3 ms·

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead

75 points by raybb 1y ago

ck2 1y ago
Government should make them put lead on the RDA label as a negative RDA so at least they'll be forced to test for it in each batch (I'm sure RFKjr will get right on that) Some big brand names in there, "Muscle Milk" is owned by Pepsi ps. "Mass Gainer" was a dumb thing to test but I guess control, it's just maltodextrin (a starch-like sugar)
tyleo 1y ago
I’ve heard that unflavored tend to have less contaminants than flavored. I don’t know if anyone can confirm.
- drum55 1y ago
  Lead tastes sweet, it’s quite pleasant, that’s why it was used in wine.
  - minitech 1y ago
    Not relevant to the flavoring question, since nobody uses lead as a sweetener now.
mfro 1y ago
A lot of discussion in this thread about the findings for Huel (I was concerned because I consume Huel daily): https://www.reddit.com/r/Huel/comments/1o6j62j/consumer_reports_lead_findings_about_huel_black/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Huel/comments/1o6j62j/consumer_repo... Many commentors point out that CR's guideline for daily intake is arbitrary and well under the FDA guideline. I think it would be good to take this with a grain of salt and will be interested to see the response from Huel.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
  There is no good level for lead exposure. It is always bad. If anything, I think the FDA should make their limits more strict. Yet the FDA is slow moving and susceptible to a lot of industry influence that wants no regulation.
  - mfro 1y ago
    I think we can all agree on that, but it still seems like CR's article is a bit reactionary considering it is normal to find some levels of lead in most FDA regulated foodstuffs?
  - dzhiurgis 1y ago
    Looking at Bryan Johnson's videos it seems just about everything is contaminated. I'd speculate we'll need another thousand years for this to change.
    - Analemma_ 1y ago
      Plant-based products still have non-zero contamination because lead is still allowed in things like avgas, so we keep putting more in the environment. In theory, leaded avgas is finally starting to get phased out but this has been an excruciatingly slow process. The good news is that if and when we eliminate lead totally from its remaining uses, we won't have to wait too long to see the benefits. IIRC people's blood lead levels started dropping pretty quickly after we phased out leaded gasoline.
      - Gigachad 1y ago
        How are we going to remove all the existing contamination? Soil lead levels in old residential areas are still high from when leaded gas was in use. To the point where people with chickens or vegetable gardens at home need to be testing for lead.
        dzhiurgis 1y ago
nateb2022 1y ago
> The lead levels in plant-based products were, on average, nine times the amount found in those made with dairy proteins like whey For this, and other reasons, whey will continue to be my protein supplement of choice.
loeg 1y ago
Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675538 Edit: Oh, right, this isn't even the first report on this from CR: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675944 (2010, 2018, 2020, 2024) Worth keeping in mind the baseline -- Americans consume something like 2-5 ug of lead daily, on average, and Europeans consume something like 25-100 ug of lead daily, on average.

75 points by raybb 1y ago

ck2 1y ago

Government should make them put lead on the RDA label as a negative RDA so at least they'll be forced to test for it in each batch (I'm sure RFKjr will get right on that) Some big brand names in there, "Muscle Milk" is owned by Pepsi ps. "Mass Gainer" was a dumb thing to test but I guess control, it's just maltodextrin (a starch-like sugar)

tyleo 1y ago

I’ve heard that unflavored tend to have less contaminants than flavored. I don’t know if anyone can confirm.

drum55 1y ago
Lead tastes sweet, it’s quite pleasant, that’s why it was used in wine.
- minitech 1y ago
  Not relevant to the flavoring question, since nobody uses lead as a sweetener now.

mfro 1y ago

A lot of discussion in this thread about the findings for Huel (I was concerned because I consume Huel daily): https://www.reddit.com/r/Huel/comments/1o6j62j/consumer_reports_lead_findings_about_huel_black/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Huel/comments/1o6j62j/consumer_repo... Many commentors point out that CR's guideline for daily intake is arbitrary and well under the FDA guideline. I think it would be good to take this with a grain of salt and will be interested to see the response from Huel.

0cf8612b2e1e 1y ago
There is no good level for lead exposure. It is always bad. If anything, I think the FDA should make their limits more strict. Yet the FDA is slow moving and susceptible to a lot of industry influence that wants no regulation.
- mfro 1y ago
  I think we can all agree on that, but it still seems like CR's article is a bit reactionary considering it is normal to find some levels of lead in most FDA regulated foodstuffs?
- dzhiurgis 1y ago
  Looking at Bryan Johnson's videos it seems just about everything is contaminated. I'd speculate we'll need another thousand years for this to change.
  - Analemma_ 1y ago
    Plant-based products still have non-zero contamination because lead is still allowed in things like avgas, so we keep putting more in the environment. In theory, leaded avgas is finally starting to get phased out but this has been an excruciatingly slow process. The good news is that if and when we eliminate lead totally from its remaining uses, we won't have to wait too long to see the benefits. IIRC people's blood lead levels started dropping pretty quickly after we phased out leaded gasoline.
    - Gigachad 1y ago
      How are we going to remove all the existing contamination? Soil lead levels in old residential areas are still high from when leaded gas was in use. To the point where people with chickens or vegetable gardens at home need to be testing for lead.
      - dzhiurgis 1y ago

nateb2022 1y ago

> The lead levels in plant-based products were, on average, nine times the amount found in those made with dairy proteins like whey For this, and other reasons, whey will continue to be my protein supplement of choice.

loeg 1y ago

Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675538 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675538 Edit: Oh, right, this isn't even the first report on this from CR: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675944 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42675944 (2010, 2018, 2020, 2024) Worth keeping in mind the baseline -- Americans consume something like 2-5 ug of lead daily, on average, and Europeans consume something like 25-100 ug of lead daily, on average.