Protein Powder Safety: Why Sourcing and Testing Matters

With the recent Consumer Reports revelation that not all protein powders meet even basic standards for purity and safety, health-minded consumers are asking more questions than ever. Because the supplement industry isn’t strictly regulated, brands vary widely in how they handle sourcing, testing, and transparency. This introduces unnecessary risk and confusion for anyone seeking safe, high-quality nutritional support.

Purity and safety are non-negotiables for us here at Previnex. Let’s break it down and bring some clarity to what’s really going on, and whether your protein powder is as safe as it could be.

Protein Powder Contamination: Consumer Reports’ Findings

In its investigation, Consumer Reports tested 23 popular protein powders and ready-to-drink shakes. More than two-thirds contained higher levels of lead than the organization considered safe in a single serving.

Particularly concerning were some plant-based powders made with pea, rice, or hemp protein, which were found to contain up to nine times more lead on average than whey-based formulas.

The Consumer Reports team emphasized that supplements are not as strictly regulated as foods or pharmaceuticals, leaving consumers to rely heavily on brand integrity and third-party testing.

For anyone using protein powder regularly, especially plant-based and vegan protein powder, these results raise important questions: Where are the raw ingredients grown and sourced? How often are heavy-metal tests performed? Can I trust the label? Am I getting what I paid for (and is it even safe)?

Heavy Metals in Protein Powders: What the Research Shows

Heavy-metal contamination—lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and mercury (Hg)—is not new to the sports nutrition world. Several peer-reviewed analyses have found measurable levels of these elements in multiple protein powder products, including:

A 2020 study published in Toxicology Reports, which found detectable levels of lead, cadmium, and arsenic in several commercially available protein powders, raising concern for long-term exposure risk.
A report in the Journal of Nutrition highlighting risks posed by the largely unregulated supplement industry, including "the presence of toxic agents" and undeclared "potentially dangerous prescription-only pharmaceuticals" in consumer products.
The Clean Label Project’s independent report, which found that some plant-based protein powders, especially chocolate-flavored ones, were three to four times more likely to exceed safe limits compared with whey-based formulas.

Why does contamination happen? Factors include:

The soil where plants are grown: All plants absorb heavy metals present in the soil, water, and air where they grow.
The sourcing region: Heavy metal content varies across regions of the world based on industrial activity and environmental regulations.
Agricultural practices: Use of certain fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation sources can increase heavy-metal uptake in crops.
Manufacturing controls: Poor oversight, cross-contamination during processing, or use of low-quality raw materials can elevate metal levels.
Testing transparency: Without regular third-party testing and public reporting, consumers have no reliable way to assess a product’s safety.

All plants contain some level of heavy metals because they grow in the ground where these elements occur. But levels should remain as low as possible, and brands that prioritize consumer safety establish rigorous testing and purity standards to ensure quality.

If a brand doesn’t test its raw materials, source from trusted farms, publish its heavy metal results, and perform finished product testing, they’re asking the consumer for blind trust. Thanks to increased research and testing, consumers are now starting to see which brands have earned that trust and which have not.

What Does “Good Testing & Sourcing” for Protein Powder Look Like?

When assessing protein powders for safety, a few key benchmarks can help separate high-quality, clean protein brands from those cutting corners:

Heavy-metal testing: Look for brands that verify or publish results showing that each batch has been tested for lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and other contaminants.
Certificate of analysis (CoA): Reputable brands will provide CoAs confirming that heavy metal levels are tested and beneath accepted thresholds (e.g., California Prop 65 or USP standards).
Thoughtful material sourcing: Whether plant- or animal-based, ingredients should come from farms with robust soil testing, contamination prevention, and traceability programs in place.
Transparent manufacturing: Includes post-harvest processing, heavy metal mitigation, and consistency with recognized standards such as NSF, USP, or ConsumerLab.
Free of unnecessary additives: Simple, clean formulas reduce the risk of unwanted interactions and make sourcing and testing easier to verify.

Several major investigations have identified concerning levels of heavy metals in popular brands. For example:

Naked Nutrition’s Vegan Mass Gainer was found to have 7.7 micrograms of lead per serving, around 1570% of Consumer Reports’ level of concern.
Huel’s Black Edition registered around 6.3 micrograms per serving, about 1290% of the concern threshold.

This compares to a specification/target level of <0.5 micrograms per serving. These findings underscore that claims like “plant-based” or “organic” don’t necessarily guarantee low levels of heavy metals.

Some supplement companies take advantage of loose regulations by skipping critical testing or relying on marketing buzzwords instead of evidence. But if you’re selling supplements, you should be doing the work: testing, verifying, and standing behind the safety of what you sell. Until more effective, industry-wide regulations and consumer protections are in place, responsibility falls both on consumers to be selective and on brands to be transparent and accountable.

The Previnex Difference: Purity, Safety, Efficacy

At Previnex, we believe protein powder—and all supplements—should earn your trust through thoughtful and rigorous sourcing, testing, and transparency.

The Previnex Difference is our commitment to excellence without compromise when it comes to sourcing, manufacturing, and testing for every product we sell.

Here’s how we ensure Nourify® PLUS protein powder meets the highest standards:

Trusted ingredient sourcing: Our pea protein is sourced from an organic farm in Canada and our brown rice protein comes from high-quality farms in Southeast Asia. These partners use soil-testing protocols and sustainable practices that align with our strict quality requirements. To ensure product purity and safety, we do not source from China due to inconsistent quality controls, poor supply chain transparency, variability in manufacturing standards, and soil and pollution issues.
Comprehensive heavy-metal screening: Every production lot undergoes independent third-party heavy metal and contaminant testing. All heavy metals must test below 10 PPM (less than 0.001%). Nourify® PLUS’s lead level is 0.092 PPM, far beneath accepted thresholds. We make test results available on request for full transparency.
Clean formulation: Our products are free from synthetic dyes, unnecessary gums, artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, and untested botanical “boosters.” The simpler the “other” ingredients are, the cleaner and safer the final product.
Comprehensive muscle and metabolic support: Nourify® PLUS protein powder contains high-quality plant-based protein, including BCAAs, essential amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and digestive support to deliver both performance and safety in every serving.

When you choose Previnex, you’re choosing a brand that treats safety, purity, and efficacy as foundational, not optional.

Learn more about our heavy metal testing standards for Nourify® PLUS protein powder here.

If you’d like a copy of the heavy metal test report, we’d be happy to share it. Please contact our Customer Care team at CustomerCare@Previnex.com.

What to Ask Before You Buy Your Next Protein Powder

Before adding a new protein powder to your routine (or continuing with your current brand), ask these key questions:

Does the brand publish heavy metal results and make Certificates of Analysis available for each batch?
Where are the raw materials sourced? Are they grown on farms with soil-testing protocols and safeguards against contamination, or in regions with higher pollution risk?
How transparent is the brand about additives, sweeteners, and processing methods?
Does the company actively educate consumers about safety, or do they bury it in fine print?

If you can’t answer these questions confidently, it’s worth choosing a brand that takes purity and safety as seriously as you do.

Previnex Nourify®: Protein Powder You Can Trust

Nourify® PLUS protein powder is one of the cleanest, healthiest plant-based powders available. It contains 80% pea protein sourced from an organic farm in Canada and 20% brown rice protein sourced from high-quality farms in Southeast Asia (not China, where it is harder to ensure product safety and purity). We skip the artificial additives, colors, and sweeteners to deliver the safest, purest, and most effective product possible.

At Previnex, rigorous sourcing, independent testing, and transparent manufacturing aren’t just good marketing, they’re good science and good ethics, too. These same standards are at the heart of our mission to Get Health, Give Health. Every purchase helps provide our pharmaceutical-grade children’s vitamins to underresourced communities around the world, because everyone deserves access to safe, effective products that truly make a difference.

Whether you’re training for the next race or simply want clean, daily nutritional support, choose a brand that stands behind their science and their ingredients. Your body deserves nothing less.

See how Nourify® PLUS protein powder fits into your routine here.