Consumer Reports has recently published an article regarding lead in protein powders, and you may find yourself concerned with some of or all of what they reported. We get it—we are all concerned about what we're putting in our bodies, and about things that impact our well-being. We value the trust you’ve placed in us, and we want to provide some clarity and context around the topic and our current products.
We know. The supplement industry has long struggled with trust. Inconsistent testing, weak regulation, and misleading marketing have made it difficult for consumers to know who to believe. This is why we were founded in the first place. From day one, our mission at Momentous has been to raise the standard. We’ve built our company and reputation as a high-trust brand in a low-trust category by doing things differently—through scientific evidence, independent testing, and radical transparency about what’s in our products, so lets unpack this article a bit.
The standard results in their article are shown as a percentage of their level of concern for lead. Their standard level is based on California's Prop 65 for lead—0.5 micrograms per day. It is important to recognize that while this is California's legal warning level, it is not a global safety standard that is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), or the FDA. Prop 65 is not a scientific safety limit, and it sits 100x or more below any level recognized by various government toxicology authorities. For example:
- EFSA (EU) uses benchmark dose modeling (BMDL) for lead — with context-specific reference levels between 0.5–1.5 µg/kg/day.
- EPA and FDA standards recognize trace levels in everyday foods and water. Even U.S. tap water can contain up to 10 µg/day of lead and remain within safety guidelines.
This context is important because an approach as conservative as the one applied in their article applied to real and whole foods would also eliminate incredibly nutritious foods. According to a study on 370 samples of fruits and vegetables, scientists found that trace levels of lead are also common. For example: 1.5 apples was found to contain 2.3 micrograms of lead. Trace amounts of lead are also found in tomatoes, carrots, and virtually anything else that is grown in soil—it's simply impossible to avoid completely. The point here is not to stoke fear, it is to provide some real-world food context. It’s biology, not contamination.
That’s why plant-based proteins will almost always show higher trace levels compared to whey proteins. This is because cows act as natural biological filters—metals from feed rarely pass into milk proteins. Plant materials, by contrast, concentrate what’s in the soil, and when ground and processed into protein powders, that concentration remains. Processing differences also matter: whey undergoes multi-stage filtration, while plant proteins involve simpler concentration processes.
We get into all of this because it's important to note that comparing plant-based proteins to whey is really comparing apples to oranges—the two categories are fundamentally different in how they’re sourced, filtered, and processed. Our goal has always been to make each product the very best it can be within its category, and that remains true. When you compare our plant-based protein to other plant-based options, we are confident that it continues to rank among the cleanest, most rigorously tested, and best-formulated choices available. That said, we completely understand and respect any decision to switch to whey if avoiding these trace amounts of metals is your priority—it’s a great choice for those who can and/or are willing to include dairy in their diet.
Our commitment to product safety and transparency is absolute. We do and will continue to test every batch, every ingredient, and every formula to the highest standards for purity, safety, and integrity. We make those results public—because our goal isn’t just to meet industry norms, but to redefine them.
You should rest assured knowing that all Momentous products test far below international safety benchmarks. Every batch of every Momentous product—is tested for heavy metals by our own internal team, NSF, and LightLabs. All of our results are publicly available on our website. See test result examples here and comprehensive results on our Certificate of Analysis Page. In addition, most of our products, including our protein products are NSF Certified for Sport®, meaning they are independently tested against some of the strictest safety and quality standards across the industry.
As Consumer Reports called out, we are one of (if not the only) company that goes as far as we do to remain committed to the level of transparency that we believe everybody deserves and should expect. This is our standard—The Momentous Standard™—an uncompromising approach that informs anything and everything that we do.
As always—we appreciate your feedback, engagement, and trust you’ve placed in us. We thank you all for holding us to a high standard. Your health, confidence, and trust mean everything, and we are here and remain open to answer any other questions that you may have. Contact us any time.
Additional information below detailing the differences between whey and plant protein:
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Filtering by the Animal’s Body
- Cows act as a biological filter. They eat plants (which may contain heavy metals), but their bodies don’t pass everything straight into milk.
- Metals like cadmium and lead tend to accumulate more in bones, liver, or kidneys — not in milk.
- This means milk proteins (whey, casein) naturally contain very low levels compared to the raw plant material cows ate.
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Plant Uptake vs. Animal Regulation
- Plants: absorb metals directly from soil and water without filtering, storing them in seeds and leaves. When those are processed into protein powders (peas, rice, hemp), the metals concentrate.
- Animals: regulate and excrete some of the metals before they reach milk, so the proteins derived from milk don’t carry the same burden.
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Processing Differences
- Whey protein is a byproduct of cheesemaking. It undergoes extensive filtration, purification, and drying, which reduces contaminants further.
- Plant proteins, by contrast, are often made by simply grinding and concentrating plant matter, which also concentrates any heavy metals present.
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Soil vs. Feed Source
- Heavy metal levels in plant protein powders reflect local soil quality (especially cadmium and arsenic).
- Dairy cows typically consume a controlled diet (silage, hay, formulated feed) that is monitored for safety. Even if small amounts of metals are present, their transfer to milk is minimal.