Protein shakes and melamine

[D-bol]

I need to restock on my protein shakes, but w/ all the news from melanin (or whatever its called) in the imported whey powders makes me a bit cautious.
What r u thoughts on this? Safe?

[Princess L]

I need to restock on my protein shakes, but w/ all the news from melanin (or whatever its called) in the imported whey powders makes me a bit cautious.
What r u thoughts on this? Safe?

Good question.

Perhaps Chris Mason and other supplement suppliers on this board can address this issue.  What steps are they taking to insure their whey & casein sources are melamine free?  This also includes protein bars.  They may not contain it now, but what about  4 months ago when you bought the product?

There is no requirement to list the country of origin for ingredients of any food sold in the U.S., only where they were packaged. Since the Chinese sell raw materials to other companies that package them in the U.S. and slap their own labels on them, you can't trust label information.

Does anyone know if companies such as Optimum have put out any statements regarding this concern?

[chris_mason]

Our protein products are sourced totally in the US. 

[D-bol]

Our protein products are sourced totally in the US. 

you wish

[Tapeworm]

you wish

That's kind of harsh unless you have some supporting evidence.  There's a hell of a lot of dairy processing going on in the US.  Doesn't seem too hard to believe.

Chris, are you willing to give us more info on your sources, like the factory or whatever?

[DK II]

lol, as milk EXPORTS to China are greater than ever, i highly doubt that the US will IMPORT chinese milk to produve whey from it.

That's, even in a logistical sense of the action, total utter bullshit.

Protein powders are safe, as long as you are not in china.

[D-bol]

lol, as milk EXPORTS to China are greater than ever, i highly doubt that the US will IMPORT chinese milk to produve whey from it.

That's, even in a logistical sense of the action, total utter bullshit.

Protein powders are safe, as long as you are not in china.

what often happens is components are imported from abroad (say, China), then the finished product is "assembled" at home and then exported back to the importer of the components as well as consumed domestically

not saying this is the case with US protein powders, but this mechanics does exist in many industries around the world.

got the statement from the company who's powders I use that they ensure no melamine in their products

lets see...if i start pissing blood, I'll let you all know

for now - case closed:)

thx to all who responded

[Tapeworm]

Agree that China is a big player in basically every goddamn thing these days and that they're dodgy as hell, but hopefully Chris is willing to come forward with some more info.

To bad these guys have to prove their innocence these days, but on the flip side, some verifiable info on totally domestic production, contaminant free assurance, etc, on the label would set them apart from the competition.      ** Heads up guys **

[Montague]

Does anyone know if companies such as Optimum have put out any statements regarding this concern?

I wish that Jay still posted here; we could have asked him directly.
He usually jumped into these matters anyway.

[Princess L]

Here is a statement from Alex Rogers - President of Proteinfactory.com on 10/10/08
I hope he doesn't mind my re-posting it here 



Warning!! Chinese Whey Protein is Here!


I was sitting in my office working at my desk and an email came into my inbox. Chinese dairy may contain melamine. I was like WTF!!! The first thing that crossed my mind was that American companies are importing Chinese whey protein and it could be possibly contaminated with melamine.

Well guess what happened exactly one week later? At 9 AM first thing Monday morning the FDA came a knockin on my door. Not really they more like just walked in. The Proteinfactory.com is an FDA registered and inspected company. The FDA does not want another Pet food debacle. Thus they specifically wanted to know if I had any Chinese Whey protein. The answer, HELL NO! I gave them a list of all my dairy protein suppliers and they were glad to see I did not carry any Chinese dairy ingredients. After they left I decided I should alert my customers.

Let me give you a little history and catch you up to speed what this means to you.

Melamine generally speaking is a plastic. About 2 years ago pets started getting sick and dieing across America, the culprit Melamine. Melamine was being found in major branded pet foods. The dogs and cats were eating these pet foods that contained Melamine and dieing. Why was Melamine in the food?

I don’t want to encapsulate the Chinese in general, but let’s just say some Chinese companies could care less about morality and more about profits, even if it cost people their lives.

Melamine can throw off an analysis test for protein. For example, let’s say a certain meat ingredient is supposed to contain 70% protein. The owner of the Chinese factory that sells the meat ingredient only has a 30% protein meat ingredient. This of course, costs much less than the 70% protein meat ingredient. The owner adds Melamine to the meat and when tested for protein percentage the meat ingredient now shows 70% protein. Nice huh? Thus he just made a killer profit because he just sold a 30% protein ingredient at the 70% price.

This is what the Chinese were doing with the pet food ingredients. For how long I’m not sure. But what happened was the Chinese suppliers were getting greedier, and greedier, and greedier, adding more and more melamine each time. Well guess what, finally their greed caught up to them. So MUCH melamine was added that it reached toxic, deadly levels, small dogs and cats starting dieing. Dogs not so much because dogs will stop eating when they feel they are getting sick. Cats are dumb and still ate all the heavily contained Melamine cat food, they died.

Are you starting to see the problem?

With the increase in demand for whey protein now in the Eastern part of the world, (I’m sure you noticed the increase in whey protein prices last year) the Chinese starting to make their own whey protein powder. And yes, you guessed it they started to put Melamine in the whey protein!

Here at Proteinfactory.com I have always stressed to my customers two things.

1) We are FDA inspected and registered. We MAKE our own products. Thus I know where ALL the proteins and ingredients come from.

2) Always try to buy BRANDED ingredients.

The supplement industry, especially the sports nutrition industry is made up of all Chinese raw materials. What do I mean by this? Well check out that Nitric Oxide product you are using. If you see things like creatine ethyl ester and L-arginine ethyl ester you are drinking Chinese made product.

You know that fat burner you are using, yea from China. The pro-hormone you are using, yea China. The creatine you are using, (with the exception of Creapure ONLY), yup China.

I would have to say more than 70% of the ingredients in your favorite non-protein supplements are made in China.

Ready for the scary part, protein. Yes, beware because you may have had importers of dairy ingredients bring in Chinese whey protein concentrate and isolate. If you think I’m bullshitting you better think twice. Remember what I just said before, (and I probably underestimated). MOST of the non-protein, sports supplements you are using are FROM CHINA.

Listen I’m not going to lecture you. You know how I feel about the supplement industry.

Here’s my warning. You better make sure you know damn well where your protein powder is coming from. Study my site. Read about the branded proteins that I sell. Know them and know them well and they better be in your next whey protein you buy.

If a company can’t tell you where there protein powder is coming from, well then……Russian roulette need I say…..
__________________
Alex Rogers
President
Proteinfactory.com
alex@proteinfactory.com
IM: sawboy

[D-bol]

Listen I’m not going to lecture you. You know how I feel about the supplement industry.

Here’s my warning. You better make sure you know damn well where your protein powder is coming from. Study my site. Read about the branded proteins that I sell. Know them and know them well and they better be in your next whey protein you buy.

If a company can’t tell you where there protein powder is coming from, well then……Russian roulette need I say…..
__________________
Alex Rogers
President
Proteinfactory.com
alex@proteinfactory.com
IM: sawboy

sounds like a promotion

[DK II]

sounds like a promotion

You just won the 1st prize.

By scaring anyone, people will stick to you if you can assure you are the safest possibility.

This scheme has gotten George W. A second term.

[D-bol]

yeah, bro, fear is the greatest driver of consumption...
even forest bees, when threatened, start eating their stored honey...

[loco]

Whey Protein Powder Contaminated?

September 27, 2008


The FDA announced it had started testing some imports of Chinese dairy products coming into U.S. ports after the news hit about the way that milk products in China had been contaminated with melamine.

But we all know that the FDA has been gutted by the Bush administration and does not begin to have the resources needed to test the avalanche of foods coming in from China. Not only that, but even when the FDA samples foods coming into our ports, the paperwork is so sloppy that if a food is tested and rejected, the shipper need only take it to a second port. There is often no paper trail showing it has failed inspection elsewhere.

And that doesn't even get into the issue of how the FDA only tests a tiny sample of shipments.

Why should this scare you? Because we don't know the extent to which Chinese dairy products filled with melamine, a toxic plastic, have permeated out own food supply.

All we know is this: large food manufacturers who are buying millions of pounds of powdered milk, casein and whey to put into everything from bread, to cookies, to candy, to sauces on frozen vegetables are very likely to have been buying these products from the Chinese factories because the Chinese are able to offer much lower prices than competitors.

Now that we are learning WHY they are able to lower their prices--by replacing milk protein with plastic, for example--shopping the Dollar Store for our food supply is not looking like such a good idea. But until two weeks ago, what large manufacturer was thinking like that?

This latest scandal has special relevance to people with diabetes. Many of us are already walking around with kidneys that have been damaged by years of exposure to high blood sugars. We have been assured that the tiny amounts of melamine that may have found their way into our packaged food products are only toxic to babies, not adults, but the truth is that melamine may very well be toxic for anyone with microalbumuria whose kidneys are already damaged.

The other issue relevant to people with diabetes who eat low carb diets is that a lot of us use whey protein powders as a base for baked goods since we try to avoid baking with grains. Given that whey powder is one of the products that the FDA has said it has been inspecting, and given that we have no idea where the makers of these whey protein powders have gotten that whey powder, it is not outside of the range of probability that some of this whey protein powder might be contaminated.

With that in mind, it might be a good idea to eliminate whey protein powder from our diets for a while, until the melamine that may very well have slipped into this country before the scandal erupted has finished making its way through the system.

Yes, this might seem overcautious, but with every day's news reports adding additional products and countries to the list of those found to contain Chinese milk products contaminated with melamine, it might just be prudent.

If you are a fan of so called "nutrition" bars, you might want to give them a miss if they list whey or casein on their labels for the same reason.

Manufacturers are clamoring to reassure the public that their products don't contain these suspect substances, but that is to be expected. They may not contain them now. What they may have contained three months ago when the product on your shelf was manufactured may be another story.

And sadly, there is no requirment to list the country of origin for the ingredients of any food sold in the U.S., only where they were packaged. Since the Chinese sell raw materials to other companies that package them in the U.S. and slap their own labels on them, you cannot trust any label information to keep you safe.

http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2008/09/whey-protein-powder-contaminated.html

[loco]

I inquired about Vitamin Shoppe brand whey protein and this is what they told me:

"please be advised that all Vitamin Shoppe brand products come from and are manufactured in the United States. If you are inquiring about other products that are not Vitamin Shoppe brand, we ask that you contact the manufacturer for further assistance."

[D-bol]

well, im almost done w/ my second can now...no pissing blood yet...feel great...had my annual med checkup...all seems fine...will report back if i die

[MuscleMcMannus]

Why anybodybuilder uses whey protein is beyond me.  It's a fucking gimmick.  You don't need ANY protein powders.  Raw eggs, milk and food protein is all you need.  I'll mix two cups of milk, a couple packets of carnation instant breakfast and throw 6 raw eggs in a blender and it's better and cheaper than any whey protein powder.  They are junk.  Worthless shit!  Utter asshole drippings. 

[Princess L]

Why anybodybuilder uses whey protein is beyond me.  It's a fucking gimmick.  You don't need ANY protein powders.  Raw eggs, milk and food protein is all you need.  I'll mix two cups of milk, a couple packets of carnation instant breakfast and throw 6 raw eggs in a blender and it's better and cheaper than any whey protein powder.  They are junk.  Worthless shit!  Utter asshole drippings. 

Take it easy.  Let's not get all worked up about it 
Sometimes it's a matter of convenience.

[Rimbaud]

Why anybodybuilder uses whey protein is beyond me.  It's a fucking gimmick.  You don't need ANY protein powders.  Raw eggs, milk and food protein is all you need.  I'll mix two cups of milk, a couple packets of carnation instant breakfast and throw 6 raw eggs in a blender and it's better and cheaper than any whey protein powder.  They are junk.  Worthless shit!  Utter asshole drippings. 

Settle down cowboy. It's the internet here.

www.internetisserious.co m

[MuscleMcMannus]

Take it easy.  Let's not get all worked up about it 
Sometimes it's a matter of convenience.

LOL.  I'm kidding but in all seriousness whey protein is a gimmick.  Completely unnecessary.  Convenience?  That's the problem.  Most bodybuilders have been brainwashed into believing they need to have 30-60g of protein every 2-3 hours.  Bullshit.  It's not the timing of protein that's important unless it's post workout, it's how much protein you take in period.  Certain foods for example like cottage cheese aka casein can raise the amino acid level in the blood for up to 8 hours.  Do you think the body i.e. the blood sense if its casein, whey, egg, animal protein? Hell no, the only difference is how they affect amino acid levels in the blood.  I.e. intermittent fasting where you fast for 16 hours and eat all your calories and protien in 8 hours works wonders for a lot of people including bodybuilders.  The entire notion of eating 6-7 meals a day with 30-50g of protein per meal is a concoction of myth and misinformation promoted by the protein industry.  Again it's simply a gimmick to make money.  Bodybuilders and fitness people are some of the most easily brainwashed people around.  Is it really that much more convienent to down a protein shake versus eat 2 cups of cottage cheese?  Or drink a glass of milk or down several raw eggs?  Not really.  The only really use whey protein has is post workout.  Other than that, you're pissing your money away and making a lot of stupid people really rich!  There is also plenty of research showing protein is better absorbed by the body when in combination with fat.  I.e. dairy products, egg with the yolks, meat. 

[D-bol]

Hold your Harley there, McMannus...I agree w/ you that natural food is better, but you are also right about convenience. I can't prepare 6 meals, nor can my body actually handle 6 meal servings per day...I just start disliking food at that rate.
So, shakes are just a very easy way to slot in meals in between your normal meals. I do not believe that a brand name shake will give me superior quality protein that, say, egg whites. But its just convinient to get those needed meals during the day and it doesn't make you feel full.

[garebear]

Why anybodybuilder uses whey protein is beyond me.  It's a fucking gimmick.   You don't need ANY protein powders.  Raw eggs, milk and food protein is all you need.  I'll mix two cups of milk, a couple packets of carnation instant breakfast and throw 6 raw eggs in a blender and it's better and cheaper than any whey protein powder.  They are junk.  Worthless shit!  Utter asshole drippings. 

I couldn't agree with you more. I used to drink protein shakes, but quit about a year ago. I have not noticed ANY DIFFERENCE. Just eat right. The correct foods are pretty self evident.

[MuscleMcMannus]

Hold your Harley there, McMannus...I agree w/ you that natural food is better, but you are also right about convenience. I can't prepare 6 meals, nor can my body actually handle 6 meal servings per day...I just start disliking food at that rate.
So, shakes are just a very easy way to slot in meals in between your normal meals. I do not believe that a brand name shake will give me superior quality protein that, say, egg whites. But its just convinient to get those needed meals during the day and it doesn't make you feel full.

exactly.  And you don't NEED 6 meals per day either.  There is absolutely no difference between eating 4K calories in 3 meals or 6.  As long as you are getting in enough calories to grow.  The entire premise of eating 6 meals a day with 30g of protein per meal was devised as a way for companies to sell more protein powder and supplements.  Now its so engrained into everyone's head if you try to explain to them otherwise they'll just laugh and tell you well Ronnie Coleman says so.  LOL.  The fat burning affects of eating more frequent meals are a myth.  You can eat 3 big meals that have bigger spikes in your metabolism but not as many or you can eat 6 meals a day that have more spikes in your metabolism but not as large of spikes. 

[D-bol]

i just tend to overeat if i have long breaks between meals (i.e. when eating only 3 meals per day), so 6 works better for me

[MuscleMcMannus]

i just tend to overeat if i have long breaks between meals (i.e. when eating only 3 meals per day), so 6 works better for me

Well you're right.....eating 6 smaller meals is much better at keeping appetite at bay.  But for me and a lot of guys I know eating enough and increasing their appetite is the hard thing so bigger less frequent meals are better.