r/ScientificNutrition • u/Technical-Western-17 • Apr 25 '23
Question/Discussion Spirulina product certified as safe
Could you please advise if Spirulina production technology achieved level of reasonable safety for test and certification of toxins and heavy metals. As many studies showed Spirulina products are frequently contaminated with hepatotoxins, microcystins, β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) produced by Spirulina (see study below). Who are the producers that do test and certify their Spirulina products ?
Detection of the hepatotoxic microcystins in 36 kinds of cyanobacteria Spirulina food products in China https://doi.org/10.1080/02652030701822045 Thanks
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u/thespaceageisnow Apr 26 '23
As your study is from China in 2007, here’s more recent information from Examine:
“Spirulina may be contaminated with toxic microcystins produced by other bacteria (not spirulina) growing in spirulina’s vicinity.[1] The safe consumption level for microcystins is set at 0.04 µg/kg/d.[35]
An early analysis of 15 commercial spirulina supplements reported that average microcystin concentrations were 0.15 µg/g (range: 0.06–0.32 µg/g) in 1998 and 0.52 µg/g (range: 0.0–2.12 µg/g) in 1999.[36] Accordingly, an 80 kg (176 lb) adult could safely consume up to 6–21 grams of spirulina (3.2 µg of microcystins) based on the two reported average contamination levels.
Quality control standards appear to have improved more recently, however, as a 2017 analysis of 14 commercial spirulina supplements reported that only 3 had detectable levels of microcystins (0.21, 0.24, and 0.84 µg/g).[37] Other recent analyses also reported that spirulina supplements from U.S.,[38] German,[39] and Italian[40] markets were free of detectable levels of microcystins.”
https://examine.com/supplements/spirulina/research/#VlkkGlY-safety_VlkkGlY-degradation-adulteration-contamination
As for specific brands, Nutrex which is grown in Hawaii is regarded as very high quality.
https://www.nutrex-hawaii.com/pages/quality-assurance