Check for ingredient source before purchasing
I bought this pea protein before I had heard about heavy metal and other chemical contamination in protein powders, which is apparently worse on average in plant-based products than whey-based products, and generally worse in organic products than in non-organic. Apparently pea protein is often sourced, or processed in China, where even if organic standards are rigorously enforced (they may not be in some cases, for various reasons), there's no guarantee that the soil/water used to grow the plants is free from industrial contaminants, nor that the methods and materials used to process the peas into a refined protein powder, would be consistent with what you'd expect from an organic product (ie they may use various industrial solvents, which may be of dubious origin and/or purity). How does all of this apply to this particular product? The bottom line seems to be: "I don't know". I went to the Micro Ingredients web site, and found no information on where the peas were grown, or where they were processed. I sent an email request for information: no response. I posed the question on Amazon: no response either. It seems to me that if a seller is proud of the origin and processing methodology, and they stand behind the quality and safety of their product, this type of information would be prominently displayed. The fact that this information is not easily obtainable is a showstopper for me. I'm throwing the rest of this product in the trash (luckily I didn't eat much of it). In the future, I will never buy another pea protein product unless the manufacturer is 100% transparent about where the ingredients are coming from, and the processing methods used (assuming of course that I am comfortable with the information provided). I consume organic food because I care about the environment, and what I put into my body. I'm not going to put up with any "mystery ingredients".
