulations around the world on this, for example:

Cadmium

Examples for maximum Cd levels according to the new Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1323 (in ppm wet weight; not exhaustive list):

• Fresh herbs: max. 0,20 ppm
• Oilseeds (the maximum levels do not apply to nuts or oilseeds for oil refining, provided that the remaining pressed nuts or oilseeds are not placed on the market as food), like:

• Peanuts and soy beans: max. 0,20 ppm
• Linseed and sunflower seed: max. 0,50 ppm

• Food supplements: max. 1,0 ppm

Lead

Examples for maximum Pb levels according to the new Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1317 (in ppm wet weight; not exhaustive list):

• Wild fungi, fresh turmeric and fresh ginger: max. 0,80 ppm
• Food supplements: max. 3,0 ppm
• Honey: max. 0,10 ppm
• Dried spices:

• Fruit spices: max. 0,60 ppm
• Root and rhizome spices: max. 1,50 ppm
• Bark spices: max. 2,0 ppm
• Bud spices and flower pistil spices: max. 1,0 ppm
• Seed spices: max. 0,90 ppm

Pharmacopoeial Requirements for Herbal Drugs and Extracts

In the EU, herbal drugs, extracts, essential oils, etc. used in medicinal products must comply with the requirements of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.). The Ph. Eur. monographs “Herbal Drugs” & “Herbal Drug Extracts” provide the following limits for Cd and Pb:

Dried Herbal Drugs:
Heavy metals (Ph. Eur. 2.4.27). Unless otherwise stated in an individual monograph or unless otherwise justified and authorized:

• Cd: max. 1,0 ppm
• Pb: max. 5,0 ppm

Source: New Limits for Heavy Metals in Food Supplements - ECA Academy

[Joseph_Lavelle]

You are probably right but you can’t deny that protein powders are processed foods. It’s hard to know what you are eating. I’ve dropped protein powders in favor of real food. I used to think of protein powder as pure health in a plastic bottle. I ate a lot of it over the years.

[RapAdmin]

I’m not saying I’m a proponent of these powders, I don’t have an informed opinion on that - just saying that if the group creating the infographic is going to criticize something, do it with accuracy, and these folks who created that infographic don’t have the details to make it helpful.

[Joseph_Lavelle]

@RapAdmin So that I can learn the rules of your board, how is this information that I shared different from the information sharing and discussion about heavy metals in chocolate and cacao powders? From my perspective, I wasn’t criticizing anything; I was just sharing information that I found that I thought would be interesting given the interest people here had in the cacao discussion.

[CTStan]

My sense was that your shared information was interesting and led to discussions of value.

Maybe I missed something, but it was evident to me that RapAdmin was not referring to you in his admonishment but rather he was criticizing the detail and accuracy of the study.

[AnUser]

It’s certainly on-topic to criticize the infographic and see it as an opportunity to update your belief about protein powder. “Detectable levels” isn’t useful evidence. Just like Prop 65 warnings.

[RapAdmin]

@Joseph_Lavelle

how is this information that I shared different from the information sharing

Sorry - I reworded that last post. I’m not criticising you - I’m criticizing the group that made the info graphic. Its too vague (without sources) to allow us to have any confidence in it. The headline for the infographic has all this scary information - (70% detecable levels of lead…), but thats not really relevant for our health. (the “detectable” part)… I think what matters is the absolute amount, and whether they exceed scientifically validated limits that good reference groups that suggests limits based on research studies.

I’m not sure what the right cutoff points are for each heavy metal in food and supplements - but whatever it is, its not just “detectable”. I mean every developed country has recommended heavy metal levels for public water systems - so they are “detectable” in virtually everything we eat and drink. The issue is the level:

Source: Toxic Heavy Metals You Should Check For in Your Water | Torrent Laboratory

[NakedMoleRat]

Others have reached a similar conclusion as we have here, Clean Label Project is “junk science”

Another Dirty Trick from the Clean Label Project

Clean Label Project’s Protein Powder Report Overlooks Basic Scientific Principles

This post by Joseph is useful in that it reminds us that contaminates do differ between products and all food is suspect for contamination.

[Joseph_Lavelle]

Got it. No problem. Sorry to contribute to the distribution of junk science. In my past use of protein powder, I got more and more irritated by the many ingredients included beyond protein…sugars, low value amino acids, etc. I had resorted to only using Naked Protein for their minimal ingredient list. The “heavy metal” headline sounded like just the sort of thing that could be true depending on the brand.

[KarlT]

Unless you’re really picky, it’s not hard to find good protein powder. Was using “Build” and now trying “Jocko”. Not much in them other than protein and flavoring. Not many calories. I’m sure there are plenty of others.

[Joseph_Lavelle]

Ingredients for Orgain plant protein I used to get at Costco.