Overview
- Consumer Reports tested 23 powders and ready-to-drink shakes and found over two-thirds exceeded its 0.5 microgram-per-serving lead threshold, with plant-based products averaging nine times the levels seen in whey.
- CR advised avoiding Naked Nutrition’s Vegan Mass Gainer (about 7.7 μg of lead per serving) and Huel Black Edition (about 6.3 μg), and recommended limiting Garden of Life Sport Organic Plant-Based Protein and Momentous 100% Plant Protein to roughly one serving per week.
- An FDA spokesperson said the agency will review CR’s findings to inform where to focus testing and enforcement, and there are still no product-specific federal limits for heavy metals in protein supplements.
- Manufacturers responded with rebuttals and new checks: Huel called CR’s cutoff exceptionally conservative and cited lower internal results, Naked Nutrition sought third-party testing, and several brands said they routinely test ingredients and finished products.
- Coverage emphasized divergent benchmarks—CR’s Prop 65–aligned 0.5 μg/day versus FDA interim reference levels of 2.2 μg/day for children and 8.8 μg/day for women of childbearing age—leading to differing risk messages and guidance on frequent use, especially for plant-based powders.