Jen Sorensen.

From her website:

Consumer Reports recently made headlines with a new study showing high levels of lead in many protein powders and shakes. The average amount of lead detected had increased from a previous study done 15 years ago. It’s ironic that this particular wellness fad, like many others, may actually be compromising people’s health.

Ultimately, this cartoon is about more than just one scientific finding. If we look at what happened with COVID, or childhood vaccinations, or even climate change or January 6, we can see how easily conventional wisdom gets turned on its head by bad faith actors, especially in a media environment lacking responsible editors.

  • Platypus@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    9·
    8 hours ago

    The CR report is actually very measured in its takeaway from this:

    There’s no reason to panic if you’ve been using any of the products we tested, or if you take protein supplements generally. Many of these powders are fine to have occasionally, and even those with the highest lead levels are far below the concentration needed to cause immediate harm. That said, because most people don’t actually need protein supplements—nutrition experts say the average American already gets plenty—it makes sense to ask whether these products are worth the added exposure.

    It’s not that protein shakes will give you immediate lead poisoning; rather, the level of exposure is just high enough that chugging these things daily might be a problem, especially considering the negligible benefit. IMO this is a report that provides sane and relevant health advice for a very popular product.

    • turdas@suppo.fi
      3·
      6 hours ago

      My biggest issue with it is actually this part from a paragraph where they bemoan the fact that food safety authorities are doing nothing about this issue:

      The maximum amount of lead permitted in food supplements according to the EFSA is 3,000 ppb (3 mg/kg), a level that CR’s food safety experts say is far too high to be health protective.

      This is technically true and 3 mg/kg is indeed insanely high and obviously intended for like vitamin pills and such with serving sizes measured in single-digit grams. However, the EFSA has a ton of lead-related regulations, and not all shake powders fall under the food supplements category. I do not have any statistics at hand of how common it is for protein powders to label themselves as food supplements rather than as some kind of composite dish, but I do have one anecdote.

      After I read that CR article I checked what the situation was for my shake powder of choice (Queal, a meal replacement product rather than a protein powder per se), and it is not considered a food supplement. Instead it’s some kind of composite food product (I quote: 2106.9098.49 (Generic Miscellaneous edible preparations Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included)), which under EFSA rules has to test both the raw ingredients as well as the final product, and the final product basically isn’t permitted to introduce extra lead that wasn’t there in the raw ingredients, though the actual regulation is quite complicated in this regard.