The Great Protein Cover-Up: Is Your Food Lying to You?
What can you do?
Originally published on The Whole Truth Foods’ website.
Editor’s note: Hi there! Samarth Bansal here, your Editor, and it’s my turn to write the newsletter. Today, I will explore the dirty underbelly of the protein industry—lessons from history on how some companies cheat on the amount of protein listed on their labels, the sneaky tactics they use to get away with it, what that means for us as consumers and what we can do.
As always, feel free to reply to this email or write directly to me at samarth@thewholetruthfoods.com for any questions or feedback.
In 2008, a chilling scandal rocked China. It began with worried parents, rushing their infants to hospitals. The babies cried inconsolably, their faces twisted in pain. They had symptoms that no kid should ever endure: difficulty in urinating, blood in their urine, and, most shockingly, kidney stones—a condition almost unheard of in infants. As the number of sick babies climbed into the tens of thousands, a frantic investigation began.
The culprit?
Milk powder, but not just any milk powder. It was milk powder laced with melamine, a toxic chemical known for its use in plastics and fertilisers—not food.
The consequences were dire. 300,000 Chinese kids suffered. 54,000 were hospitalised. Six lives were lost.
This was no accident, no mere oversight. It was a calculated move. At its core, the melamine scandal exposed a flaw, a loophole that allowed unscrupulous manufacturers to exploit the very test designed to ensure the safety and integrity of our food: nitrogen testing.
You see, measuring protein directly can be difficult and time-consuming. So scientists found a proxy based on a simple principle: proteins contain nitrogen—they are often the main nitrogen-containing molecules in most biological samples—so measuring nitrogen levels can give us a good estimate of how much protein is present.
But here’s the catch: nitrogen testing can’t distinguish between protein and other nitrogen-containing compounds.
Enter melamine. This cheap, nitrogen-rich chemical can fool the tests, making products appear to have more protein than they actually do. And in China, in 2008, that’s exactly what happened. Milk powder, baby formula—all spiked with melamine to pad the bottom line.
Was it an isolated incident? No.
Just a year prior, in 2007, the pet food world faced its own crisis. Over 150 brands were recalled across North America, Europe, and South Africa. This included wet food in pouches, canned food, dry food, and even treats for dogs, cats, and ferrets.
Why? Because fourteen pets died. Their cause of death? Kidney failure from eating food spiked with—yet again—melamine. It was there in the food for the same reason: to artificially inflate protein content during testing.
It was not that more than hundreds of brands that recalled their products participated in the scandal. There is a deeper issue here: many companies in the food sector don’t produce their own products. They rely on third-party manufacturers to mix ingredients according to their specifications, which are then sold under various brand names. This means a single contaminated ingredient can compromise a vast array of products made in the same facility.
Which is what happened here. FDA traced the melamine to products labelled as wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from—yet again—China. They are used as ingredients in pet foods. So if one manufacturer may produce many kinds of pet foods at the same facility, a contaminated ingredient can get into many of these foods.
Melamine is one of the many non-protein nitrogen compounds added to exploit nitrogen testing of protein content. Others include urea—another common adulterant in milk—and inorganic nitrates. All of which inflate apparent protein content without providing any nutritional value or even posing health risks.
The very same flaws in nitrogen testing that allowed melamine to contaminate baby formula and pet food are exploited in one of the most popular dietary supplements in the fitness world: whey protein.
Whey protein is made from milk and is a favourite because it’s full of all the amino acids your muscles need and it’s quick to digest. But because it’s so popular and pricey, some sneaky manufacturers cheat to make more money. They add cheap amino acids like glycine or taurine to their products. This trick is called “amino spiking”.
Why do they do it?
Same reason: These added amino acids boost the nitrogen levels in the product, which makes it seem like there’s more protein in there than there actually is. But here’s the catch: these extra amino acids don’t help build muscle or offer the same benefits as the real protein in whey. They’re just filler.
This means that even though the label might brag about high protein levels, the product won’t be as good for your muscles as it claims. Plus, the overall quality of the protein goes down because the balance of essential amino acids gets messed up.
While amino spiking might not be directly toxic like adding melamine was, it’s still misleading. It tricks customers into paying more for a lower-quality product and can mess with the fitness results they’re working hard to achieve.
For the average consumer—you and me—there is no easy way to know if a whey protein supplement is amino spiked or if milk or pet food contains melamine. These adulterants are not typically listed on ingredient labels and may not be detectable through taste or appearance alone. This leaves us feeling helpless in the face of these deceptive practices.
One of the most daunting aspects of tackling food adulteration is grappling with the unknowns. Until a specific malpractice is exposed or caught, we often don’t know what’s happening, where it’s happening, and the scale at which it’s occurring. It’s a blind spot in our awareness, and it begs the question: what other adulteration practices are out there that we have yet to uncover?
However, this understanding should not breed helplessness. Quite the opposite. While fitness is often seen as an isolated activity—individuals count their macros and calories, hit the gym regularly, and work on building habits—the truth is that when it comes to food, the individual—the “I”—is often not enough.
Food is political. It underscores the necessity of robust food safety standards, rigorous testing protocols, and strict enforcement mechanisms from the government. The complexities of the food industry require a collective effort—the “we”—to ensure the safety and integrity of what we consume.
Recognizing that the food industry is a complex system is crucial. It is a web of suppliers, manufacturers, regulators, and retailers, each with their own set of incentives at different levels. While there is no need for panic—checks and balances do exist—history has shown us that things can go off track. Constant vigilance is necessary to maintain a safer and more transparent food system.
What can you do? Three ideas for now:
1. Demand transparency from brands: As consumers, we have more power than we might realise. Our choices and voices can shape the practices of even the biggest companies. If we want more transparency about sourcing, manufacturing, and testing, we need to speak up and make it clear that this information matters to us.
Imagine if more of us started asking questions. If we reached out to brands on social media, if we emailed their customer service, if we chose products that proudly display their third-party testing results. Transparency would become a selling point, a way for brands to differentiate themselves and win our trust and loyalty.
The next time you’re considering a new protein powder or looking at the label on your pet’s food, take a moment to ask yourself: Do I know where these ingredients come from? Do I trust that this product has been rigorously tested for purity and quality? If the answer is no, reach out to the brand and ask.
2. Recognize the importance of food safety labs: Independent testing labs play a crucial role in ensuring food safety, but they’re not infallible. These labs can face pressures and conflicts of interest that can compromise their objectivity and effectiveness.
That’s why it’s not enough to simply have testing labs – we need to demand that these labs adhere to the highest standards of independence, rigour, and transparency. We need to push for a system where labs are truly accountable to the public interest, not beholden to the companies they’re supposed to be policing.
3. Support independent investigations: In a previous issue of Truth Be Told, I shared the findings of “Protein Project”, a public-health initiative funded by Paras Chopra and led by Dr. Abby Phillips to conduct comprehensive tests on 36 popular whey protein brands in India for protein content, contamination, and adulteration.
This project, free from conflicts of interest, is a great example of citizens holding brands accountable with information. We need more initiatives like this.
Can people come together to fund more research and journalism on food safety? Can those with more resources support independent testing? As a society, we need watchdog groups—the eyes and ears of the public—to dig deep, ask tough questions, and expose the deceptive practices that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Ensuring the safety and integrity of our food is a shared responsibility. Creating a safer and more honest food system requires the participation of all of us—consumers, brands, regulators, labs, and watchdogs.
Gold content!