Tungsten in rice protein: Health Ranger releases new chart, petitions all protein manufacturers to commit to reasonable industry standards for heavy metals

Thursday, February 06, 2014 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: rice protein, heavy metals, NN standard

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(NaturalNews) As Natural News fans and readers already know, we made history yesterday by reaching and publishing terms of an unprecedented agreement with Garden of Life and Sunwarrior to reduce concentrations of heavy metals in protein products, meeting specific targets by July 1, 2015.

In consideration of the extraordinary leadership and courage shown by these two companies, I voluntarily removed the actual heavy metals laboratory results that had been previously posted.

The point of this is to give these companies an opportunity to shift their products now that they've committed to making real change. I am not in the business of embarrassing companies for fun or sport. My goal is -- and has always been -- to see positive changes that serve the best interests of consumers. To do that, we have to give these companies an opportunity to put changes in place and achieve the targets they have committed to.

New tungsten chart published for rice protein

In the interests of keeping the public informed of the truth about tungsten in rice protein products, we have just published a tungsten results chart showing real results for actual rice protein products tested, but we have replaced the brand names with generic labels. The data are quite real, however, and we fully hope and expect to see these numbers dramatically shift over the next 18 months.

Click the thumbnail chart on the right to see the full-sized chart.

So far, the companies which have committed to meeting the new heavy metals limits -- now called the "NN Standard" -- are:

• Garden of Life
• Sunwarrior
• Boku Superfood
• Living Fuel (still confirming, but we have a verbal YES)
• Nutribody (Jon Barron's)

There may be others who have already contacted us to indicate they are joining the effort but which have not yet made it to my desk. I will continue to expand this list and more and more manufacturers commit to these standards.

Please note that merely joining this agreement is not, in any way, an admission that their products are in any way unsafe or dangerous to consume. From what I've learned so far, the rice protein industry has never tested their products for tungsten (until now, anyway) and was not aware of the tungsten concentrations we were the first to identify. The fact that the FDA currently has no limit for tungsten or other heavy metals is not any sort of proof or evidence that they are safe. After all, the FDA also has no limits on GMOs, fluoride, BPA, aspartame or MSG. That doesn't mean those substances are safe to consume on a regular basis, as I'm sure you would agree.

I believe that all rice protein manufacturers share my goal of ensuring safe, clean, nutritious foods for the public. So we are working toward that goal in the best way we know how, and that's to get these companies to negotiate and agree to meaningful changes.

UPDATE: We will post all laboratory data using our new group compilation charts format

My goal here is to get all rice protein manufacturers to agree to these reasonable limits for heavy metals by July 1, 2015. As part of the effort to contribute to total transparency so that consumers can decide what they wish to consume, we have decided to publish all laboratory data using a new, improved format. This format does not publish individual product elemental composition numbers. Instead, it groups products with other products in the same category, then displays visual horizontal bars showing the relative concentrations of the elements across all the products in the same category.

One of the initial criticisms of our individual product data was that it did not provide "context" for how that product compared to other products in the same category. This new, improved chart format resolves that issue and provides more details at a glance, too.

Also as part of this improved format, and based on discussions with companies whose products have been included in this chart, I will from now on publish all data regardless of whether companies engage in negotiations to meet specific heavy metals limits. What I have found in negotiations so far is that the only goal of companies is to find a way to censor and suppress the data I am publishing. Many companies seem to have no interest whatsoever in the actual quality of their product, nor the safety of their products. They only seek to censor the truth about their products, much like GMO companies seek to keep consumers blind about GMOs in their foods.

I find this situation reprehensible but not surprising, given the simple fact that nearly everyone -- across all industries -- is primarily driven by greed instead of ethics.

Petition to be launched to urge all rice protein companies to join the NN Standard

In the next few days, we will be launching an online petition that asks rice protein manufacturers to join the NN Standard for voluntary limits of heavy metals. As usual, I am asking for your help in this effort to petition these companies to sign on to this heavy metals limits initiative. First off, I greatly appreciate all your efforts so far. We have become what one person called an "online army of food activists" who number more than one million people. (Just look at our Facebook likes, which itself is nearing the astonishing number of 1 million!) It is because of this massive group of action-oriented activists that we are able to literally make history and reshape this industry for the public good.

So watch NaturalNews.com for the petition announcement in the next few days. This standard calls for all protein products, by July 1, 2105, to have concentrations of metals no higher than:

Lead limit: 250 ppb
Tungsten limit: 50 ppb
Cadmium limit: 1000 ppb
Mercury limit: 50 ppb

All who join this effort will be listed here on Natural News and commended for taking action in the public interest.

There is also a massive shift under way right now across the industry to encourage rice protein importers to source cleaner product. There are also efforts under way to focus more on pea protein, hemp protein, nut proteins and other proteins which are substantially lower in heavy metals across the board. This is all good news for consumers who will be the primary beneficiaries of these efforts.

Contact pages for rice protein companies

If you wish to wait for the petition, you can find that here on NaturalNews.com in a few days. But if you want to contact these companies directly right now, here's how to reach them. And here's a sample letter you may use when you contact them:

Hello, I am a Natural News reader and have recently learned that many rice protein products sold in the USA contain significant concentrations of the heavy metals tungsten, lead, cadmium and mercury.

Because I wish to minimize my consumption of these heavy metals while remaining your customer, I am urging you to consider joining the "NN Standard," a voluntary heavy metals limit which has been announced by NaturalNews.com. It allows an 18-month transition period, after which all protein products will be required to meet specific, reasonable heavy metals limits.

Natural News has promised to publish the names of all the companies who join this voluntary industry-wide agreement. So far, Garden of Life, Sunwarrior, Boku Superfood, Living Fuel and others have already signed on.

Will you kindly consider joining this important industry effort? If so, please contact NaturalNews.com by email or use their online feedback form to let them know.

As your customer, I look forward to seeing your company name on the Natural News list of responsible protein manufacturers who have voluntarily agreed to these limits.

I have also been told that Natural News does NOT charge for lab testing and does not accept money of any kind from supplement manufacturers. (They are not running an extortion racket or scam. They are simply conducting good science for the public good.)

Thank you for your consideration.

When companies reply to your post, you can of course fully expect everyone to tell you how safe their products are and how you're probably eating lead in green beans, etc. Nobody is going to publicly say they think their products are dangerous, and we shouldn't expect them to. Instead, they will usually say they are listening to your concerns and they are committed to meeting the wishes of the natural health community and so they will consider your request. This is the desired response.

Here are the contact pages for some of the companies we have identified as rice protein manufacturers who we have not yet joined our agreement (to our knowledge so far):

Jarrow Formulas
http://www.jarrow.com/contactus

Growing Naturals
http://growingnaturals.com/connect-2/contact...

Sprout Living (THEY HAVE ALREADY AGREED TO JOIN!)
http://www.sproutliving.com/contact/

Nutribiotic
http://www.nutribiotic.com/contact-us.html

Source Naturals
http://www.sourcenaturals.com/contact_us/

North Coast Naturals
http://www.northcoastnaturals.com/aboutus/co...