Optimum Nutrition's Response to July 2010 Consumer Reports Article, "Alert: Protein
Drinks"
A recently released Consumer Reports article in their July 2010 issue titled, "Health Alert: Protein
Drinks" included tests conducted on 15 different protein powders for heavy metals (arsenic,
cadmium, lead and mercury) in comparison to the U.S. Pharmacopeia's proposed limits for heavy
metals in dietary supplement products. In these tests, 3 of the 15 products tested above the U.S.
Pharmacopeia's proposed limits for dietary supplements when measured at the 3 serving size, with
the assumptions consumers are taking multiple servings/day.
Two Optimum Nutrition (ON) products were evaluated in the article, both of which tested well
below the proposed U.S. Pharmacopeia limits for heavy metals in dietary supplements, even at
the 3 serving level. These 2 ON supplements were Platinum Hydrowhey (Velocity Vanilla flavor)
and Gold Standard 100% Whey (Extreme Milk Chocolate flavor). Since Optimum Nutrition's
products tested well below the proposed limits, no specific safety issues were raised about either
product in the article. Consumers can be assured our products are safe and manufactured to the
highest standards, which the results reflect.
Optimum Nutrition products are always made to the highest standards of quality and safety,
and have been for nearly 25 years as detailed below:
•
All of our protein products meet U.S. Pharmacopeia's proposed standards for dietary
supplements.
•
Before a single machine is turned on we carefully select vendors via an approval program who
supply ON with premium raw materials. All vendors must provide a Certificate of Analysis for
each raw material as a continued measure of quality. These certificates are then verified
through random in-house and independent laboratory testing.
•
ON's finished products are tested by third-party laboratories to ensure their safety and stability
as well as their compliance with label claims.
•
Quality Assurance professionals make routine checks on all storage, blending, and production
areas and conduct final inspections on all lot codes.
•
ON has been awarded certification by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF International), a
world leader in standards development, product certification, and risk management for public
health and safety.
•
ON has consistently received a 'Superior' rating from the esteemed American Institute of
Baking (AIB) upon the inspection agency's annual cGMP (current good manufacturing
practices) compliance audits of the company's manufacturing facilities. This top rating denotes
ON's unsurpassed commitment to food safety.
By comparison, the following average amounts of the metal lead may be found naturally in food, all
of which are considered safe, but significantly above the measures of 3 servings of Optimum
Nutrition products in the Consumer Reports tests. The U.S. Pharmacopeia proposed limit for lead
in dietary supplements was 10mcg (10mcg= 10millionths of a gram):
FDA's publication Total Diet Study Statistics on Element Results (December 11, 2007), which
analyzes 200 foods found in grocery stores four times per year, showed the following:
Optimum Nutrition products also tested well below the U.S. Pharmacopeia proposed limit for
arsenic in dietary supplements of 15mcg (15mcg= 15millionths of a gram). Most importantly, many
common foods, including those regularly eaten for protein contained more Arsenic than the amount
found in our test results, highlighting the safety of our products.
As the industry leader in quality nutritional products for nearly 25 years, Optimum Nutrition
maintains the highest commitment to compliance with all Food & Drug Administration requirements
and current Good Manufacturing Practices ("cGMPs") for food supplements. Optimum's customers
can be confident that our products contain only the best quality ingredients and are made in the
safest manner possible.