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Some protein powders, shakes contain high lead levels: Report

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Downtown1984

Home of the 150 pounder!
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SB Labs
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A new report out shows that some popular protein powders and shakes on the market contain unsafe levels of lead and other metals.

In findings published by Consumer Reports, the team analyzed 23 protein powders and ready-to-drink shakes and found that more than two-thirds of the products contained more lead in a single serving contained more lead than experts say is safe to consume in a day, some by more than 10 times.

The affected products CR advises consumers to look out for or limit your usage of are:

Naked Nutrition’s Vegan Mass Gainer powder
Huel’s Black Edition protein powder
Garden of Life’s Sport Organic Plant-Based Protein
Momentous 100% Plant Protein
MuscleMeds Carnivor Mass
Optimum Nutrition’s Serious Mass powder
Jocko Fuel’s Mölk Protein Shake
Vega’s Premium Sport Plant-Based Protein
Quest Protein Shake
Orgain’s Organic Plant-Based Protein Powder
Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Protein Shake
Equip Foods Prime Protein powder
PlantFusion’s Complete Protein powder
Ensure’s Plant-Based Protein Nutrition Shake
Muscle Milk’s Pro Advanced Nutrition Protein Shake
KOS Organic Superfood Plant Protein powder
The publication’s 2010 study found that 15 brands of protein powders and shakes contained high levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and/or mercury, with CR’s food safety experts suggesting the prevalence of lead and other metals in products is more widespread.
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There's more information in the article at the link.
 
FearsomeCOR said:
What if be curious to see though, is is this more than what consume through whole foods?
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He mentioned some were 10 times the "safe" limit. I'd be interested in the elimination rates if you tested high and what the effects would be.
 
OlePhart said:
He mentioned some were 10 times the "safe" limit. I'd be interested in the elimination rates if you tested high and what the effects would be.
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I saw that as well, but I’m not sure if testing for heavy metals is a regular practice in the food industry honestly so I’m unsure what’s TRULY the norm in terms of consumption tbh.

If it was too high it’d result in poisoning of the respective heavy metal (think like mercury poisoning).
 
FearsomeCOR said:
I saw that as well, but I’m not sure if testing for heavy metals is a regular practice in the food industry honestly so I’m unsure what’s TRULY the norm in terms of consumption tbh.

If it was too high it’d result in poisoning of the respective heavy metal (think like mercury poisoning).
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A lot of questions and speculation but if this thing snowballs I'm sure it would make some companies have to come to call. Prove it wrong and it's defamation. Prove it right and it's class action. Bad news for somebody either way.
 
SB Labs
Interesting to me that the article says the plant based ones were the worst...

"The plant-based powders CR tested had the worst lead levels, at least nine times more on average, than dairy and beef-based powders. Two of them have so much that experts suggest not using them at all."
 
OlePhart said:
I didn't even look at that. I'll put my dunce cap on and go back to my corner now. 🫏🫩🤪
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No need for that, they're new tests vs the 2010 tests.

Consumer Reports Link

“It’s concerning that these results are even worse than the last time we tested,” said Tunde Akinleye, the CR food safety researcher who led the testing project. This time, in addition to the average level of lead being higher than what we found 15 years ago, there were also fewer products with undetectable amounts of it. The outliers also packed a heavier punch. Naked Nutrition’s Vegan Mass Gainer powder, the product with the highest lead levels, had nearly twice as much lead per serving as the worst product we analyzed in 2010.
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FML. 15-year-old single study w/ no link or citations to actual study. "Newsnation." lol

Yeah...
 
Prior to publication, CR contacted the manufacturers of all 23 products we tested and shared with them our results and methodology. Seven companies did not respond to our requests for comment: BSN, Dymatize, Jocko Fuel, Muscle Milk, Owyn, PlantFusion, and Transparent Labs. Optimum Nutrition declined to comment, and Huel did not respond to questions about the amount of cadmium found in its product.

Of those that responded, many say that lead is a naturally occurring element that is difficult to avoid, particularly in plant-based products. Eight companies—Equip Foods, Garden of Life, KOS, Momentous, Muscle Meds, Muscle Tech, Orgain, and Vega—say they test both their ingredients and finished products for heavy metals.

A spokesperson for Huel says that its ingredients undergo “rigorous testing” and that the company is “confident in the current formulation and safety of the products, which is well within the levels set out by NSF.” The National Sanitation Foundation is a nonprofit public health organization that evaluates dietary supplements against specific standards set by the group, which are described below.

Naked Nutrition sources its ingredients from “select suppliers” that provide documentation attesting that they were checked for heavy metals, says James Clark, chief marketing officer. “We take our customers’ health very seriously,” he says, noting that Naked Nutrition has requested a third-party test of its Mass Gainer powder in response to CR’s findings.

John Koval, a spokesperson for Abbott, which makes Ensure, says that the lead levels CR found in its shakes are low for a product made with plant protein and that “consumers can be assured the product is safe.” A spokesperson for Quest says that the levels of lead CR detected in its products are “evidence that our robust food safety programs are working effectively.”
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That's interesting.
 
Meetketchup said:
FML. 15-year-old single study w/ no link or citations to actual study. "Newsnation." lol

Yeah...
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Let me spoon feed you, coach. It's the second sentence in the article. If you click on the highlighted link "Consumer Reports" it'll take you to what you seek.
In findings published by Consumer Reports,
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Downtown1984 said:
Let me spoon feed you, coach. It's the second sentence in the article. If you click on the highlighted link "Consumer Reports" it'll take you to what you seek.
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To be fair, your snippet is a poorly written summary of a larger report. It's easy to get the wrong impression, the the only "dates" are new and 2010.
Still a concerning report and not sure how this shit is permitted. Expect a lot more of it now that there are fewer and fewer persons to test shit on top of relaxed regulations. But is what the people what so...
 
SB Labs
Learningtopump said:
I did not, ohh I wasn't the wize ass you were referring to...
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I'm just busting his balls, but there are many foods with high levels such as root vegetables (yes that means potatoes guys), fruits, spices, rice, fish, etc. Pretty much anything that comes from soil. Also, dozens of things we come in contact with every day contain lead that leech off.

Just sayin'
 
OlePhart said:
I used to use ON's stuff quite a bit. That's not cool at all.
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That’s why I switched from ON GOLD STANDARD WHEY to SYNTHA 6 EDGE and SYNTHA 6 REGULAR.
I drank 5-7 ON shakes a day from 2007-2021. I felt poisoned all the time at the end in 2021. I got paranoid and switched.
 
JJB1 said:
That’s why I switched from ON GOLD STANDARD WHEY to SYNTHA 6 EDGE and SYNTHA 6 REGULAR.
I drank 5-7 ON shakes a day from 2007-2021. I felt poisoned all the time at the end in 2021. I got paranoid and switched.
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Off topic, but did you have your surgery?
 
Downtown1984 said:
Off topic, but did you have your surgery?
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At my pre-op I told my spine surgeon both feet are completely numb and my legs collapse without warning since seeing him 3 months prior. He said that shouldn’t be happening, and is completely unrelated to the surgery he was going to perform. He took another look at my MRI and said he can’t believe he missed it before. I have an abnormal bend to my spine. He said his surgery would have increased my pain. He sent me to an abnormal spine specialist and a neurologist. The abnormal spine specialist listed a dozen things wrong with my spine. He said surgery has a 65% chance of reducing my pain by 50% but it won’t help me walk. He said let’s see what the neurologist finds before we do the surgery. The neurologist did a DNA/genetics test. I’m waiting for the results. His stabbed me 20 times in my legs and another 20 times in my upper body. He electro shocked the piss out of me everywhere. Once my insurance approves a biopsy they’ll cut a piece of meat out of my leg. He said it’s very odd that I’ve lost all of my strength and muscle size everywhere so quickly. He said answers will take months.
The surgery sounds like a bad idea to me if it won’t help me walk. I can handle the pain. I don't need a surgery with a 6 month recovery that only possibly may reduce pain in half at best.
I stopped all Anabolics 14 1/2 weeks ago. My testosterone is 9! Normal is 250-1,100.
My estrogen is 5! Totally crashed!
IGF1 is in the 70’s.
No LH or FSH!
The good news is my pain is lessening on its own and I’m walking a little better. I use a walker all hunched over no problem.
I hope the neurologist figures out why both feet are numb. For some reason AAS causes inflammation around my spine. My spine has almost no disc space so any inflammation causes pain. Seven years ago I had this flair up. I stopped all AAS and after 9 months, and I was great! I went back on HRT. But stupid me always ups the dose. After 3 years of getting back in shape and upping the dose slowly to 1.3 grams, plus 9ius HGH, the pain started up again. Hopefully, being off AAS for 9 months again will allow me to walk like a normal person. Then, I’ll go on real HRT. If not, then I’ll go on true HRT and accept using the walker or a wheelchair.
I believe God is trying to teach me new things: humility, empathy, putting less emphasis on the physical and more on the spiritual. 👍
 
Seems most of the ones with high levels also have the biggest serving size. So i tend to think the fillers especially with the plant protein may be the issue.
 
Your blood levels look like background levels from just living.
 
OlePhart said:
I just had to go to Walmart and get it. No waiting on whatever carrier. Good protein and convenient. Or so I thought. 🤷
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Did you use " The gold standard" ?
I remember buying 10# bags of the stuff.
Like religiously for at LEAST 10 yrs...lol
Now the damn Nutricost on Amazon is some of the best
and cleanest protein on the market.
 
Bolan said:
Did you use " The gold standard" ?
I remember buying 10# bags of the stuff.
Like religiously for at LEAST 10 yrs...lol
Now the damn Nutricost on Amazon is some of the best
and cleanest protein on the market.
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Yep. Gold. Nutricost all the way now. The grass fed whey isolate and the casein. 👍
 

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