Our Quality Promise
Reaching for the shaker in the morning is routine. Protein powder in, water on top, done. Every day. But between routine and reality sits one question: what is actually in the powder you are drinking?
Most manufacturers will show you the nutrition table. Maybe a certificate on the pouch. That is the part they are proud of. But there are sides of quality that never make it into marketing material: heavy metals, pesticide residues, microbiological load. Things your body should never encounter. And there is a second question that matters just as much: does what is on the label actually match what is in the bag?
The scale of the problem is striking. In 2024 the Clean Label Project analysed 165 of the best-selling protein powders. The result is hard to soften: 47 % exceeded at least one regulatory threshold for contaminants.1 Plant-based proteins were hit particularly hard, averaging five times more cadmium than whey products. Chocolate flavours showed up to 110 times more cadmium than vanilla.1 This is not an outlier in the category. This is the system.
That is why we have every batch tested independently. For purity. For protein content. For the full amino acid profile. Not because it is on trend, but because quality should not be a marketing buzzword.
- Every batch and every flavour is tested in accredited laboratories (GBA Polska AB 1095 for contaminants and microbiology, GBA Hamburg D-PL-14170-01-00 for protein and amino acid profile) against more than 500 parameters.
- Heavy metals sit 30 to 300 times below the EU limits. Microbiology and gluten partly well below as well, with the exact factors per parameter shown in the detail view.
- Protein content and the full amino acid profile are lab-verified with every batch. What is on the label is in the bag.
- 3 g of leucine per serving declared on the label, with lab values per flavour at 2.76 - 3.16 g within method and batch tolerance, all above the MPS threshold.6
- Full lab reports are available on the product page, sorted by batch.
Over 500 parameters. Independently tested.
Every batch and every flavour of our Plant Protein goes to accredited, independent laboratories. The labs are not obliged to give us good results. They test against fixed standards, not against our preferences. The results are not internally controlled. We cannot influence them.
Tested in parallel: microbiology, heavy metals, more than 500 individual pesticides, gluten to EU standard, protein content and the full amino acid profile. The reference values for contaminants: Regulation (EU) 2023/915, which sets the maximum levels for contaminants in food.2
The result: all flavours pass every parameter. Fully.
And it goes further than that. For heavy metals, our values sit 30 to 300 times below the EU limits. For microbiology and gluten partly well below as well, with factors ranging from 3 to 1,000 depending on flavour and parameter. That is the difference between "barely legal" and the standard we set for ourselves.
Independently tested · GBA Polska (AB 1095) for contaminants and microbiology, GBA Hamburg (DAkkS D-PL-14170-01-00) for protein and amino acid profile · Three flavours
More than 500 pesticides and crop protection agents tested individually (Lot 251217). 99.6 % sit fully below the detection limit. The few measurable traces are present in minimal concentrations, well below every legal threshold, typical for conventionally grown legumes.
Full lab reports are available on the product page, sorted by batch. Testing laboratories: GBA Polska Sp. z o.o. (AB 1095) for contaminants, microbiology and pesticides. GBA Hamburg (DAkkS D-PL-14170-01-00) for protein content and amino acid profile. Values from Lot 251217 (V/CF/C).
What is on the label is in the bag: protein and amino acid profile
Purity is only half of the truth. The other half: does the product hold up to what it promises? Is what the pouch claims actually what you get?
In the supplement category, that is not a trivial question. Nitrogen-based methods such as Kjeldahl or Dumas measure total nitrogen in the product and convert it to protein. They do not distinguish whether the nitrogen comes from real plant protein or from cheap free amino acids such as glycine or taurine that could have been added. Anyone who only declares total protein content says nothing about the actual amino acid composition. Only the direct measurement of the amino acid profile shows what is really inside and what is functionally available.
That is why we do not just test for what should not be there. We also test for what has to be there. Every batch. Every flavour.
Protein content is determined by accredited nitrogen analysis (§ 64 LFGB L 17.00-15). The full amino acid profile across all 18 amino acids is measured by LC-MS/MS analysis after acid hydrolysis. Both run at GBA Hamburg under DAkkS accreditation D-PL-14170-01-00. Contaminant and microbiology analysis runs in parallel at GBA Polska (AB 1095). Even accredited lab methods carry a measurement uncertainty, which is reported per parameter on the certificates.
Values from accredited lab analysis (GBA Hamburg, DAkkS D-PL-14170-01-00) · LC-MS/MS after acid hydrolysis · Scale unified across flavours
The notable bit: the three flavours differ only marginally. That is by design. We formulate the flavours so that the protein base stays largely identical. What changes is taste. What does the work, barely. The label states 3 g of leucine per serving. The lab measurement for this batch sits between 2.76 g (Chocolate) and 3.16 g (Vanilla). That is the natural batch-to-batch variation plus the measurement uncertainty of the method. All values fall in the range where dose-response data show muscle protein synthesis is maximally stimulated.6
We publish lab values as they are. No smoothing to the label, no cherry-picking nicer batches for the reports. For context: the EU tolerance guidance for nutrition labelling (Regulation 1169/2011) permits a deviation of ±20 % between label and measured value for protein. What you see instead is the actual measured value per batch in the lab report.
The category standard: bare minimum is the maximum
The supplement world runs on its own logic. A GMP certificate looks good on the pouch. What it actually says is: production standards are being followed. It says nothing about pesticide residues. Nothing about actual cadmium content. Nothing about the amino acid profile. And it leads to a system where the average is alarmingly low.
In 2025, Consumer Reports analysed 23 protein powders. The result: in over two thirds, lead values were above the daily safety threshold for consumption.3 Plant-based proteins carried nine times more lead than whey products.3 That is not the exception. That is the problem.
In 2024, Irshad and his team examined potentially toxic metals in muscle-building supplements. Their findings showed wide differences between product categories. The key point: plant-based proteins naturally accumulate more cadmium because legumes take the element up from the soil.4 That is biology, not negligence. But that is exactly why each individual batch is what counts.
We do it differently. Across the board. In raw material selection. In the analytics. Our DigeZyme enzyme complex comes from Sabinsa, a supplier with strict heavy metal limits at the raw material stage. The fibre blend inavea BAOBAB ACACIA from Nexira is FODMAP-tested. No celebrity endorsements. Hard decisions with consequences.
The honest limit of our approach
Here is the part you will not find in glossy brochures: our tests do not cover the entire chemistry of the universe. Nobody can. We test heavy metals, microbiology, more than 500 pesticides, protein content and the full amino acid profile. But there are thousands of other substances out there. What we guarantee: the same methods. Every batch. Every time. No filtering, no sugarcoating.
The cadmium issue with plant-based proteins is well known. It is not new.14 Legumes take the metal up from the soil. That is exactly why, for plant sources, it is critical to actually test rather than rely on a generic certificate. In 2025, the University of Budapest analysed protein powders on the Hungarian market and found no EU exceedances. But the study also made it clear: single tests are snapshots, not a quality guarantee for ever.5 Worth knowing.
Transparency over promises
On the product page you will find the complete lab reports. By batch. Not as a PDF with attractive graphics that we designed. The actual reports from the labs. That is the principle: you should be able to verify it, not have to take our word for it.
Quality is not our department. It is the reason we exist. We started because we could not find a plant protein that met our own standards. Open amino acid profiles. Verified protein content. No artificial sweeteners. Performance and tolerability. That was the idea. Nothing has changed.
No compromises. That is not a slogan. That is our standard.
Frequently asked questions
Every single batch. Every flavour. No spot checks. A batch covers several thousand pouches, and it is only released once the full lab report is in.
The GÖST spectrum, with over 500 active substances, is the most comprehensive standard multi-method screening in the EU for plant-based foods. It covers practically every crop protection agent approved or known in Europe. In theory, more substances exist worldwide, many of them banned or unapproved in the EU. A truly complete screening across every theoretically conceivable substance is not methodologically possible. We test what is relevant and what is detectable.
It is not released. Full stop. There is no "just over the line, we will ship anyway" category. This rule costs us money and sometimes time. It also protects what we sell.
On the product page, under the relevant flavour. The reports are produced directly by the laboratories (GBA Polska AB 1095 for contaminants and microbiology, GBA Hamburg D-PL-14170-01-00 for protein and amino acid profile). What you see there are the original documents, not polished marketing versions. If you have a question about a specific batch, write to us at contact@syntyze.com.
TL;DR
Almost half of all protein powders exceed regulatory thresholds for contaminants. SYNTYZE has every batch independently tested for heavy metals, microbiology and more than 500 pesticides. On top of that, protein content and the full amino acid profile are verified, so the label values are demonstrably accurate. Heavy metals sit 30 to 300 times below the EU limits, microbiology and gluten partly well below as well. Full lab reports are available on the product page, sorted by batch.
References
- Clean Label Project (2024-25). Protein Powder Category Report 2.0. 165 products tested. cleanlabelproject.org
- European Commission (2023). Regulation (EU) 2023/915 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food. Official Journal of the European Union, L 119/103.
- Consumer Reports (2025). Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead. 23 products analysed. consumerreports.org
- Irshad, N. et al. (2024). Appraisal of potentially toxic metals contamination in protein supplements for muscle growth: A chemometric approach and associated human health risks. J Trace Elem Med Biol, 85, 127481. PubMed 38878468
- Horváth, I. L., Kajner, G., Galbács, G. & Csupor, D. (2025). Analysis of heavy metal content in protein powders available on the Hungarian market: a reassuring snapshot, but not a reassuring quality guarantee. Journal of Nutritional Science, 14, e49. doi: 10.1017/jns.2025.10024
- Witard, O. C., Jackman, S. R., Breen, L., Smith, K., Selby, A. & Tipton, K. D. (2014). Myofibrillar muscle protein synthesis rates subsequent to a meal in response to increasing doses of whey protein at rest and after resistance exercise. Am J Clin Nutr, 99(1), 86-95. Dose-response data for the maximum stimulation of muscle protein synthesis. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.055517 · PubMed 24257722
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