Don't toss out your protein powder just yet.

A recent report about lead levels in protein supplements sparked unnecessary alarm about a product that an increasing number of Americans are using to meet their fitness and nutrition goals.

The alarm is largely overblown. But the strong public reaction to what was once a niche product should cause us to ask whether our growing protein obsession is healthy.

Let's start with the study that triggered the panic. Consumer Reports said it tested 23 products, and two-thirds of the protein powders and shakes it analyzed contained more lead in a single serving than its experts said should be consumed in a day. Four products contained 400-1,500 percent of that amount.

But here's the problem: The consumer advocacy group used the exposure limit established by California's Proposition 65, which arbitrarily set 0.5 micrograms of lead as its daily limit decades ago. The Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, sets limits that are orders of magnitude higher--2.2 micrograms per day for children and 8.8 micrograms per day for women of childbearing age.

"Had they used the FDA levels in their analysis, they would have come up with a drastically different, way less........

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