I am sure you are now aware of the dozen or more class-action lawsuits filed against various National Brand Sports Companies for Protein Spiking. I am told there are many more to come. I have been telling you about this unethical practice for years. I first discovered this back in the early 1990s when several companies got caught by the FDA cutting protein with sugar and maltodextrin. The government’s outcome was only a slap on the wrist, with them continuing their practice.
The new fad called “Protein Spiking” is the art of adding amino acids to boost nitrogen levels in protein, in an attempt to fool conventional protein testing methods, such as the Keidel.
Protein powder is a multi-billion-dollar industry here in the United States. Some protein powder manufacturers are accused of “protein-spiking” or “nitrogen-spiking” their protein powder, which means the manufacturer substitutes complete protein with cheaper free-form amino acids, then improperly labels the product and even touts the product as “pure whey protein” when in fact the manufacturer knows the product contains cheaper amino acids. This class action investigation seeks to put an end to this deceptive practice and hopefully put us all back on an even playing field. It is very disheartening to have a potential customer ask for a bid on whey protein only to hear him say he is paying ½ of my costs. I always ask them to send me a sample for testing, and guess what? 10 out of 10 times, it had been spiked or cut.
This practice is illegal, unethical, and disregards every GMP regulation mandated by the FDA. I cannot figure out how these people can sleep at night knowing they are cheating consumers. If consumers would only quit purchasing products from these companies, and retail stores would quit supporting their brands, I believe the cheating would stop almost overnight.
The use of NIR to determine if a protein is pure or spiked.
All American Pharmaceutical utilizes FTNIR (Fourier Transform Near Infrared Spectroscopy) using the BOM Cluster Analysis. Below, you can download Dr. Golini’s cluster analysis and spectra reports showing how easy it is to separate adulterated protein from 100% real protein.
