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Heavy Metals in Food? Here's What You Need to Know
So, right now there's one thing that can potentially contaminate food…
...And that one thing is heavy metals.
What are they? How do they end up in food supply? And what can you do to avoid them?
Sometimes, food that grows in the ground can take up trace amounts of heavy metals like Lead, Cadmium, and Arsenic from the soil.
And even though these heavy metals are impossible to eliminate - they are naturally occurring in products that grow in the ground - we believe in sourcing the best ingredients available.
And to us, at Truvani, that means finding ingredients that naturally test low for heavy metals.
We say test low, because in reality, you can’t ever really remove heavy metals. They are naturally occurring. But one source of pea protein, as an example, may test higher in heavy
metals than another source. So, we scour the world for ingredients that pass our strict standards for heavy metals…
...but talk is cheap.
So, what do we do? Well, we strive to find the ingredient source with the lowest levels of heavy metals. ALWAYS.
We do a whole lot more, too. To better explain our process, we put together this page to explain everything.
The Truvani Ingredient Standards
At Truvani, we take ingredients (and their sourcing) seriously. It’s the most important process in our product development process and this page will shed light on everything
that goes into it.
First, let’s talk about ingredient quality…
5 Rules for Truvani Ingredients
We put together some rules for what ingredients are allowed in Truvani products. Here’s exactly what they are: Rule #1: USDA Certified Organic (when applicable) We source organic ingredients whenever they are available. Ideally, all finished products are certified as USDA Organic. There are some exceptions. Like with our Marine Collagen, Probiotic, and Digestive Enzymes, which are products not certifiable according to USDA organic regulations. Rule #2: Analyze Primary Ingredients (and Secondary Ingredients) When you create an ingredient label, you’re required by law to show the ingredients you put in each of your products. However, you’re not required to disclose “secondary” ingredients that may have been used in the creation of the product. Some companies don’t even ask about them. Not Truvani. We require each supplier to share the secondary ingredients they use in processing so that we can ensure no dangerous chemicals are being used for our products. For example, we will never use an ingredient that has been processed with hexane. We also look out for other harmful chemicals used in processing and avoid them, too. Rule #3: We Monitor Heavy Metal Content In All Products Even though heavy metals are naturally occurring in many foods that grow in the ground, at Truvani we take heavy metals very seriously. When we are creating a product, we seek individual ingredients that have the lowest levels of heavy metals. Some companies don’t even test for it. Truvani tests each ingredient, and the finished product according to GMP. We also test each lot for each product. Rule #4: We Test For Glyphosate, Too Each ingredient is tested for the weedkiller glyphosate to ensure that it does not contain inappropriate levels. We use The Detox Project standards for Glyphosate in Transition as a minimum requirement… but we strive for better.” Rule #5: Use Ingredients Made From Real Food (Whenever Possible) If you look at the ingredients inside Truvani products, you’ll notice that you can recognize almost all of them. It’s almost as if you can imagine them in the real world because they’re real. Our proteins come from actual food. Our Vitamins come from actual plants. We avoid synthetic ingredients, weird ingredients, filler ingredients, and things like gums, natural flavors, artificial flavors, and all of that “other stuff” that makes zero sense.
What About Test Results? Can We See Them?
One of the questions we keep hearing from our customers is, “Can you please send me your test results?” Or “Can we see the COA” for your product?
This is something we want to make available to people, but we’re struggling with finding a way to share this information.
We talked to several people in the community about the problem, too. Just to see what they thought. And they all realized that we’re faced with an interesting problem.
In an effort to be fully transparent, I want to share that problem…
When people ask for a COA for a specific product… or a test result for a specific product… it’s not as easy as sending over one single piece of paper with the results they want.
Each product doesn’t have one COA. They have SEVERAL COAs / tests. Because we don’t conduct just one. It could literally be hundreds of tests.
Here’s why:
Each product has a test for each ingredient… and then the finished product… and then each lot of the finished product. In many cases, there are several tests that can be associated
with specific lots, too.
So, publishing the “test results,” isn’t as simple as publishing one page of information per product. It could be hundreds of pages of information per product.
And that’s the problem. How do we deal with this much information? We are open to ideas and if you have any, please send an email to [email protected] with the subject “Test Results Ideas.”
That said, I want to show you an example of what we mean by how we strive for low levels of heavy metals in our products.
Here are the Lead Test results for one lot of our Chocolate Plant-Based Protein Powder.
Now, of course these test results vary from lot to lot, but I want to add some context around them.
You’ll notice that lead is found in all types of everyday foods - like Asparagus, Avocado, Green Beans, and Strawberries…
...but Truvani’s protein powder? It’s almost zero. Strawberries, as an example, have almost 7 times more lead per serving than this lot of our protein powder.
Now, you might see this lead and think, “Oh no! Lead! I don’t want ANY lead!” But remember, lead is naturally occurring and it’s impossible to eliminate from food that grows in
the ground.
And since Truvani’s protein powder is made from real food, of course there will be trace amounts of lead…
...but when we create our products, we test each individual ingredient and ensure we find the product that has the lowest amount of lead that we believe is possible.
We plan to share more about our test results as we figure out a smart way to publish them. Until then, feel free to ask any specific questions you may have. And remember…