[Report] 20% Of Protein Powder Products, Incl. Shakeology & Optimum Nutrition, Mislabeled And/Or Contaminated

Muscle milk is laced with arsenic, cadmium, and lead (aka heavy metal). Arctic Zero and Weight Watchers ice cream have up to 68% more calories than labeled. The latest debacle involves a cluster of protein powder products, including big brands like Optimum Nutrition, Dymatize, Shakeology.

Quality tests published by ConsumerLab.com (6.11.2013) found that 5-out-of-27 protein powder products — nearly 20% — were either mislabeled with higher-than-reported, cholesterol, carb, or sugar counts, or contaminated with lead.¹

Impacted products include:²

• Shakeology Greenberry — contaminated with 12.7 mcg of lead/scoop. Keep out of the mouths of children; they’re vulnerable to lead poisoning at just 6 mcg/lead per day.
• Prolab Advanced Essential Whey, Milk Chocolate — had 68% less protein than labeled, coming in at only 7.3 g of protein per scoop — NOT 23 g. It also packed 16 g more carbs and 3.4 g more sugar than claimed.
• Nature’s Plus Spiru-Tein, Vanilla — contained 4.2 g more sugar than labeled (12.2 g, not 8 g), 6.7 g more total carbs, and 26 additional calories — that’s a 50% increase in sugar content; 26% increase in total calories.
• Dymatize Nutrition Elite Casein, Smooth Vanilla — contained 10.2 mg of cholesterol, 1.2 g of sugar per scoop; claimed 0 g of both.
• Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Egg, Rich Chocolate — contained 14.2 mg of cholesterol per scoop; claimed 5 mg. That’s nearly 3x more than labeled.

The Takeaway

While some offences are more egregious than others (i.e. Prolab), this isn’t mindblowing, considering that the FDA doesn’t regulate the supplement industry. More concerning is that the tests only cover 27 products, leaving the majority of the protein universe unvetted by 3rd-party companies.

Your best move: Unless you’re a Prolab Advanced Essential Whey or Shakeology chugger, don’t throw your whey into a bonfire — the majority (70%) of products tested were completely clean, healthy, and consistent with their labeling. BUT, given so much uncertainty, it’s best to eat within the industry that IS regulated as much as possible — REAL FOOD.

For health, performance, and body composition goals, we recommend 1 — maximum of 2 — protein shakes per day.

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References, Notes, Links

1. ConsumerLab.com — Protein Powder Review, 6.11.2013 [↩]
2. The 12 clean-sheet, ConsumerLabs approved products include: Body Fortress Super Advanced Whey Isolate, EAS 100% Whey Protein, GNC AMP Wheybolic Extreme, GNC Pro Performance 100% Whey, Jay Robb Whey Protein, Marked 100% Whey Protein Complex, Muscletech Nitro Tech, Six Star Pro Nutrition Whey Protein, Solgar Whey To Go, Pure Protein Shake (Can), Genisoy Soy Protein Shake, The Biggest Loser Protein Powder, Endurox R4, Marked Mass Gainer, Nature’s Bounty Optimal Solutions, Twinlab Whey Fuel, Atkings Day Break, GNC Total Lean Shake, Metagenics UltraMeal, Met-Rx Engineered Nutrition Meal Replacement, Slim Fast 3-2-1 Plan [↩]

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Bryan DiSanto

Owner & Editor-in-Chief at Lean It UP

Bryan DiSanto is the Owner & Editor-in-Chief of Lean It UP, a culinary student at Le Cordon Bleu – Paris, an ACE-CPT & CSN, NYU graduate, ex-fat kid, and all-around fitness/nutrition nutjob.

He also contributes to Men's Health Magazine.

When he’s not working on his (or somebody else’s) abs, whipping up Eggocados, or running a Tough Mudder, he’s probably off yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.

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