Article is here: Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports
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I understand all lead is bad, I even dealt with high* lead in my infant now toddler and actually ended up moving (partially) because of it. But this article is missing some information, and as I can see from my newsfeed now did its job of causing panic and articles about it.
Particularly this stood out to me: “A single serving of these protein powders contained between 1,200 and 1,600 percent of CR’s level of concern for lead, which is 0.5 micrograms per day.”
Saying it was the CR level of concern without referencing WHO, CDC/FDA one of those groups seems strange. They specifically brought in health organization numbers for cadmium, so why not present them as part of your data for the lead part?
From what I can find the levels are 2.2 for a child, 8.8 for an adult female of child bearing age and I think it was 12.5 for male/general population in the US (the 12.5 was more vague). This is with a 10x factor of safety so really its more like 22 88 and 125.
Now saying 1200% or 1600% is also just to get people to clutch pearls and not do math.
1600% is just 16x, and sure 16 still isn’t a low number but they wrote it how they did to make it seem worse than it is. 16x.5 is 8, lets go with they said more and go up to 8.5. So the level of the worst product on their list is still below what the actual health organizations say is acceptable level for a female who might be pregnant.
Again I’m not saying we shouldn’t be concerned with lead in things, but this doesn’t actually seem to be as crazy as they are making it out to be.
*She was high because the limit was changed shortly before she was born. Blanking on exacts but if ok was 6 in 2019 it was 4.5 in 2020 and she was 4.6. So if she was tested in 2019 they wouldn’t even have had to tell us she was high and just said ok everything is fine. Glad that the avgs are dropping which changes the standard but that stress probably took years off my partners life.
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Great article.
Whey protein powder for the win!
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I was having some stomach issues, so decided to try pea protein. Rather than buy from my trusted source that is expensive because they do a lot of testing, I bought one on Amazon just to see how it treated my stomach. Unfortunately, I chose Naked brand thinking it was a healthy option from the marketing 
Lesson learned!
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Glad to see Optimum Nutrition is still Old Faithful.
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My wife sent me some screenshots of CR’s Instragram post about this. What also got my attention, and made me additionally question the whole thing, was this point:
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Ah the joy of the US having a virtually unregulated supplement industry. I’ve been using Anthony’s Pea Powder to bump things up during the day, but it really does look like one of those “You get what you pay for” situations. Now Nutrition’s stuff costs more, but the purity is better?
I think if you’re here on the TR forum, you’re probably not just “average” but woa that average number being 1/3 of my daily target…yikes.
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I think the AACC podcast suggests people who work out more get more protein. 1-1.8g per kg (1 kg is approx 2.2 pounds) is what the pod says. Who knows though.
Yeah, I’m used to seeing numbers for athletes, so this low number for “average” adults kind of shocked me. I’d still imagine “average” adults should focus on more protein per calories consumed, especially as the birthdays increase.
Recommendations are set on the low end, to keep you from having deficiencies, right? Not what hard working athletes need to thrive. I’m trying to get 150g+ per day.
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I’ve been using the Owyn Elite plant based shakes for a while…they’re pretty good, and great to see they’re recommended 1 per day.
Been drinking the same chocolate protein for over 10 years… Still taste just as shit as it always has, but it gets the job done.
I’ll mention that Oat Milk as a fluid has been a positive change to the flavor and texture.
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Maybe find one with a bit more lead to sweeten it up a bit? I heard CR has a list
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Thanks for this context. I generally like CR, but this kind analysis leaves a lot to be desired. Without some solid reasons for making their “level of concern” 6x more stringent that medical guidance for children.
That said from a quick look at the article there are plenty of choices that have much lower levels of lead, and I think calling out a product that has 8 ug of your daily 12.5 ug lead limit in a single serving is valid. Especially when there are a fair number of products in the 1 ug range (ie those under 200% of the CR limit). I don’t have to buy some gold plated protein powder to avoid “unreasonably” high (even if not directly harmful) levels of lead.
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I’ve been using Huel and Huel Black for years pretty much daily post ride and do regular quarterly blood work and haven’t seen any abnormalities and I’ve even done BLL. I think it might be useful to err on the side of caution for people that have other risk conditions probably, but I think their “level of concern” is pretty aggressive. Each person is individual, and should evaluate their risk individually, and should annual blood work at a minimum to make sure that the things they’re doing are right for them.
Agreed from showing you the difference standpoint totally valid. I just really wish they stuck with rating them based on what the actual medical community not some made up standard to get crazy percents.
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Yup - saying that 2 servings of this in one day would put you over the limit is true and useful information. I think this is concerning as it is without their 1600% stuff.