So, I just got back after facing the following dilemma.
Ascent protein, the one I'm currently using with the Van BilkedHerAss seal of approval, is $50. (Non-grass fed, for those keeping track).
Conversely, the aforementioned excellent Kirkland ("ON"?) 100% Whey was the same price.
But Ascent contained approximately 300g less protein, but the Kirkland has Sunflower Oil.
What do?
Stick to the program, or be all for dicks and save money?
Well, I decided after the grass fed shaming I endured, the thought of seed oil shame being foisted upon me would be too much, and I decided to sacrifice the investment revenue and stick with the plan.
Well, we all know that Optimum is made by Glanbia. They make most of the American cheese here in the US, and have an inside position to making whey protein from cheese manufacturing. There's nothing wrong with the whey they make; they have varying isolate and concentrate products and all of them, when they meet quality standards, are solid. This is what's in the ON at Costco.
There's the Ascent protein, which I believe is a "native whey". From Leprino, if I'm not mistaken. Like Glanbia, Leprino makes most of the cheese we eat in the US and therefore produces a significant portion of the earth's whey protein. Unlike whey derived from acid-treated milk (to make cheese), native whey is collected from milk in different fashion. It is no more or no less nutritious or musclebuilding; rather, it has less of a burnt note to the milk leading some to say it tastes "cleaner", for those with discriminating pallettes. There's no accounting for taste, so if you like the flavor, then the extra cost is worth it to you. But there's nothing inherently more "anabolic" about native whey.
Then there's Costco's Kirkland whey. Which if sources are to be believed, is sourced from Leprino. Like Glanbia and Sargento...Leprino makes a significant quantity of cheese for the world (mozzarella in their case). Manufacture of mozzarella leaves a significant quantity of whey. Leprino has long been a raw material supplier (along with Sargento and Glanbia) of whey to the supplement companies of the world.
You really can't go wrong with either of those whey suppliers. Glanbia...Sargento...Orn
ua....Leprino...they all supply whey of extremely high quality. They also supply "sweet whey" and lower grade concentrates...because there's a legitimate market for them.
Where bodybuilders run amuck is when their favorite brand buys whey proteins that are higher in lactose and ash (less refined), bypass their own suspect quality standards (if they even ask their manufacturer to test incoming batches), and use those lower quality whey proteins in the tub. You can't blame the Ornua/Leprino/et al of the world when supplement companies do this. Those lower grade whey proteins should have been destined as flavor carriers on Doritos...not mixed with cocoa in your tub of "muscle whey". So, buyer beware.
You're not wrong to buy at Costco. They are fanatical about defending the big box against low quality brands. Keep in mind; most of their financial outcome derives from membership sales, not merchandise sales. People don't buy memberships to places that sell crappy products. Certainly not the upper crust of America's middle/upper class. So Costco lets in the good, recalls the bad (and one recall is all it takes to generally cement your legacy "out" of Costco, which is a death sentence for brands that want to scale and sell to VC firms).
